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Literature · For Children

Aesop's Fables 242Mercury and the Man Bitten by an Ant

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Literature · For Children

Aesop's Fables 242

Mercury and the Man Bitten by an Ant

JonesEnglish
A Man once saw a ship go down with all its crew, and commented severely on the injustice of the gods. "They care nothing for a man's character," said he, "but let the good and the bad go to their deaths together." There was an ant-heap close by where he was standing, and, just as he spoke, he was bitten in the foot by an Ant. Turning in a temper to the ant-heap he stamped upon it and crushed hundreds of unoffending ants. Suddenly Mercury appeared, and belaboured him with his staff, saying as he did so, "You villain, where's your nice sense of justice now?"

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Aesop's Fables 241Aesop's Fables 243
Sources & credits: Jones

Jones — Aesop's Fables (Aesop, translated by V. S. Vernon Jones) (1912). Public Domain. Aesop, translated by V. S. Vernon Jones, Aesop's Fables; public domain in the US; text from Project Gutenberg #11339. Source

Literature · For Children

Aesop's Fables 243

JonesEnglish