Aesop's Phrases

The Fly and the Draught-Mule. 218 by Townsend

A FLY sat on the axle-tree of a chariot, and addressing the Draught-Mule said, "How slow you are! Why do you not go faster? See if I do not prick your neck with my sting." The Draught-Mule replied, "I do not heed your threats; I only care for him who sits above you, and who quickens my pace with his whip, or holds me back with the reins. Away, therefore, with your insolence, for I know well when to go fast, and when to go slow."

Phaedrus3.6=Pe498, Cax2.16. cf.TMI L315.6, Type281A*

A FLY UPON A WHEEL. (ABSTEMIUS'S FABLE)

"What a dust do I raise!" says the Fly, "upon the Coach-wheel? And what a rate do I drive at." says the same Fly again, "upon the horse's buttock!"

ABSTEMIUS=Pe724, Laf7.8, Kry3.17
Maybe, these fables are based on the next fable.

The Gnat and the Bull. 260 by Townsend

A GNAT settled on the horn of a Bull, and sat there a long time. Just as he was about to fly off, he made a buzzing noise, and inquired of the Bull if he would like him to go. The Bull replied, "I did not know you had come, and I shall not miss you when you go away."

Some men are of more consequence in their own eyes than in the eyes of their neighbors.

Pe137=Ch189, Ba84, Cax4.16, CS25, TMI J953.10, Type281(fromerly281*)
This fable is, from Babylonian fables, very very old ( B.C.2000).