Description

Aesop’s Fables is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through several sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and popular and artistic media.

The Fox & The Crow

One bright morning as the Fox was following his sharp nose through the wood in search of a bite to eat, he saw a Crow on the limb of a tree overhead. This was by no means the first Crow the Fox had ever seen. What caught his attention this time and made him stop for a second look was that the lucky Crow held a bit of cheese in her beak.

“No need to search any farther,” thought sly Master Fox. “Here is a dainty bite for my breakfast.”

He trotted up to the foot of the tree where the Crow was sitting, and looking up admiringly, he cried, “Good morning, beautiful creature!”

The Crow, her head cocked on one side, watched the Fox suspiciously. But she kept her beak tightly closed on the cheese and did not return his greeting.

“What a charming creature she is!” said the Fox. “How her feathers shine! What a beautiful form and what splendid wings! Such a wonderful Bird should have a charming voice since everything else about her is perfect. Could she sing just one song? I know I should hail her Queen of Birds.”

Listening to these flattering words, the Crow forgot all her suspicion and also her breakfast. She wanted very much to be called Queen of Birds. So she opened her beak wide to utter her loudest caw and down fell the cheese straight into the Fox’s open mouth.

“Thank you,” said Master Fox sweetly, as he walked off. “Though it is cracked, you have a voice sure enough. But where are your wits?”

The flatterer lives at the expense of those who will listen to him

• Contains 1 oz. Troy of .999 Fine Silver
• Obverse: A fox sitting at the base of a tree with the crow, holding a piece of cheese in her beak, is perched high above.
• Reverse: “AESOP’S FABLES” is surrounded by grapevines and bunches of grapes in the center field, surrounded by some fable characters.  Hallmark at Six O’clock.