Two Pots, The

Two Pots, The Aesopic fable found in various collections throughout the world. Two pots, one of brass and one of earthenware, had been left on the bank of a river. When the tide rose they both floated off down the stream. The earthenware pot tried its best to keep aloof from the brass one, which cried out: “Fear nothing, friend, I will not strike you.” “But I may come in contact with you,” said the other, “if I come too close; and whether I hit you or you hit me, I shall suffer for it.” Moral: The strong and the weak cannot keep company. An allusion to the fable occurs in the Old Testament Apocrypha, “Have no fellowship with one that is mightier and richer than thyself; for how agree the kettle and earthen pot together?” (Ecclus. 13:2). There is a Talmudic proverb: “If a jug fall on a stone, woe to the jug; if a stone fall on a jug, woe to the jug.”

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow
Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante