Aesop's Fables, Part 1 (Academy Storytime)
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Misogyny
1
sentences flagged
Toxicity
8
sentences flagged
Summary
Uncle Chris reads some stories from my fables: The Wolf and the Kid, The Tortoise and the Duck, The Eagle and the Jackdaw, and Belling the Cat. I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!
Transcript
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Hello kids, Uncle Chris going to read some stories from myself's fables.
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There was once a little kid whose growing horns made him think he was a grown-up billy goat and able to take care of himself.
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So one evening, when the flock started home from the pasture and his mother called, the kid paid no heed and kept right on nibbling the tender grass.
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A little later, when he lifted his head, the flock was gone.
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He was all alone. The sun was sinking. Long shadows came creeping over the ground.
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A chilly little wind came creeping with them, making scary noises in the grass.
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The kid shivered as he thought of the terrible wolf.
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Then he started wildly over the field, leading for his mother.
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But not halfway near a clump of trees, there was the wolf.
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I know you're going to eat me, but first please pipe me a tune, for I want to dance and be merry as long as I can.
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The wolf liked the idea of a little music before eating, so he struck up a merry tune and the kid leapt and frisked gaily.
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Meanwhile, the flock was moving slowly homeward.
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In the still evening air, the wolf's piping carried far.
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They recognized the song the wolf sings before a feast
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And in a moment, they were racing back to the pasture
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He called himself a fool for turning Piper to please a kid
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When he should have stuck to his butcher's trade
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The Tortoise, you know, carries his house on his back.
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No matter how hard he tries, he cannot leave home.
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They say that Jupiter punished him so, because he was such a lazy stay-at-home
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that he would not go to Jupiter's wedding, even when especially invited.
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after many years tortoise began to wish he had gone to that wedding when he saw how gaily the
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birds flew about and how the hare and the chipmunk and all the other animals ran nimbly by always
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eager to see everything there was to be seen the tortoise felt very sad and discontented
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he wanted to see the world too and there he was with a house on his back and little short legs
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that could hardly drag him along. One day he met a pair of ducks and told them all his trouble.
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We can help you see the world, said the ducks. Take hold of this stick with your teeth, and we
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will carry you far up in the air where you can see the whole countryside. But keep quiet, or you will
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be sorry. The tortoise was very glad indeed. He seized the stick firmly with his teeth. The two
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ducks took hold of it, one at each end, and away they sailed up towards the clouds.
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Just then a crow flew by. He was very much astonished at a strange sight and cried,
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This must surely be the king of the tortoises. Why, certainly, began the tortoise, but as he
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opened his mouth to say these foolish words, he lost his hold on the stick, and down he fell to
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the ground, where he was dashed to pieces on a rock. Foolish curiosity and vanity often lead to
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misfortune. Belling the Cat. The mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free themselves
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of their enemy, the cat. At least they wished to find some way of knowing when she was coming,
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so they might have time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done, for they lived in such
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constant fear of her claws that they hardly dared stir from their dens by night or day.
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Many plans were discussed, but none of them was thought good enough. At last, a very young mouse
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got up and said, I have a plan that seems very simple, but I know it will be successful.
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all we have to do is hang a bell about the cat's neck when we hear the bell ringing we will know
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immediately that our enemy is coming all the mice were much surprised that they had not sought
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of such a plan before but in the midst of their rejoicing over their good fortune an old mouse
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arose and said i will say that the plan of the young mouse is very good but let me ask you one
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question, who will bell the cat? It is one thing to say that something should be done,
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An eagle, swooping down on powerful wings, seized a lamb in her talons and made off with
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it to her nest. A jackdaw saw the deed, and his silly head was filled with the idea that he was
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big and strong enough to do as the eagle had done. So which must rustling of feathers and a fierce
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air, he came down swiftly on the back of a large ram. But when he tried to rise again, he found
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that he could not get away, for his claws were tangled in the wool, and so far he was from
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carrying away the ram, that the ram had hardly noticed he was there. The shepherd saw the
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fluttering jackdaw and at once guessed what had happened. Running up, he caught the bird and
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clipped its wings. That evening he gave the jackdaw to his children. What a funny bird this is,
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they said laughing. What do you call it, father? That is a jackdaw, my children, but if you should
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ask him, he would say he is an eagle. Do not let your vanity make you overestimate your powers.
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A boy was given permission to put his hand into a pitcher to get some filberts,
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but he took such a great fistful that he could not draw his hand out again.
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There he stood, unwilling to give up a single filbert and yet unable to get them all out at once.
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My boy, said his mother, be satisfied with half the nuts you have taken and you will easily get your hand out.
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Then perhaps you may have some more filberts some other time.
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A farmer was driving his wagon along a miry country road after a heavy rain.
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The horses could hardly drag the load through the deep mud,
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and at last came to a standstill when one of the wheels sank to the hub in the rut.
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the farmer climbed down from his seat and stood beside the wagon looking at it but without making
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the least effort to get it out of the rut all he did was to curse his bad luck and call loudly
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on hercules to come to his aid then it is said hercules really did appear saying put your shoulder
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to the wheel man and urge on your horses do you think you can move the wagon by simply looking
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at it and whining about it, Hercules will not help unless you make some effort to help
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And when the farmer put his shoulder to the wheel and urged on the horses, the wagon moved
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very readily, and soon the farmer was riding along in great content with a good lesson
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A frisky young kid had been left by the herdsman on the thatched roof of a sheep shelter to keep
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him out of harm's way. The kid was browsing near the edge of the roof when he spied a wolf and
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began to jeer at him, making faces and abusing him to his heart's content. I hear you, said the wolf,
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and I haven't the least grudge against you for what you say or do. When you are up there,
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it is the roof that's talking, not you. Do not say anything at any time that you would not say