1. The Bear and the two Companions.

Sell not the skins of bears for bread,
Until you've laid the monsters dead.

2. The Horse and the Ass.

We ought to help each other on our way;
Should death your feeble neighbor snatch away,
Upon your back the heavy load may lay.

3. The Master's Eye.

The master sees with keenest eyes.

4. The Waggoner stuck fast.

Help thyself first, and heaven will help thee too.

5. The Laborer and his Children.

Labor, and toil with constant pain,
Labor's an endless source of gain.

6. The two Goats.

None would submit, to one sad fate they go,
Both soused into the heedless flood below.
This accident has nothing new.
To those who fortune's smiles pursue.

7. The Ass loaded with Spanges and the Ass loaded with Salt.

Succor was brought, no matter here by whom;
Enough he met not too severe a doom.
Be thou not with such folly blamed.
This is the point at which I aimed.

8. The stage-Coach and the Fly.

Thus certain folks with ardent mien,
Are oft in others' business seen;

And secondly, we see the wit
Of those who thought to bite got bit.

17. The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid.
Double security is not too strong,
For too much caution seldom leads us wrong.

18. The Old man and his Sons.
All power is weak if union be not there.

19. The Satyr and the Traveller.
Away the double-dealing mind,
That of a friend speaks cold or kind.

20. The two Bulls and the Frog.
Too true, alas, in every age and state,
The weaker pay the follies of the great.

21. The Tortoise and two Ducks.
Imprudence, chat, and foolish vanity,
With idle curiosity,
Have ever close as kindred clung,
All of the self-same lineage sprung.

22. The two Mules.
Great places are not always sure to hold.

23. The Acorn and the Gourd.
All heaven hath made is wise and right.

24. The battle of the Rats and Weasels.
Poor men, with what they have in view,
Get easily and safely through,
Where pomp and pride can nothing do.

25. The Ass and his Masters.
This fable every mortal paints,
We weary heaven with our complaints :
We murmur, rich or poor the same,
And what is present most we blame.

26. The Oak and the Reed.
The poor live peaceful with their lot,
Unknown, contented in their cot;

And oft the angry thunder falls
Thro' gilded roofs and splendid halls.

27. The old Woman and her two
Servants.
Thus often we some greater evil shun,
And from charybdis upon sylla run.

28. The Eagle, the Sow, and the Cat.
Of all the ills we meet,
Or with Pandora born,
The object of our scorn,
In my opinion, is the cheat.

29. The Bear and the Amateur of Gardens.
Nothing more dangerous than stupid friends;
Better a foe who nothing comprehends.

30. The Stag seeing himself in the Water.
We prize the beautiful — the good despise,
While in the former oft our ruin lies :
The stag despised his nimble feet that day,
And praised his horns where his destruction lay.

31. The Fox and the Goat.
In every thing still keep in view the end.

32. The Saying of Socrates.
Each calls himself a friend, but pray beware;
The name's as common as the thing is rare.

33. The Stag and the Vine.
A real portrait this of those.
Who violate the lodge where they repose.

4. The Dove and the Ant.
    To be great sometimes are forced to court the small.

5. The Hare and the Patridge.
    To be ne'er should laugh at others in distress,
    Or who can boast of constant happiness?

6. The Shepherd, and the Sea.
    To be happy, if a shepherd, with your lot;
    Against all ambitious counsel shut your ear;
    Or one who smiles then thousand weep their lot;
    Or the ocean tempts, with wonders —but beware,
    Or storms and theives are frequent there!

7. The Hare and the Tortoise.
    Running is nought, unless we start betimes.

8. The crow imitating the Eagle.
    Example often is a dangerous lure.
    There gnats ar caught, the wasps go on secure.

9. The Fowler, the Hawk, and the Swallow.
    The crimes of men in guilt o'ergrown,
    We often but to hide our own.
    The law of nature's thus declared:
    Are others if you would be spared.

10. The Cock, the Cat and the Mouse.
    To be, in life's precarious race,
    Judging people by a smiling face.

1. Fortune and the Child.
    To be a people fools, or in their commerce lame
    They think they're quitting giving fate the blame.

2. The Lion and the Gnat.
    To hold is slight who grasp at all.

Some brave the greatest dangers here below,
and perish by some little lurking foe.

43. The Wolves and the Sheep.

War with the wicked never ought to cease;
Good in itself, I grant, is smiling peace;
But those who violate their plighted word,
Should be pursued, to death with fire and sword.

44. The Heron.

Don't let us be so very nice,
For those are wise and only such,
Who run no risks to gain too much;
Beware, and nothing good despise.

45. The Oyster and the Pleaders.

Have you a law-suit, good and just?
Arrange it, and no lawyer trust,
Or if, within their fangs you fall,
They'll gobble up your substance all.

46. The Monkey and the Dolphin.

Many such cockney travellers roam,
And Chelsea take for ancient Rome:
They speak of all they have not seen,
As if upon the spot they'd been.

47. The Hen and the Gold eggs.

Gobbing too Much the miser loses all.

48. The Dog and his shadow.

Lost men are cheated here below,
And for the substance take the show;
Such fools we meet — both great and small;
Aesop's dog refer them all.

49. The Frog desiring to Equal the Ox.

The men from stubborn pride are lost,
And fall unpitied to the dust.
To climb too high may fear to fall;
And hold is slight who grasp at all.

50. The Astrologer fallen into the Well.

In this we see the portrait plain,
Of all such plodders o'er chimeras vain,
They risk their life, their business, or their brain.

51. Council of the Rats.

Is it some hidden depth to scan?
The courts with counsellors abound :
Is it to execute some plan?
There's not a person to be found.

52. The Lion and the Rat.

Patience and length of time get thro',
Where rage and strength can nothing do.

53. The Pot of Clay and the Pot of Iron.

With people of your rank contented stay,
Or think with trembling of the pot of clay.

54. The Fisherman and the little Fish.

A bird in hand's worth two uncaught, they say ;
The one is yours, the others never may.

55. The Crow and the Fox.

Learn from the crow, thus cheated of his cheese,
That flatterers live by those they slyly please.

56. The Farmer, the Dog, and the Fox.

When sleeping, trust to others eyes with dread,
Lock all the doors, and go the last to bed.

When urgent business care demands,
Commit it not to proxy hands.

57. The Fox and the stork.

You may expect the like in turn.

58. Death and the Woodman.

Death comes a cure for all, we cry;
Let we recoil, and doubt his skill,
And trembling hold our motto still :
Rather to suffer on than die.

59. Phœbus and Boreas.

Mildness does more than stormy rage.

60. The Hornets and the Bees.

The workman by his work is known.

61. The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep.

Against a certain ill,

Nor fear, nor wailing changes fate's decrees,
And he is happiest who the least foresees.

62. The Frog and the Rat.

The best invented trick may be
Traught with its own inventor's woe;
And perfidy, we often see,
Returns its author blow for blow.

63. The Double Pouch, or the Animals before Jupiter.

We view our own defects with partial mind :
One sovereign made us, beggars of one kind,
Such as we are our fathers were of yore;
One pouch we wear for our defects behind,
But for our neighbor's that we hang before.