One hot summer's day a fox was strolling through an orchard until he came to a bunch of grapes just ripening on a vine hung over a high branch.
"Just the thing to quench my thirst," he said.
Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning around again, he jumped up, but with no greater success.
Again and again he tried to reach the tempting grapes, but at last had to give up. He walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour."
Moral: It is easy to despise what you cannot get.
And so, if someone says he dislikes an obviously good thing, we say the person is suffering from "sour grapes."
This wisdom is from the Aesop's Fable entitled 'The Fox and the Grapes.' It is a good example of how the ancient wisdom of these fables can be found in everyday English conversation.
The story above was adopted from the online version at www.aesops-fables.org.uk.
Copyright (c) 2011 Barbara A. English
All rights reserved.
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