Aesop's tales #
18 - The Monkey and the Dolphin
A Sailor,
bound on a long voyage, took with him a Monkey to amuse him while on shipboard.
As he sailed off the coast of Greece, a violent tempest arose in which the ship
was wrecked and he, his Monkey, and all the crew were obliged to swim for their
lives.
A Dolphin saw
the Monkey contending with the waves, and supposing him to be a man (whom he is
always said to befriend), came and placed himself under him, to convey him on
his back in safety to the shore.
When the
Dolphin arrived with his burden in sight of land not far from Athens, he asked
the Monkey if he were an Athenian. The latter replied that he was, and that he
was descended from one of the most noble families in that city. The Dolphin
then inquired if he knew the Piraeus (the famous harbor of Athens). Supposing
that a man was meant, the Monkey answered that he knew him very well and that
he was an intimate friend. The Dolphin, indignant at these falsehoods, dipped
the Monkey under the water and drowned him.
Moral: Those who pretend to be what they are not, sooner or
later, find themselves in deep water.
