Aesop's Fables, Part 173 summary
Part 173 of 284 · 1 min to read the part
In The Stag and the Vine, a stag escapes notice beneath a vine but exposes himself by eating its leaves, drawing a fatal arrow from a returning hunter. As he dies, he recognizes his betrayal of his shelter, and the closing moral links ingratitude with punishment.
What happens
- A stag hides beneath a dense vine while hunters pursue him.
- The hunters pass without noticing him, and he assumes he is safe.
- He starts eating the leaves, and their movement catches the returning hunters’ attention.
- One hunter shoots into the leaves without seeing his target and strikes the stag’s heart.
- The dying stag admits that he deserves punishment for harming the vine that protects him.
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What to notice
The moral connects the stag’s harm to his shelter with the danger his feeding creates.
Quick check
What alerts the returning hunters to the stag’s hiding place?
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