Aesop's Fables · Aesop

The Viper and the File

116 of 285 · 1 min of reading

A Viper entered a carpenter’s shop, and went from one to another of the tools, begging for something to eat. Among the rest, he addressed himself to the File, and asked for the favour of a meal. The File replied in a tone of pitying contempt, “What a simpleton you must be if you imagine you will get anything from me, who invariably take from everyone and never give anything in return.”

The covetous are poor givers.

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End of part 116 of 285