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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
The fables that have come down to us under Aesop's name represent an accumulation of popular wisdom on moral and political issues. We have translated here the fables of political interest that seem to derive from the sixth and fifth centuries.
The fox and the hedgehog (Perry 427; Aristotle, Rhetoric 2.20)
Aesop spoke in Samos in defense of a demagogue who was on trial for his life. “A fox,” he said, “was swept into a gully while trying to cross a river. She was unable to get out, and suffered for a long time, especially from the large number of dog-ticks she had on her. A hedgehog who was passing by took pity on her and asked if he could take off the dog-ticks. But the fox would not let him do so. When the hedgehog asked why, the fox said, ‘These ticks have already had their fill of me, and they are taking only a little blood; but if you take these away, others will come and in their hunger will drink up the rest of my blood.’
“Now in your case, men of Samos, this man is no longer doing you any harm, because he is rich. But if you kill him, others will come who are poor, and they will steal your common property and squander it.”
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