Character Index | Proverb Index
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| Character Index | Proverb Index |
An aging Battle Horse was sent to work in a mill instead of going out to battle. While grinding, he bewailed his change of fortune. "When campaigning before, I was groomed and pampered. I cannot understand why the mill is supposed to be so much better than the battle." The Miller responded: "Stop harping on what has past. It is the common fate of all to question the ups and downs of fortune."
Townsend version (The Charger and The Miller)
A Charger, feeling the infirmities of age, was sent to work in a mill instead of going out to battle. But when he was compelled to grind instead of serving in the wars, he bewailed his change of fortune and called to mind his former state, saying, "Ah! Miller, I had indeed to go campaigning before, but I was barbed from counter to tail, and a man went along to groom me; and now I cannot understand what ailed me to prefer the mill before the battle." "Forbear," said the Miller to him, "harping on what was of yore, for it is the common fate of mortals to question the ups and downs of fortune."
[Charger = Horse used in battle.]
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