Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
63. The Astronomer (Perry 40)
AN ASTRONOMER used to go out at night to observe the stars. One evening,
as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole attention fixed on the
sky, he fell accidentally into a deep well. While he lamented and bewailed
his sores and bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the
well, and learning what had happened said: 'Hark ye, old fellow, why,
in striving to pry into what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what
is on earth?'
George Fyler Townsend's translation of the fables, first published in 1867, is
in the public domain and can be found at many websites, including Project
Gutenberg.
Illustrations come from: Aesop's Fables, by George Fyler Townsend, with
illustrations by Harrison Weir, 1867, at Google
Books. |