The Two Dogs

One dog does all of the work.


A man had two dogs: a Hound, trained to assist him in his sports, and a Housedog, taught to watch the house. When he returned home after a good day’s sport, he always gave the Housedog a large share of his spoil. The Hound, feeling much aggrieved at this, reproached his companion, saying, “It is very hard to have all this labour, while you, who do not assist in the chase, luxuriate on the fruits of my exertions.” The Housedog replied, “Do not blame me, my friend, but find fault with the master, who has not taught me to labour, but to depend for subsistence on the labour of others.”

The moral of the story is: Children are not to be blamed for the faults of their parents.


Wordchecker

  • spoil (noun): goods taken by force
  • aggrieved (adjective): frustrated; unhappy
  • reproach (verb): to show disapproval
  • luxuriate (verb): to take pleasure in nice things
  • exertion (noun): physical effort
  • subsistence (noun): dependence on for life

The Two Dogs is one of the famous Aesop’s Fables. A “fable” is a short story, typically with animals as characters, telling a moral or lesson.

Read by Tara Benwell.

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