Aesop on Pride
Parable★★★★Two ducks were preparing for their annual flight south for the winter, when their friend Mr. Frog informed them of his desire to travel along. “You have no wings,” said the ducks.
“No,” said Mr. Frog, “but if you two ducks will kindly hold this stick in your mouths, I’ll grasp it in the middle with my mouth, and we’ll all go along together.”
The whole thing was working out quite well. However, as they flew over a pasture, two cows looked up and saw the trio. One of the cows commented, “Now there go a couple of intelligent ducks!”
Mr. Frog heard this and, wanting to get full credit for his idea, said to the cows, “No, it was my id-eee-aaa….”
Aesop?.
The point
Mr. Frog's pride in claiming credit for the journey with ducks causes him to lose the very success he boasted of, illustrating pride's self-defeating nature.