The two pots - wikipedia The two pots The Two Pots is one of Aesop 's Fables and numbered 378 in the Perry Index. The fable may stem from proverbial sources. Contents 1 The Fable 2 Artistic interpretations 3 References 4 External links The fable There is a short Greek version of the fable and a longer, more circumstantial late Latin poem by Avianus. It concerns two pots, one of earthenware and the other of metal, that are being swept along a river. While the metal pot is willing that they should journey together, the clay pot hopes it will keep its distance for ' Whether the wave crashes me into you or you into me, in either case I will be the only victim '. The moral drawn is that equal partnership is best, and especially that the poor or powerless should avoid the company of the powerful. In this connection, there is a likeness between the story and a passage in the debated book of Ecclesiasticus that advises caution in such unequal relationships : ' Have no fellowship with one that is richer than thyself. What agreement shall the earthen pot have with the kettle ? For if they knock one against the other, it shall be broken ' ( 13.2 - 3 ). Since this particular scripture is in Greek and dates from the 2nd century BCE, it is possible that the passage quoted and the fable are both based on a popular proverb. But there is also a connection with a later Talmudic proverb which underlines the no - win situation of the fable : ' If a pot falls upon a stone, woe to the pot ; if a stone falls upon a pot, woe to the pot ; either way, woe to the pot ' ( Esther Rabbah, 7 : 10 ). A Japanese print of Aesop 's fable by Kawanabe Kyosai dating from 1870 - 80 Yet another oriental connection with this proverbial lore occurs in the Indian Panchatantra. In its second section, which deals with the gaining of friends, there is a long debate between Hiranyaka the rat and Laghupatanaka the crow about partnership between such natural enemies as themselves. One of the points made is that ' Friendship with bad men is like a pot of clay, easy to break but difficult to rejoin. With good men it is like a pot of gold, difficult to break but easy to mend. ' Here once again we find earthenware and metal pots contrasted. The connection with the passage in Ecclesiasticus was noted by Andrea Alciato in the various editions of his Emblemata. The aim of his collection was to point a moral lesson through an iconic illustration, supported by Latin verses ( and translations into other languages ) and a commentary. The fable of the two pots was chosen to illustrate the Latin proverb Aliquid mali propter vicinum malum ( Bad comes of a bad neighbour ), which Erasmus had included in his Adagia ( Adage 32 ). The English poet Geoffrey Whitney followed Alciato in all this, using an illustration from one of his editions in his Choice of Emblemes ( 1568 ), but supporting it with an 18 - line poem of his own. The final stanza sums up the meaning of the fable : The running streame, this worldlie sea dothe shewe ; The pottes present the mightie, and the pore : Whoe here, a time are tosséd too and froe, But if the meane dwell nighe the mighties dore, He maie be hurte, but can not hurte againe, Then like, to like : or beste alone remaine. While the title of Aesop 's fable is almost always given as `` The Two Pots '', La Fontaine 's Fables contrast their different constituents in a rather different fable based on it, Le pot de terre et le pot de fer ( Fables V. 2 ). In this the iron pot proposes a journey together to the clay pot, which is only persuaded by the stronger pot 's offer to protect him. When they are jostled together on their way, the clay pot is shattered and only has himself to blame. ' Only equals should associate ' is the conclusion. A French proverb derives from this fable, where the phrase ' It 's the iron pot against the clay pot ' ( C'est le pot de fer contre le pot de terre ) is used in cases when the weak come off worst. Artistic interpretations Book illustrations of Aesop 's fable inevitably picture two contrasting pots being carried along a river. In the lively woodblock print by the Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyosai, the pots are given human forms and shown tossed on the waves of a heavy sea. There the earthen pot is desperately fending off the friendly approach of the metal pot. In the distance is a town with mountains behind it. How much Kyosai has added is plain when one compares his version with the one by John Tenniel on which it is based. The gated town in the background is almost identical, but Tenniel shows the two pots becalmed in an eddy near the mouth of an estuary. This in turn looks back to the various illustrations in Alciato 's Book of Emblems, especially that of the 1591 edition. There the pots are tossed on waves as they are carried towards the sea ; in the background are mountains with a town at their foot and a castle perched on a height. Two French composers have set La Fontaine 's fable. Isabelle Aboulker among Les Fables enchantées ( 1979 ) and Dominique Preschez ( 1954 - ) as the second of her Trois fables en une ( 1995 ). References Jump up ^ Aesopica site Jump up ^ Panchatantra, reconstructed by Franklin Edgerton, London 1965, p. 83 Jump up ^ View online Jump up ^ Page 164, view online Jump up ^ An English version is online Jump up ^ Thomas James, Aesop 's Fables, a new version, London 1874, p. 75 Jump up ^ Available on Flickr External links Illustrations from the 15th to the 20th centuries Aesop Aesop 's Fables The Ant and the Grasshopper The Ass and his Masters The Ass and the Pig The Ass Carrying an Image The Ass in the Lion 's Skin The Astrologer who Fell into a Well The Bear and the Travelers The Belly and the Members The Bird - catcher and the Blackbird The Bird in Borrowed Feathers The Boy Who Cried Wolf The Cat and the Mice The Cock and the Jewel The Cock, the Dog and the Fox The Crow and the Pitcher The Crow and the Snake The Deer without a Heart The Dog and Its Reflection The Dog and the Wolf The Dove and the Ant The Farmer and the Stork The Farmer and the Viper The Fir and the Bramble The Fisherman and the Little Fish The Fowler and the Snake The Fox and the Crow The Fox and the Grapes The Fox and the Mask The Fox and the Sick Lion The Fox and the Stork The Fox and the Weasel The Fox and the Woodman The Frog and the Ox The Frogs Who Desired a King The Goat and the Vine The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs The Honest Woodcutter The Horse and the Donkey The Lion and the Fox The Lion and the Mouse The Lion, the Bear and the Fox The Man with two Mistresses The Mischievous Dog The Miser and his Gold The Mountain in Labour The Mouse and the Oyster The North Wind and the Sun The Oak and the Reed The Old Man and Death The Old Woman and the Doctor The Rose and the Amaranth The Satyr and the Traveller The Sick Kite The Snake and the Crab The Snake in the Thorn Bush The Tortoise and the Hare Town Mouse and Country Mouse The Travellers and the Plane Tree The Trees and the Bramble The Two Pots The Walnut Tree Washing the Ethiopian white The Wolf and the Crane The Wolf and the Lamb The Woodcutter and the Trees The Young Man and the Swallow Apocryphal An ass eating thistles The Bear and the Gardener Belling the cat ( also known as The Mice in Council ) The Blindman and the Lame The Boy and the Filberts Chanticleer and the Fox The Dog in the Manger The drowned woman and her husband The Elm and the Vine The Fox and the Cat The Gourd and the Palm - tree The Hawk and the Nightingale Jumping from the frying pan into the fire The milkmaid and her pail The miller, his son and the donkey The Monkey and the Cat The Priest and the Wolf The Scorpion and the Frog The Shepherd and the Lion Still waters run deep The Wolf in Sheep 's Clothing Related Jataka tales Panchatantra Perry Index The labyrinth of Versailles The Lion 's Share Aesop 's Fables ( album ) Screen adaptations Aesop 's Film Fables The Grasshopper and the Ants Print adaptations Ysopet The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian `` The Cock and the Jasp '' `` The Taill of how this forsaid Tod maid his Confessioun to Freir Wolf Waitskaith '' `` The Taill of Schir Chanticleir and the Foxe '' `` The Taill of the Uponlandis Mous and the Burges Mous '' La Fontaine 's Fables Translators Demetrius of Phalerum Phaedrus Babrius Avianus Dositheus Magister Alexander Neckam Adémar de Chabannes Odo of Cheriton John Lydgate Kawanabe Kyōsai Laurentius Abstemius Roger L'Estrange Gabriele Faerno Hieronymus Osius Marie de France Robert Henryson Jean de La Fontaine Ivan Krylov Nicolas Trigault Zhang Geng Robert Thom Zhou Zuoren portal : Novels Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Two_Pots&oldid=800933129 '' Categories : Aesop 's Fables Proverbs Emblem books Fictional objects Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Edit links This page was last edited on 16 September 2017, at 16 : 43. 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Question: what is the moral of the two pots
Answer: equal partnership is best, and especially that the poor or powerless should avoid the company of the powerful