The Thief and the Housedog

Title Here (Joseph Jacobs's Version)


(From the book The Fables of Aesop: Selected, Told Anew, and Their History Traced by Joseph Jacobs, done into pictures by Richard Heighway — Public Domain)


The Thief and the Housedog (George Fyler Townsend's Version)

A Thief came in the night to break into a house. He brought with him several slices of meat in order to pacify the Housedog, so that he would not alarm his master by barking. As the Thief threw him the pieces of meat, the Dog said, “If you think to stop my mouth, you will be greatly mistaken. This sudden kindness at your hands will only make me more watchful, lest under these unexpected favours to myself, you have some private ends to accomplish for your own benefit, and for my master’s injury.”

(From the book Three Hundred Æsop’s Fables Literally Translated from the Greek by the Rev. George Fyler Townsend, M.A. — Public Domain)


Title Here (V. S. Vernon Jones's Version)


(From the book Aesop's Fables: A New Translation by V. S. Vernon Jones, with an introduction by G. K. Chesterton and illustrations by Arthur Rackham — Public Domain)


Title Here (Milo Winter's Version)


(From the book The Æsop for Children, with pictures by Milo Winter — Public Domain)


Title Here (J. H. Stickney's Version)


(From the book Æsop’s Fables: A Version for Young Readers by J. H. Stickney, illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull — Public Domain)


Title Here (Samuel Croxall's Version)


(From the book Æsop's Fables, Embellished with One Hundred and Eleven Emblematical Devices. Translator: Samuel Croxall — Public Domain)


Title Here (Thomas Bewick's Version)


(From the book The Fables of Æsop, and Others, with designs on wood by Thomas Bewick — Public Domain)


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