Linton and Crane (1)

One of the most beautiful modern illustrated editions of Aesop's fables is The Baby's Own Aesop, with fable limericks by W. J. Linton and illustrations by Thomas Crane; you can find out more about Crane's life and work at Wikipedia.

Here are five of the fables with Crane's illustrations:

The Wind and the Sun

The Wind and the Sun had a bet,

The wayfarer's cloak which should get:

Blew the Wind, the cloak clung;

Shone the Sun, the cloak flung

Showed the Sun had the best of it yet.

TRUE STRENGTH IS NOT BLUSTER

King Log and King Stork

The Frogs prayed to Jove for a king:

"Not a log, but a livelier thing."

Jove sent them a Stork,

Who did royal work,

For he gobbled them up, did their king.

DON'T HAVE KINGS

The Wolf and the Lamb

A Wolf, wanting lamb for his dinner,

Growled out, "Lamb, you wronged me, you sinner."

Bleated Lamb — "Nay, not true!"

Answered Wolf — "Then 't was Ewe —

Ewe or lamb, you will serve for my dinner."

FRAUD AND VIOLENCE HAVE NO SCRUPLES

The Cock and the Pearl

A Rooster, while scratching for grain,

Found a Pearl. He just paused to explain

That a jewel's no good

To a fowl wanting food,

And then kicked it aside with disdain.

"IF HE ASK BREAD, WILL YET GIVE HIM A STONE?"

The Fox and the Grapes

This Fox has a longing for grapes:

He jumps, but the bunch still escapes.

So he goes away sour;

And, 'tis said, to this hour

Declares that he's no taste for grapes.

THE GRAPES OF DISAPPOINTMENT ARE ALWAYS SOUR