Character Index | Proverb Index
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| Character Index | Proverb Index |
Townsend version
A thrush was feeding on a myrtle-tree and did not move from it because its berries were so delicious. A Fowler observed her staying so long in one spot, and having well bird-limed his reeds, caught her. The Thrush, being at the point of death, exclaimed, "O foolish creature that I am! For the sake of a little pleasant food I have deprived myself of my life."
L'Estrange version (A Thrush Taken With Birdlime)
It was the fortune of a poor thrush, among other birds, to be taken with a bush of lime-twigs, and the miserable creature reflecting upon it, that the chief ingredient in the birdlime came out of her own guts: I am not half so much troubled, says the thrush, at the thought of dying, as at the fatality of contributing to my own ruine.
Moral
Nothing goes nearer a man in his misfortunes, then to find himself undone by his own folly, or but any way accessory to his own ruine.
[Birdlime = A sticky material put on twigs to trap small birds.]
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Tom Simondi, All Rights Reserved