Character Index | Proverb Index

The Belly and The Members

One day it occurred to the Members of the Body that they were doing all the work while the Belly had all the food. So they held a meeting and decided to strike till the Belly consented to its proper share of the work. For a day or two, the Hands refused to take the food, the Mouth refused to receive it, and the Teeth had no work to do. After a day or two the Members began to find that they themselves were in poor condition: the Hands could hardly move, and the Mouth was parched and dry, while the Legs were unable to support the rest. Thus even the Belly was doing necessary work for the Body, and all must work together or the Body will go to pieces.

Townsend version

The members of the Body rebelled against the Belly, and said, "Why should we be perpetually engaged in administering to your wants, while you do nothing but take your rest, and enjoy yourself in luxury and self-indulgence?' The Members carried out their resolve and refused their assistance to the Belly. The whole Body quickly became debilitated, and the hands, feet, mouth, and eyes, when too late, repented of their folly.

L'Estrange version

The commoners of Rome were gon off once into a direct faction against the Senate. They'd pay no taxes, nor be forc'd to bear arms, they said, and 'twas against the liberty of the subject to pretend to compel them to't. The sedition, in short, ran so high, that there was no hope of reclaiming them, till Menenius Agrippa brought them to their wits again by this apologue: The hands and the feet were in a desperate mutiny once against the belly. They knew no reason, they said, why the one should lye lazying, and pampering it self with the fruit of the others labour; and if the body would not work for company, they'd be no longer at the charge of maintaining it. Upon this mutiny, they kept the body so long without nourishment, that all the parts suffer'd for't: insomuch that the hands and feet came in the conclusion to find their mistake, and would have been willing then to have done their office; but it was now too late, for the body was so pin'd with over-fasting, that it was wholly out of condition to receive the benefit of a relief: which gave them to understand, that body and members are to live and die together.

Moral

The publick is but one body, and the prince the head on't; so that what member soever withdraws his service from the head, is no better than a negative traitor to his country.

Character Index | Proverb Index

Comments? Please use the contact page form.
Copyright © 2002 Tom Simondi, All Rights Reserved