The World in Pictures. "The Fox and the Crow" and other fables by Aesop.

By Aesopus

Illustrated electronic edition of a fables by Aesop prepared in accordance with the principles of The World in Pictures project, providing a complete set of illustrations, among them 57 illustrations by outstanding painters, with a comprehensive rendering of the plot.

Illustrated biography of the great ancient fabler Aesop.
The edition also included the sketches of Aesop's fables: "The Crow and the Fox," "The Wolf and the Lamb", "The Gnat and the Lion," "How the Mouse Saved the Lion," "The Rooster and the Fox," "The Donkey in the Lion's Skin," "The Eagle, the Jackdaw And the Shepherd "," Silly dogs "," The quarreled thieves "," The Wolf and the Heron "," The Eagle "," The Swan and the Cook "," The Father and His Sons "," Donkey Lask "," Bear Service "," Fisherman and Rybka, The Trusted Wolf and the Horse, Fox and the Monkey, The Feet and the Horns of the Deer, The Eager Turtle and the Hare, The Sly Lion and the Smart Fox, The Crow and Hercules and The Heron.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aegitas
• Release date: Apr 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781773137742

Book preview

Vladimir Butromeev

THE WORLD IN PICTURES

THE FOX AND THE CROW AND OTHER FABLES

by AESOP

Titul_Aesopus

THE LIFE OF AESOP, BY SIR ROGER L'ESTRANGE

Chapter I

Of Aesop's Countrey, Condition, and Person

Aesop (according to Planudes, Camerarius and Others) was by birth, of Ammorius a Towne in the Greater Phrygia; (though some will have him to be a Thracian, others a Samian) of a mean Condition, and in his person deformed, to the highest degree: Flat-Nos'd Hunch-Back'd, Blobber-Lipp'd; a Long Miss-shapen Head; His Body Crooked all over, Big-Belly'd, Baker-Legg'd, and his Complexion so swarthy, that he took his very Name from't; for Aesop is the same with Aethiop.

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Aesop. Russian lubok

And he was not only Unhappy in the most scandalous Figure of a Man that ever was heard of; but he was in a manner Tongue-Ty'd too, by such an Impediment in his speech, that People could very hardly understand what he said. This Imperfection is said, to have been the most sensible part of his Misfortune; for the Excellency of his Mind might otherwise have Attoned in some Measure, for the uncouth Appearance of his Person (at least if That Part of his History may pass for Current.) There goes a Tradition, that he had the good hap to Relieve certain Priests that were Hungry, and out of their way, and to set them Right again, and that for that good Office, he was, upon their Prayers, brought to the Use of his Tongue: But Camerarius whom I shall Principally follow, has no Faith in the Miracle, And so begins his History with the tracing of him to Samos, and from thence Prosecutes it through the most Remarkable Passages of his Life, to the Last Barbarous Violence upon him at Delphos.

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Aesop, by Diego Velázquez

As to his Impediment in his speech, whether there were any such thing or Not, or how he came to be cur'd of it, the Reader is at Liberty what to Believe and what Not. And so likewise for Twenty Other Passages up and down this History; Some of them too Triviall, and others too Gross to be taken Notice of, Upon this Argument and Occasion: Let it suffice, that (according to the Common Tradition) he had been Alreadie Twice Bought and Sold; and so we shall Date the Story of his Adventures; from his Entrance into the Service of at least a Third Master.

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Aesop. Woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle

As to the Age he liv'd in, it is Agreed upon among the Ancients, that it was when Crœsus Govern'd Lydia; as also that Xanthus, a Samian, was his Master. Herodotus will have it to be one Jadmon, a Samian too; but still according to the Current of most Writers, Xanthus was the Man.

Chapter II

Aesop and his Fellow-slaves Upon their Journey to Ephesus

It was Aesop's Fortune to be sent to Ephesus, in Company with other Slaves to be sold. His Master had a great many Burdens to Carry, and Aesop begg'd of his Companions not to over Charge him. They found him a Weakling, and bad him please himself. The Parcel that he Pitch'd upon was a Panyer of Bread; and twice as heavy as any of the rest. They called him a thousand Fools for his pains, and so took up their Luggage, and away they Trudg'd together.

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About Noon, they had their Dinner deliver'd out of Aesop's Basket, which made his Burden Lighter by one half in the Afternoon, than it had been in the Morning: And after the next Meal he had Nothing left him to Carry, but an Empty Basket. His Fellow-Slaves began Now to Understand, that Aesop was not so Arrant a Fool as they took him for; and that they Themselves had not half the Wit they Thought they had.

Chapter III

The Sale of Aesop to Xanthus

Upon