A Labourer lay listening to a Nightingale's song throughout the summer night. So pleased was he with it that the next night he set a trap for it and captured it. "Now that I have caught thee," he cried, "thou shalt always sing to me."
"We Nightingales never sing in a cage." said the bird.
"Then I'll eat thee." said the Labourer. "I have always heard say that a nightingale on toast is dainty morsel."
"Nay, kill me not," said the Nightingale; "but let me free, and I'll tell thee three things far better worth than my poor body." The Labourer let him loose, and he flew up to a branch of a tree and said: "Never believe a captive's promise; that's one thing. Then again: Keep what you have. And third piece of advice is: Sorrow not over what is lost forever." Then the song-bird flew away. Aesop Author of the Fable The Labourer and the Nightingale Nationality of Aesop - Ethiopian or Greek Lifespan of Aesop - He lived approximately 620 - 560 BC Life of Aesop - Slave - Author of the book of fables Famous Works - Aesop's Fable book featuring: "The Goose With the Golden Eggs", "The Fisher", "The Labourer and the Nightingale" and "The Sick Lion" The Labourer and the Nightingale Fable A Free Aesop's Fable with a moral for kids & children |