Aesop's Fable 74: The Stag and the Hunter

There was once a stag who lived in the woods. One day he went to the pond to drink and stood there staring at his reflection in the water, thinking about his appearance. "My horns are so beautiful," he said, "and they make me look so tall and strong. I am like a mighty king with a crown upon my head! Yet my legs are so thin and scrawny, not worthy of a king like me. When I look at how skinny my legs are, I feel ashamed and embarrassed."

Then, all of a sudden, the stag heard the sound of dogs barking in the distance. Next he heard the sound of the hunter's horn blowing. "Oh no!" thought the stag. "I must escape from the hunter!" The stag then ran away as quickly as his legs could carry him. He was soon far away from the hunter, and the sound of the hunter's horn receded into the distance.

Just as the stag thought he had reached safety, however, his horns became tangled in the branches. The stag was stuck and could not move! He twisted and turned, but there was nothing he could do. He could hear the sound of the hunter and the dogs coming closer and closer.

"Woe is me!" the stag exclaimed. "I was so proud of my horns, but my horns have brought about my destruction, while my skinny legs could have saved me!"

The moral of the story is that people are not always the best judges of their own talents and abilities.

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(image by H. W. Herrick)