Æsop_’s Voyage to_ Delphos; _his Barbarous Usage There, and his Death_.
When Æsop had almost taken the whole Tour of _Greece_, he went to
_Delphos_, either for the _Oracles_ sake, or for the sake of the _Wise
Men_ that Frequented that Place. But when he came thither, he found
Matters to be quite otherwise then he expected, and so far from deserving
the Reputation they had in the World for Piety and Wisdom, that he found
them Proud and Avaritious, and Hereupon Deliver’d his Opinion of Them
under this Fable.
_I find_ (says he) _the Curiosity that brought me Hither, to be much the
Case of People at the Sea side, that see something come Hulling toward
them a great way off at Sea, and take it at first to be some Mighty
Matter, but upon Driving Nearer and Nearer the Shore, it proves at last
to be only a heap of Weeds and Rubbish_. See _Fab. 119_.
The Magistrates of the Place took Infinite Offence at this Liberty,
and presently enter’d into a Conspiracy against him to take away his
Life, for fear he should Give them the same Character elsewhere in his
Travels, that he had done there upon the Place. It was not so Safe they
thought, nor so Effectual a Revenge to make him away in private; but if
they could so contrive it, as to bring him to a shameful End, under a
Form of Justice, it would better answer their Business and Design. To
Which Purpose they caused a Golden Cup to be secretly convey’d into his
Baggage, when he was packing up to Depart. He was no sooner out of the
Town upon his Journey, But Immediately pursu’d and taken upon the way by
the Officers, and Charged with _Sacrilege_. Æsop deny’d the Matter, and
Laughed at them All for a Company of Mad Men; But upon the Searching of
his Boxes, they took the Cup and shew’d it to the People, Hurrying him
away to Prison in the Middle of his Defence. They brought him the Next
Day into the Court, Where Notwithstanding the Proof of his Innocence, as
clear as the Day, he was Condemn’d to Dye; and his Sentence was to be
Thrown Head-long from a Rock, Down a Deep Precipice. After his Doom was
past, he prevailed upon Them, with much ado to be heard a few Words, and
so told them the Story of the Frog and the Mouse, as it stands in the
Fable.
This wrought nothing upon the Hearts of the _Delphians_, but as they were
Bawling at the Executioner, to Dispatch and do his Office, Æsop on a
Sudden gave them the Slip, and Fled to an Altar hard by there, in hopes
the Religion of the Place might have protected him, but the _Delphians_
told him, that the Altars of the Gods were not to be any Sanctuary to
those that Robbed their Temples; Whereupon he took Occasion to tell them
the Fable of the _Eagle_ and the _Beetle_ to this following effect, As it
stands in the Book, _Num. 378_.
Now says Æsop, (after the telling of this Fable) you are not to Flatter
your Selves that the Prophaners of Holy Altars, and the Oppressors
of the Innocent, shall ever escape Divine Vengeance. This Enraged
the Magistrates to such a Degree, that they commanded the Officers
Immediately to take Æsop from the Altar, and Dispatch him away to his
Execution. When Æsop found that Neither the Holiness of the Place, nor
the Clearness of his Innocence was Sufficient to Protect him, and that he
was to fall a Sacrifice to Subornation and Power, he gave them yet one
Fable more as he was upon the Way to Execution.
_There was an Old Fellow_ (says he) _that had spent his Whole Life in the
Country without ever seeing the Town. He found himself Weak and Decaying,
and Nothing would serve, but his Friends must needs shew him the Town
once before he Dyed. Their Asses were very well Acquainted with the Way,
and so they caused them to be made Ready, and turned the Old Man and the
Asses Loose, without a Guide to try their Fortune. They were overtaken
Upon the Road by a Terrible Tempest, so that what with the Darkness, and
the Violence of the Storm, the Asses were Beaten out of their Way, and
Tumbled with the Old Man into a Pit, where he had only time to Deliver
his Last Breath with this Exclamation. Miserable Wretch that I am, to
be Destroy’d, since Dye I must, by the basest of Beasts; by Asses. And
that’s my Fate now in suffering by the Hands of a Barbarous, Sottish
People, that Understand Nothing either of Humanity or Honour: and Act
Contrary to the Tyes of Hospitality and Justice. But the Gods will not
suffer my Blood to lye Unrevenged, and I doubt not but that in Time the
Judgment of Heaven will give you to Understand your Wickedness by your
Punishment._ He was speaking on, but they Pushed him Off Head-long from
the Rock, and he was Dashed to Pieces with the Fall.
The _Delphians_, soon after This, were visited with Famine and
Pestilence, to such a Degree, that they Went to Consult the Oracle of
_Apollo_ to know what Wickedness it was had brought these Calamities upon
Them. The Oracle gave them this Answer, That they were to Expiate for
the Death of Æsop. In the Conscience of their Barbarity, they Erected a
_Pyramid_ to his Honour, and it is upon Tradition, that a Great Many of
the Most Eminent Men among the _Greeks_ of that Season, went afterwards
to _Delphos_ upon the News of the Tragical End of Æsop, to Learn the
Truth of the History, and found upon Enquiry, That the Principal of the
Conspirators had laid Violent hands upon Themselves.