Three Hundred Æsop's Fables/The Flea and the Ox

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THE FLEA AND THE OX.

A Flea thus questioned the Ox: "What ails you, that, being so huge and strong, you submit to the wrongs you receive from men, and thus slave for them day by day; while I, being so small a creature, mercilessly feed on their flesh, and drink their blood without stint?" The Ox replied: "I do not wish to be ungrateful; for I am loved and well cared for by men, and they often pat my head and shoulders" "Woe's me!" said the Flea; "this very patting which you like, whenever it happens to me, brings with it my inevitable destruction."