● Ṡeяεиiτч . . ☆
05-09-2014, 11:56 AM
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Everyday Expressions That Came from Aesop
Aesop: we’ve all heard the name, and most of us are familiar with
at least a few of his fables with the anthropomorphized animals
facing extremely unrealistic yet entertaining dilemmas.
There is no concrete evidence that the ancient Greek moralist
and former slave we call Aesop ever wrote down any of his stories, nor is there even proof that he actually existed at all.
But the wisdom
and warnings offered up by the morals of his many popular tales have survived more than two millennia, weaseling
their way into the English language as
common everyday expressions.
Here are a handful of Aesop’s most popular
contributions that we still use today,
along with a taste of the stories
that spawned them
. “Quality, not quantity.”—From
“The Lioness and the Vixen”
A mother fox and lioness were boasting to each other about their young when the fox pointed out that where
she gave birth to a litter of cubs each time,
the lioness had only one. “But that one is a lion,”
responded the lioness. Checkmate.
. “Honesty is the best policy.”—
From the tale “Mercury and the Woodsman”
A woodsman lost his axe in a river and Mercury (the one with the wings on his shoes) appeared to retrieve it. Mercury
offered the woodsman an axe made of silver and
another made of gold before offering the man his own and, since
the man admitted that the first two were not his,
he was given all three axes as a reward.
When a friend heard this story, he dropped
his own axe into the same river. Smart.
Mercury appeared again but this
time the friend claimed the golden axe as his own,
which disgusted him so much that he returned all three tools back
to the bottom of the river, leaving the man empty-handed
.
. “Pride comes before a fall.”—
From “The Eagle and the Cockerels”
Two cocks were fighting for control of a roost.
When it was over, the loser of the battle went and hid himself in
a dark corner while the winner climbed atop
the barn and began to crow where he was promptly
snatched up by a hungry eagle.
.
. “Revenge is a Two-Edged Sword.”
—From “The Farmer and the Fox”
A farmer was fed up with a fox prowling his hen house
at night and so set out for revenge. He trapped the fox and tied some
tinder to his tail which he then set ablaze. In a panic, the fox set off at a run and, making his way through the farmer’s corn
field, burned the farmer’s entire harvest to the ground
.
. “It’s easy to kick a man when he’s down.”
—From “The Dogs and the Fox”.
A fox came across some dogs gnawing on a lion skin and said (paraphrased) “ that lion
would kill you all if it wasn’t dead already.”
7. To take the “lion’s share.”
—From “The Lion, the Fox, and the donkey”
A lion, a fox, and a donkey went hunting together
and set to divide the spoils of their efforts between them. First, the donkey divided the goods into three even piles,
at which point the lion attacked and devoured him, then asked the fox to divide the food. The fox, taking a lesson from the donkey, gave the lion nearly all of the game
and set aside a meager portion for himself, which pleased the lion, who then allowed the fox to live. Another lesson
?gleaned from this tale
"Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others."
. “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
—From “The Crow and the Pitcher”
A thirsty crow happened upon a tall pitcher, inside of which was a small quantity of water that he could not reach.
The crow, apparently a genius bird, gathered a crop
of stones and dropped them one by one into
the pitcher until the water level had was high
enough for him to drink. Ahh
.
. “Look before you leap.”
—From “The Fox and the Goat”
A fox found himself trapped in a well and so he coaxed a goat down with him into the water below.
When the goat reached the bottom of the well
the fox climbed on his back and out of his prison,
leaving the goat to suffer his fate alone.
. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
—From “The Hawk and the Nightingale”
A nightingale was caught in the talons of a hawk and
pled for his life, saying that the hawk ought to let him go
and pursue much larger birds that might have
a better shot at slaking his hunger. “I should indeed have lost my senses,”
said the hawk, “If I should let go food ready to my hand, for the sake of pursuing birds which are not yet even within sight.”
And he ate him.
. “One good turn deserves another.”—
From “The Serpent and the Eagle”
A snake and an eagle were locked in a life-and-death battle when a countryman came upon them and freed the eagle
from the serpent’s grasp. As retribution, the snake spat venom into the man’s drinking horn and, as he went to drink,
the grateful eagle knocked the poisoned drink from
his hand and onto the ground below.
The man was probably just ticked about his drink,
though, if you think about it. Unless he spoke eagle.
. “Fair weather friends are not much worth.
”—From “The Swallow and the Crow”
In the story, a swallow and crow were arguing over who had the superior plumage when the crow ended the discussion
by pointing out that, though the swallow’s feathers
were pretty, his kept him from freezing during the winter.
The crow then dropped the mic and walked off the stage.
. “Slow and steady wins the race.”
—From “The Hare and the Tortoise”
Stop me if you’ve heard this one...You have? So
you know the turtle wins the race despite
the hare's incredible speed? Thought so. Moving on, then
.
. “Out of the frying pan, into the fire.”
—From “The Stag and the Lion”
No surprise ending here—a stag took refuge in a cave
to hide from a pack of dogs that were on his trail
only to find something much worse inside: a lion.
Not quite sure how anyone can take anything from
this particular fable except maybe ‘Keep yourself out
of strange caves if you don’t want to get eaten by a lion.’
Still, it’s pretty sound advice.
.
.
I hope that you like the topic
Everyday Expressions That Came from Aesop
Aesop: we’ve all heard the name, and most of us are familiar with
at least a few of his fables with the anthropomorphized animals
facing extremely unrealistic yet entertaining dilemmas.
There is no concrete evidence that the ancient Greek moralist
and former slave we call Aesop ever wrote down any of his stories, nor is there even proof that he actually existed at all.
But the wisdom
and warnings offered up by the morals of his many popular tales have survived more than two millennia, weaseling
their way into the English language as
common everyday expressions.
Here are a handful of Aesop’s most popular
contributions that we still use today,
along with a taste of the stories
that spawned them
. “Quality, not quantity.”—From
“The Lioness and the Vixen”
A mother fox and lioness were boasting to each other about their young when the fox pointed out that where
she gave birth to a litter of cubs each time,
the lioness had only one. “But that one is a lion,”
responded the lioness. Checkmate.
. “Honesty is the best policy.”—
From the tale “Mercury and the Woodsman”
A woodsman lost his axe in a river and Mercury (the one with the wings on his shoes) appeared to retrieve it. Mercury
offered the woodsman an axe made of silver and
another made of gold before offering the man his own and, since
the man admitted that the first two were not his,
he was given all three axes as a reward.
When a friend heard this story, he dropped
his own axe into the same river. Smart.
Mercury appeared again but this
time the friend claimed the golden axe as his own,
which disgusted him so much that he returned all three tools back
to the bottom of the river, leaving the man empty-handed
.
. “Pride comes before a fall.”—
From “The Eagle and the Cockerels”
Two cocks were fighting for control of a roost.
When it was over, the loser of the battle went and hid himself in
a dark corner while the winner climbed atop
the barn and began to crow where he was promptly
snatched up by a hungry eagle.
.
. “Revenge is a Two-Edged Sword.”
—From “The Farmer and the Fox”
A farmer was fed up with a fox prowling his hen house
at night and so set out for revenge. He trapped the fox and tied some
tinder to his tail which he then set ablaze. In a panic, the fox set off at a run and, making his way through the farmer’s corn
field, burned the farmer’s entire harvest to the ground
.
. “It’s easy to kick a man when he’s down.”
—From “The Dogs and the Fox”.
A fox came across some dogs gnawing on a lion skin and said (paraphrased) “ that lion
would kill you all if it wasn’t dead already.”
7. To take the “lion’s share.”
—From “The Lion, the Fox, and the donkey”
A lion, a fox, and a donkey went hunting together
and set to divide the spoils of their efforts between them. First, the donkey divided the goods into three even piles,
at which point the lion attacked and devoured him, then asked the fox to divide the food. The fox, taking a lesson from the donkey, gave the lion nearly all of the game
and set aside a meager portion for himself, which pleased the lion, who then allowed the fox to live. Another lesson
?gleaned from this tale
"Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others."
. “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
—From “The Crow and the Pitcher”
A thirsty crow happened upon a tall pitcher, inside of which was a small quantity of water that he could not reach.
The crow, apparently a genius bird, gathered a crop
of stones and dropped them one by one into
the pitcher until the water level had was high
enough for him to drink. Ahh
.
. “Look before you leap.”
—From “The Fox and the Goat”
A fox found himself trapped in a well and so he coaxed a goat down with him into the water below.
When the goat reached the bottom of the well
the fox climbed on his back and out of his prison,
leaving the goat to suffer his fate alone.
. “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
—From “The Hawk and the Nightingale”
A nightingale was caught in the talons of a hawk and
pled for his life, saying that the hawk ought to let him go
and pursue much larger birds that might have
a better shot at slaking his hunger. “I should indeed have lost my senses,”
said the hawk, “If I should let go food ready to my hand, for the sake of pursuing birds which are not yet even within sight.”
And he ate him.
. “One good turn deserves another.”—
From “The Serpent and the Eagle”
A snake and an eagle were locked in a life-and-death battle when a countryman came upon them and freed the eagle
from the serpent’s grasp. As retribution, the snake spat venom into the man’s drinking horn and, as he went to drink,
the grateful eagle knocked the poisoned drink from
his hand and onto the ground below.
The man was probably just ticked about his drink,
though, if you think about it. Unless he spoke eagle.
. “Fair weather friends are not much worth.
”—From “The Swallow and the Crow”
In the story, a swallow and crow were arguing over who had the superior plumage when the crow ended the discussion
by pointing out that, though the swallow’s feathers
were pretty, his kept him from freezing during the winter.
The crow then dropped the mic and walked off the stage.
. “Slow and steady wins the race.”
—From “The Hare and the Tortoise”
Stop me if you’ve heard this one...You have? So
you know the turtle wins the race despite
the hare's incredible speed? Thought so. Moving on, then
.
. “Out of the frying pan, into the fire.”
—From “The Stag and the Lion”
No surprise ending here—a stag took refuge in a cave
to hide from a pack of dogs that were on his trail
only to find something much worse inside: a lion.
Not quite sure how anyone can take anything from
this particular fable except maybe ‘Keep yourself out
of strange caves if you don’t want to get eaten by a lion.’
Still, it’s pretty sound advice.
.
.
I hope that you like the topic