Two Goats, frisking gayly on the rocky steeps of a mountain valley,
chanced to meet, one on each side of a deep chasm through which
poured a mighty mountain torrent. The trunk of a fallen tree formed
the only means of crossing the chasm, and on this not even two
squirrels could have passed each other in safety. The narrow path
would have made the bravest tremble. Not so our Goats. Their pride
would not permit either to stand aside for the other. One set her
foot on the log. The other did likewise. In the middle they met horn
to horn. Neither would give way, and so they both fell, to be swept
away by the roaring torrent below.
It is better to yield than to come to misfortune through
stubbornness.
One cold stormy day a Goatherd drove his Goats for shelter into a
cave, where a number of Wild Goats had also found their way. The
Shepherd wanted to make the Wild Goats part of his flock; so he fed
them well. But to his own flock, he gave only just enough food to
keep them alive. When the weather cleared, and the Shepherd led the
Goats out to feed, the Wild Goats scampered off to the hills.
"Is that the thanks I get for feeding you and treating you so well?"
complained the Shepherd.
"Do not expect us to join your flock," replied one of the Wild
Goats. "We know how you would treat us later on, if some strangers
should come as we did."
It is unwise to treat old friends badly for the sake of new
ones.
A Bull once escaped from a Lion by entering a cave which the
Goatherds used to house their flocks in stormy weather and at night.
It happened that one of the Goats had been left behind, and the Bull
had no sooner got inside than this Goat lowered his head and made a
rush at him, butting him with his horns. As the Lion was still
prowling outside the entrance to the cave, the Bull had to submit to
the insult.
"Do not think," he said, "that I submit to your cowardly treatment
because I am afraid of you. When that Lion leaves, I'll teach you a
lesson you won't forget."
It is wicked to take advantage of another's distress.
From Library of Congress Aesop Fables website