Explore "Demades and His Fable" by Esopo on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Demades the orator was once speaking in the Assembly at Athens; but the people were very inattentive to what he was saying, so he stopped and said, "Gentlemen, I should like to tell you one of Aesop's fables. " This made everyone listen intently. Then Demades began: "Demeter, a Swallow, and an Eel were once travelling together, and came to a river without a bridge: the Swallow flew over it, and the Eel swam across"; and then he stopped. "What happened to Demeter? " cried several people in the audience. "Demeter," he replied, "is very angry with you for listening to fables when you ought to be minding public business. "