The Monkey and the Dolphin

: Aesop's Fables

A SAILOR, bound on a long voyage, took with him a Monkey to amuse

him while on shipboard. As he sailed off the coast of Greece, a

violent tempest arose in which the ship was wrecked and he, his

Monkey, and all the crew were obliged to swim for their lives. A

Dolphin saw the Monkey contending with the waves, and supposing

him to be a man (whom he is always said to befriend), came and

placed himself under him, to conve
him on his back in safety to

the shore. When the Dolphin arrived with his burden in sight of

land not far from Athens, he asked the Monkey if he were an

Athenian. The latter replied that he was, and that he was

descended from one of the most noble families in that city. The

Dolphin then inquired if he knew the Piraeus (the famous harbor

of Athens). Supposing that a man was meant, the Monkey answered

that he knew him very well and that he was an intimate friend.

The Dolphin, indignant at these falsehoods, dipped the Monkey

under the water and drowned him.



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