Æsop's Fables (V. S. Vernon-Jones)/The Olive-tree and the Fig-tree

by Aesop

THE OLIVE-TREE AND THE FIG-TREE

AN Olive-tree taunted a Fig-tree with the loss of her leaves at a certain season of the year. “You,” she said, “lose your leaves every autumn, and are bare till the spring: whereas I, as you see, remain green and flourishing all the year round.” Soon afterwards there came a heavy fall of snow, which settled on the leaves of the Olive so that she bent and broke under the weight; but the flakes fell harmlessly through the bare branches of the Fig, which survived to bear many another crop.