The Boy Bathing by Aesop for ESL students with a podcast and vocabulary practice in real context

The Boy Bathing by Aesop for ESL Students

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The Boy Bathing by Aesop for ESL students based on the English Immersion Program with a podcast and vocabulary practice in real context

The Boy Bathing is now in the public domain available on Gutenberg Project.

Podcast of the Boy Bathing

The Boy Bathing

A boy was bathing in a river and got out of his depth, and was in great danger of being drowned.

Limpid GRE Vocabulary Flashcard at LELB Society
The boy was bathing and swimming on the beach.

A man who was passing along a road heard his cries for help, and went to the riverside and began to scold him for being so careless as to get into deep water, but made no attempt to help him.

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The man started criticizing the bathing boy without any assistance.

“Oh, sir,” cried the boy, “please help me first and scold me afterwards.”

English proverbs from the short story

Give assistance, not advice, in a crisis.

Vocabulary in real context

  1. bathing: taking a bath, swimming
  2. got out of his depth: found himself in a dangerous situation like deep water
  3. scold: chide, criticize, admonish
  4. attempt: effort, try
  5. assistance: help, aid, support
  6. crisis: dangerous or worrying situation

Questions and answers

Answer the following questions in the comment box below.

  1. Why was the boy in danger in this fable?
  2. What mistake did the traveler make in his response to the boy?
  3. What lesson is Aesop trying to teach us through the story of the boy bathing?

6 thoughts on “The Boy Bathing by Aesop for ESL Students”

  1. I think the poor kid was right because the guy didn’t help but also scold him for bathing dangerously in the river and getting drowned. So probably the meaning of the story is if you are not going to help, you also shouldn’t scold others.

    • That’s precisely right. According to the central message of this Aesop’s fable, if you cannot make any contribution, at least don’t aggravate the situation. The critical man’s attitude was just adding insult to injury.

  2. Some people always are ready to criticize others without considering their own behavior and thinking whether they are right or not.undoubtedly scolding others is much easier than correcting our own faults.

    • The boy in the short story was in the danger of drowning, and the traveler was scolding him instead of giving assistance. The theme of this short story is that if we cannot give any help, we shouldn’t scold and chide either.

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