The Fir-tree and the Bramble by Aesop for ESL students with a podcast and vocabulary practice in real context
The Fir-tree and the Bramble is now in the public domain available on Gutenberg Project.
Podcast of the Fir-tree and the Bramble
The Fir-tree and the Bramble
A fir-tree was boasting to a bramble, and said, somewhat contemptuously, “You poor creature, you are of no use whatever. Now, look at me: I am useful for all sorts of things, particularly when men build houses; they can’t do without me then.”
- fir: a tree with needle-shaped leaves that do not fall off in winter
- boast: to overemphasize one’s possessions or accomplishments, brag
- bramble: a wild blackberry bush
- contemptuously: disdainfully, scornfully
But the bramble replied, “Ah, that’s all very well: but you wait till they come with axes and saws to cut you down, and then you’ll wish you were a bramble and not a fir.”
- saw: a tool that is used for cutting wood
Better poverty without a care than wealth with its many obligations.
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