The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat

Aesop

The Dolphins quarrelled with the Whales, and before very long they began fighting with one another.

The battle was very fierce, and had lasted some time without any sign of coming to an end, when a Sprat thought that perhaps he could stop it; so he stepped in and tried to persuade them to give up fighting and make friends.

But one of the Dolphins said to him contemptuously, “We would rather go on fighting till we’re all killed than be reconciled by a Sprat like you!”

From Aesop’s Fables: a new translation by V.S. Vernon Jones, with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton and illustrations by Arthur Rackham. 1912 edition. This work is in the public domain.