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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Androcles and the Lion

The Ant and the Grasshopper

The Bear and Two Travelers

The Blue Jay and the Peacock

The Boy and the Jar of Peanuts

The Cat and Venus

The Crows and the Pitcher

The Dancing Monkeys

The Dog and His Shadow

The Donkey in the Lion’s Skin

The Eagle and the Snake

The Father and His Two Daughters

The Frogs and the Well

The Goose That Lay the Golden Egg

The Lion and the Mouse

The Miser

The Mule and the Prospective Buyer

The Popular Lady Rabbit

The Rose and the Amaranth Plant

The Thief and the Innkeeper

The Tortoise and the Hare

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Tying the Bell on the Cat

This is the companion book to the audiobook of

Aesop’s Fables with Colin Hay that is narrated

by Colin Hay. We invite

you to read along with Colin or enjoy

reading this book just by yourself.

ANDROCLES AND THE LION

ONCE UPON A TIME in the ancient days of Greece, there was a Greek slave named Androcles who suffered under the lash of a cruel master. When he could stand no more of his master’s punishment, he fled into the forest hoping to escape such cruelty once and for all. As he wandered about the dark and dense forest, he became aware of a host of sights and sounds that he had never heard nor seen before, because as a house slave he had been kept indoors most of his life to serve his master.

One day in the forest Androcles heard an awful moaning and groaning and could not help but be curious as to what was making the horrible racket. As he neared, he almost died of fright, because right in front of him was an enormous lion with his claws extended and his loud roars were enough to stand his hair on end. Androcles at first turned to run but noticed that the lion had not moved. Seeing that the lion was incapacitated and in great pain, he went up to the lion bravely and asked if he could help the lion in some way. The lion held out his mighty paw which was bleeding and swollen to twice its normal size. Androcles could clearly see that a very large thorn had worked its way deep into the lion’s paw which was causing it great agony and suffering. Androcles could not stand to see the suffering of others, whether they be man or beast, and hoping the lion would not eat him, he went about his work to remove the troublesome thorn. He extracted the thorn and could hear at once a sigh of relief from the lion. Androcles then bound the wounded paw and bade the lion farewell, but the lion did not want to leave Androcles’ side, so glad was he to be free from pain and misery. He followed Androcles and licked his hand in friendship.

The lion, as a creature of the forest, understood that Androcles was a stranger to his surroundings and did not know how to forage or hunt for food. So the lion showed Androcles to his own cave and provided fresh meat and fruit for Androcles to eat for many days.

A runaway slave, as Androcles was, is a valuable piece of property to his master, and is almost sure to be hunted if he runs away from the home where he is bidden to serve. Androcles was no different, and very soon a group of armed slave hunters was on his trail. Because these hunters were expert at picking up the trail of runaway slaves they found and captured Androcles easily and captured his new friend, the lion, as well.

Cruel masters in the days of ancient Greece often punished their runaway slaves with a sentence of death; they felt runaway slaves could no longer be trusted to serve their masters faithfully again, so their punishment was often wicked and terrible and made into a spectacle in front of crowds of other cruel people. Androcles’ fate was that he was sentenced to be thrown to a lion to be eaten alive—the very same lion he had nursed and befriended—but the Greek masters did not know this. They kept food from the lion for several days to make him especially hungry in expectation that he would pounce upon Androcles and devour him instantly. This would make a better show for the cruel masters who enjoyed these terrible things.

Word of the spectacle had made its way throughout the whole of Athens, even to the ear of the emperor who wished to see the event for himself. And so the emperor and his entire court took up a whole wing of the coliseum to watch the awful event as it unfolded. Androcles, bound in chains, was dragged into the middle of the arena, where the crowd booed him and made catcalls in ridicule. The lion, who by now was truly starving, was released from his cage and he immediately saw a man standing in the middle of an open arena. “Food! At last!” said the lion to himself, because, after all, humans are a food source for lions. The lion was up on Androcles instantly and was opening his great jaws to take a delicious bite of human when all at once he recognized Androcles, the brave man who had saved him from such pain and misery. But the lion did not close his jaws or drop Androcles from his great paws. Instead he licked Androcles in the face and held him fast to his enormous and furry body in a big lion’s hug.

The emperor, and indeed his whole court, exclaimed in amazement at what they had just seen. The emperor waved his hand and demanded to see Androcles.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked Androcles pointedly. “Why does this lion not eat you?”

Androcles bowed and patiently explained the entire story to the emperor and did not leave out the part about his cruel master. The emperor was greatly moved by the story and even shed tears because his heart was so touched. He commanded that Androcles was to be a free man and a citizen of the Greek empire and should be released at once. He fed the lion and Androcles the steaks that were meant for his own emperor’s table that day and allowed the lion to return to his rightful place, the kingdom of the forest where Androcles visited the lion many, many times during the rest of his life.

The moral of the story is: Gratitude is the mark of true nobility.

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER