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Aesop's Fables

by Aesop

“The Herdsman and the Lost Bull”

Additional Information
  • Year Published: 1867
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Greece
  • Source: Aesop (1867) Aesop's Fables
  • Readability:
    • Flesch–Kincaid Level: 4.0
  • Word Count: 149
  • Genre: Fable
  • Keywords: traditional stories
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A herdsman tending his flock in a forest lost a Bull-calf from the fold. After a long and fruitless search, he made a vow that, if he could only discover the thief who had stolen the Calf, he would offer a lamb in sacrifice to Hermes, Pan, and the Guardian Deities of the forest. Not long afterwards, as he ascended a small hillock, he saw at its foot a Lion feeding on the Calf. Terrified at the sight, he lifted his eyes and his hands to heaven, and said: “Just now I vowed to offer a lamb to the Guardian Deities of the forest if I could only find out who had robbed me; but now that I have discovered the thief, I would willingly add a full-grown Bull to the Calf I have lost, if I may only secure my own escape from him in safety.”