Goat Fables

It is believed that Aesop, who was a slave, lived from about 620 to 560 BC and there is a marble statue at the Villa Albani in Rome of him. The Fables were first printed in English by William Caxton in 1484 and translated from French. Aesop's fables have been found on Egyptian papyri dated between 800 and 1000 years before Aesop's time calling into question his authorship and may will be a compilation.

The Story Of The Fox And The Goat From Aesop's Fables.

A Fox fell into a deep well from which the fox could not get out.

A Goat passed by shortly afterwards, and asked the Fox what he was doing down there.

"Oh, have you not heard?" said the Fox; "there is going to be a great drought, so I jumped down here in order to be sure to have water by me. Why don't you come down too?"

The Goat thought well of this advice, and jumped down into the well.

The Fox immediately jumped on her back, and by putting his foot on her long horns managed to jump up to the edge of the well.

"Good-bye, friend," said the Fox.

Morals of this Aesop's Fable: Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties, or look before you leap.

Modern Version of The Fox and Goat

Another take on the Fox and The Goat

The Clever Kid Goat from Aesop's Fables

The Goat And The Goatherd

A goatherd sought to bring back a stray goat to his flock.

The goatherd whistled and sounded his horn in vain; the straggler paid no attention to the summons.

At last the Goatherd threw a stone, and breaking its horn, begged the Goat not to tell his master.

The Goat replied, "Why, you silly fellow, the horn will speak though I be silent."

Morals of this Aesop's Fable: Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hid.

The Goatherd And The Wild Goats

A goat keeper, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some Wild Goats mingled among them, and shut them up together with his own for the night.

The next day it snowed very hard, so that he could not take the herd to their usual feeding places, but was obliged to keep them in the fold.

The goat keeper gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantly in the hope of enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own.

When the thaw set in, he led them all out to feed, and the Wild Goats scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains. The Goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd.

One of them, turning about, said to him: "That is the very reason why we are so cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves."

Morals of this Aesop's Fable: Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for new ones.

The Vine And The Goat

A Vine was luxuriant in the time of vintage with leaves and grapes.

A Goat, passing by, nibbled its young tendrils and its leaves.

The Vine said: "Why do you thus injure me and crop my leaves? Is there no young grass left? But I shall not have to wait long for my just revenge; for if you now crop my leaves, and cut me down to my root, I shall provide the wine to pour over you when you are led as a victim to the sacrifice."

Morals of this Aesop's Fable: Retribution is certain.

The Wolf And The Goat

A wolf saw a goat feeding at the summit of a steep precipice, where he had no chance of reaching the goat.

The wolf called to her and earnestly begged her to come lower down, lest she fall. The wolf enticed the goat by saying the meadows where he was the herbage was most tender.

The goat replied, "No, my friend, it is not for the pasture that you invite me, but for yourself, who are in want of food."

Aesop's Fable

The Goat And The Ass

A Man once kept a Goat and an Ass.

The Goat, envying the Ass on account of his greater abundance of food, said, "How shamefully you are treated: at one time grinding in the mill, and at another carrying heavy burdens";

The goat  suggested to pretend to be epileptic and fall into a ditch and so obtain rest.

The Ass listened to the goat's words, and falling into a ditch, was very much bruised.

His master, sending for a veterinarian, asked his advice.

The veterinarian instructed him to pour upon the wounds of the Ass, the lungs of a Goat.

They at once killed the Goat, and so healed the Ass.

Aesop's Fable

The Piglet, The Sheep, And The Goat

A piglet was shut up in a fold-yard with a Goat and a Sheep.

On one occasion when the shepherd laid hold of him, he grunted and squeaked and resisted violently.

The Sheep and the Goat complained of his distressing cries, saying, "He often handles us, and we do not cry out."

To this the Pig replied, "Your handling and mine are very different things. He catches you only for your wool, or your milk, but he lays hold on me for my very life."

Aesop's Fable