Perry 055. The Woman and her Overworked Maidservants

L'Estrange: A Woman and her Maids.
It was the Way of a Good Housewifely Old Woman, to call up her Maids every Morning just at the Cock-Crowing. The Wenches were loth to rise so soon, and so they laid their Heads together, and kill'd the Poor Cock: For, say they, if it were not for his waking our Dame, she would not wake us: But when the Good Woman's Clock was gone, she'd mistake the Hour many times, and call em up at Midnight: So that instead of mending the Matter, they found themselves in a worse Condition now than before.
One Error makes way for another. First, we complain of small things: Then we shift, and instead of mending the Matter, we find it worse, 'till it comes at last to the Tinker's Work of Stopping one Hole, and making Ten.

VERNON JONES

THE MISTRESS AND HER SERVANTS

A Widow, thrifty and industrious, had two servants, whom she kept pretty hard at work. They were not allowed to lie long abed in the mornings, but the old lady had them up and doing as soon as the cock crew. They disliked intensely having to get up at such an hour, especially in winter-time: and they thought that if it were not for the cock waking up their Mistress so horribly early, they could sleep longer. So they caught it and wrung its neck. But they weren't prepared for the consequences. For what happened was that their Mistress, not hearing the cock crow as usual, waked them up earlier than ever, and set them to work in the middle of the night.

Milo Winter (not illustrated)... same as Stickeny!

THE WIDOW AND HER LITTLE MAIDS

A WIDOW who had great reputation as a housekeeper, because she was so fond of cleaning, was waited upon by two little Maids.

She herself was wakened before dawn by the crowing of the cock, and would rise at once and call her Maids.

The Maids, who had no taste for such excessive tidiness, and who were kept weary by such constant labor, held a spite against the poor cock for rousing their mistress so early.

"If it were not for him," they said, "the mistress would sleep till the sun is well up. Let us kill the cock, since there is no other way to stop his loud crowing."

But the mistress, no longer hearing the cock, was unable to tell the time, and so often woke her Maids in the middle of the night and set them to work.

Perry 117: The Camel who Wanted Horns

L'Estrange: A Camel Praying for Horns
It stuck filthily in the Camel’s Stomach, that Bulls, Stags, Lions, Bears, and the like, should be armed with Horns, Teeth, and Claws, and that a Creature of his Size should be left naked and Defenceless. Upon this Thought he fell down upon his marrow-bones, and beg’d of Jupiter to give him a pair of Horns, but the Request was so ridiculous, that Jupiter, instead of horning him, order’d him to be cropt, and so punish’d him with the Loss of his Ears, which Nature had allow’d him, for being so unreasonable as to ask for Horns, that Providence had never intended him.
The Boundaries of Heaven are in such manner distributed, that every living Creature has its share; beside, that to desire Things against Nature, is effectually to blame the very Author of Nature itself.

Boothby: Avianus. The Camel.
The restless discontented mind
Change for the worse will often find.
A Camel begg'd of Jove that he
One of the horned tribe might be;
Who, to reward his foolish prayers,
Decreed that he should lose his ears.

Source: Boothby - Avianus 25.

Perry 106: Zeus and the Turtle

L'Estrange: Jupiter's Wedding
When the Toy had once taken Jupiter in the Head to enter into a State of Matrimony, he resolv'd, for the Honour of his Celestial Lady, that the whole World should keep a Festival upon the Day of his Marriage, and so Invited all Living Creatures, Tag, Rag, and Bob-tail, to the Solemnity of the Wedding. They all came in very good Time, saving only the Tortoise. Jupiter told him 'twas ill done to make the Company Stay, and ask'd him, Why so late? Why truly, says the Tortoise, I was at Home, at my Own House, my dearly Beloved House, and "Home is Home let it be never so Homely." Jupiter took it very Ill at his Hands, that he should think himself Better in a Ditch, than in a Palace, and so he pass'd this Judgment upon him; that since he would not be persuaded to come out of his House upon that occasion, he should never Stir abroad again from that Day forward, without his House upon his Head.
There's a Retreat of Sloth and Affection, as well as of Choice and Virtue: and a Beggar may be as Proud, and as happy too in a Cottage, as a Prince in a Palace.

JUPITER AND THE TORTOISE (Vernon Jones translation)
Jupiter was about to marry a wife, and determined to celebrate the event by inviting all the animals to a banquet. They all came except the Tortoise, who did not put in an appearance, much to Jupiter's surprise. So when he next saw the Tortoise he asked him why he had not been at the banquet. "I don't care for going out," said the Tortoise; "there's no place like home." Jupiter was so much annoyed by this reply that he decreed that from that time forth the Tortoise should carry his house upon his back, and never be able to get away from home even if he wished to.

Perry 133: The Dog and his Shadow

Boothby: The Dog and his Shadow
Who others' property invade,
With loss of theirs are justly paid.
A Spaniel swimming with his food,
Believ'd his shadow in the flood
A real dog; and while he tries,
Him of his dinner to surprise,
From his loos'd jaws down dropt his own;
And shade and substance both were flown.

Pratt: The Dog and his Shadow.
A dog had stolen a piece of meat for hix dinner. "Now for a feast," said the dog. And away he trotted with the meat in his mouth. On his way home there was a brook to cross. The water was very clear and very still. The dog saw his own shadow in the water. "There is another dog with another piece of meat," thought he. "R-r-r-r" growled he, looking down into the water. "R-r-r-r," growled the dog in the water looking up at him. "I'll have that piece of meat," thought the greedy dog on the bridge. So he growled again and showed his teeth. The dog in the water showed his teeth too. That made the dog on the bridge angry. Snap! snap! and down went the meat into the water, and the greedy dog had nothing but his own thoughts to dine upon. I wonder if they were pleasant?

Herford: The Dog and His Shadow
A Dog, with a choice bit of meat
That he was carrying home to eat,
Crossing a bridge, saw in the brook
His own reflection, which he tok
To be another Dog. "The Pig!
His piece of meat is twice as big
As mine! Well, I'll soon let him see
Which is the better Dog!" cried he;
And dropping his, without ado,
To grab the other's meat he flew.
Meanwhile his own sank out of sight;
Thus he lost both, which served him right!"

L'Estrange: A Dog and a Shadow
As a dog was crossing a River with a Morsel of good Flesh in his Mouth, he saw (as he thought) another Dog under the Water upon the very same Adventure. He never consider’d that the one was only the Image of the other, but out of a Greediness to get both, he chops at the Shadow, and loses the Substance.
All covet, all lose; which may serve for a Reproof to those that govern their Lives by Fancy and Appetite, without consulting the Honour and Justice of the Case.

Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
1.5. Of the dogge and of the pyece of flessh
He that desyreth to haue other mens goodes oft he loseth his owne good / wherof Esope reherceth to vs suche a fable / In tyme passed was a dogge that wente ouer a brydge / and held in his mouthe a pyece of flesshe / and as he passed ouer a brydge / he perceyued and sawe the shadowe of hym / and of his pyece of flesshe within the water / And he wenynge that it had be another pyece of flesshe / forthwith he thought  to haue take it / And as he opend his mouthe / the pyece of flesshe fylle in to the water / And thus he lost hit / Ryghte soo is of many / for whanne they thynke to robbe other / they lese theyr owne and propre good / wherfor for the loue of a vayn thynge men ought not to leue that whiche is certeyn
Ryghte soo is of many / for whanne they thynke to robbe other / they lese theyr owne and propre good / wherfor for the loue of a vayn thynge men ought not to leue that whiche is certeyn

Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
15. The Dog and the Shadow
A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water and took it for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away.

STICKNEY THE DOG AND HIS SHADOW
A DOG once had a nice piece of meat for his dinner. Some say that it was stolen, but others, that it had been given him by a butcher, which we hope was the case.
Dogs like best to eat at home, and he went trotting along with the meat in his mouth, as happy as a king.
On the dog's way there was a stream with a plank across it. As the water was still and clear, he stopped [7] to take a look at it. What should he see, as he gazed into its bright depths, but a dog as big as himself, looking up at him, and lo! The dog had meat in his mouth.
I'll try to get that," said he; "then with both mine and his what a feast I shall have!" As quick as thought he snapped at the meat, but I doing so he had to open his mouth, and his own piece fell to the bottom of the stream.
Then he saw that the other dog had lost his piece, too. He went sadly home. In trying to grasp a shadow he lost his substance.

Perry 509: The Peacock and Hera / Juno

Boothby: Juno and the Peacock
A Peacock once upbraided heaven,
Who, little favouring, had not given
To him the nightingale's sweet note:
"Whene'er," he says, "I stretch my throat,
All laugh, but stand enchanted round
To listen to his charming sound."
"To thee," says Juno in reply,
(Her favourite bird to satisfy,)
"Nature has grace and colour lent,
Enough the vainest to content;
A neck that with the emerald vies;
A train thick gemm'd with golden eyes."
"Without a voice, ah! what avail,"
He says, "the crest or gaudy tail!"
"To each," the Goddess answers, "Fate
Has given what best becomes his state;
Strength to the Eagle, form to thee,
To Philomel sweet melody,
To the wise Raven times to know,
And divination to the Crow;
Each with his lot contented lives,
Nor asks for more than nature gives."
Learn to enjoy the goods possess't;
And leave unenvied all the rest.


L'Estrange: A Peacock to Juno
The Peacock, they say, laid it extremely to Heart, that being Juno’s darling Bird, he had not the Nightingal’s Voice super-added to the Beauty of his own Plumes. Upon this Subject he petition’d his Patroness, who gave him for Answer, that Providence had assign’d every Bird its Proportion, and so bad him content himself with his Lot.
The Boundaries of Heaven are in such manner distributed, that every living Creature has its share; beside, that to desire Things against Nature, is effectually to blame the very Author of Nature itself.


Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
4.4. Of Iuno the goddesse and of the pecok and of the nyghtyngale
Every one oughte to be content of kynde / and of suche good as god hath sente vnto hym / wherof he must vse Iustly / As reherceth this fable of a pecok whiche came to Iuno the goddesse / and sayd to her I am heuy and sorowful / by cause I can not synge as wel as the nyghtyngale For euery one mocketh and scorneth me / by cause I can not synge / And Iuno wold comforte hym and sayd / thy fayre forme and beaute is fayrer and more worthy and of gretter preysynge than the songe of the nyghtyngale / For thy fethers and thy colour ben resplendysshyng as the precoius Emerawd And ther is no byrde lyke to thy fethers ne to thy beaulte / And the pecok sayd thenne to Iuno / All this is nought / syth I cannot synge / And thenne Iuno sayd ageyne thus to the pecok for to contente hym / This is in the diposycion of the goddes / whiche haue gyuen to eyther of yow one propyrte / and one vertue / suche as it pleasyd them / As to the they haue gyuen fayr fygure / to the egle haue they gyuen strengthe / and to the nyghtyngale fayr & playsaunt songe / And so to all other byrdes / wherfore euery one must be content of that that he hath
For the myserable auarycious / the more goodes that they haue the more they desyre to haue


Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
210. The Peacock and Juno
THE PEACOCK made complaint to Juno that, while the nightingale pleased every ear with his song, he himself no sooner opened his mouth than he became a laughingstock to all who heard him. The Goddess, to console him, said, 'But you far excel in beauty and in size. The splendor of the emerald shines in your neck and you unfold a tail gorgeous with painted plumage.' 'But for what purpose have I,' said the bird, 'this dumb beauty so long as I am surpassed in song?' 'The lot of each,' replied Juno, 'has been assigned by the will of the Fates--to thee, beauty; to the eagle, strength; to the nightingale, song; to the raven, favorable, and to the crow, unfavorable auguries. These are all contented with the endowments allotted to them.'


097. THE PEACOCK AND JUNO
The Peacock was greatly discontented because he had not a beautiful voice like the nightingale, and he went and complained to Juno about it. "The nightingale's song," said he, "is the envy of all the birds; but whenever I utter a sound I become a laughing-stock." The goddess tried to console him by saying, "You have not, it is true, the power of song, but then you far excel all the rest in beauty: your neck flashes like the emerald and your splendid tail is a marvel of gorgeous colour." But the Peacock was not appeased. "What is the use," said he, "of being beautiful, with a voice like mine?" Then Juno replied, with a shade of sternness in her tones, "Fate has allotted to all their destined gifts: to yourself beauty, to the eagle strength, to the nightingale song, and so on to all the rest in their degree; but you alone are dissatisfied with your portion. Make, then, no more complaints. For, if your present wish were granted, you would quickly find cause for fresh discontent."