Greed is such a powerful, domineering vice. When we are greedy, we become so consumed by a never ending need for something more. Our unquenchable desires change us, and we become unrecognizable, even to ourselves. In his fable, “The Dog and His Reflection,” Aesop reveals how easily and drastically greed can transform us. He tells…

The North Wind and the Sun had a quarrel about which of them was the stronger. While they were disputing with much heat and bluster, a traveler passed along the road wrapped in a cloak. “Let us agree,” said the Sun, “that he is the stronger who can strip that traveler of his cloak.” “Very…

The fox one day thought of a plan to amuse himself at the expense of the stork, at whose odd appearance he was always laughing. “You must come and dine with me today,” he said to the stork, smiling to himself at the trick he was going to play. The stork gladly accepted the invitation…

A stork of a very simple and trusting nature had been asked by a gay party of cranes to visit a field that had been newly planted. But the party ended dismally with all the birds entangled in the meshes of the farmer’s net. The stork begged the farmer to spare him. “Please let me…

A lion had been watching three bullocks feeding in an open field. He had tried to attack them several times, but they had kept together, and helped each other to drive him off. The lion had little hope of eating them, for he was no match for three strong bullocks with their sharp horns and…

A very young mouse, who had never seen anything of the world, almost came to grief the very first time he ventured out. And this is the story he told his mother about his adventures. “I was strolling along very peaceably when, just as I turned the corner into the next yard, I saw two…

A stag, drinking from a crystal spring, saw himself mirrored in the clear water. He greatly admired the graceful arch of his antlers, but he was very much ashamed of his spindling legs. “How can it be,” he sighed, “that I should be cursed with such legs when I have so magnificent a crown.” At…

Two goats, frisking gayly on the rocky steeps of a mountain valley, chanced to meet, one on each side of a deep chasm through which poured a mighty mountain torrent. The trunk of a fallen tree formed the only means of crossing the chasm, and on this not even two squirrels could have passed each…

A stray lamb stood drinking early one morning on the bank of a woodland stream. That very same morning a hungry wolf came by farther up the stream, hunting for something to eat. He soon got his eyes on the lamb. As a rule Mr. Wolf snapped up such delicious morsels without making any bones…

Aesop (c. 620–564 B.C.) was a Greek storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as “Aesop’s Fables.” His tales, with their moral value, have long influenced our culture and civilization, contributing not only to the education and character building of children, but also, with their universal appeal, to the self-reflection of adults…