The Rose and the Amaranth

Fable by Aesop

Amaranth flowers hanging down

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The Rose and the Amaranth

The Rose and the Amaranth is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 369 in the Perry Index.[1] It stands in contrast to those plant fables like The Oak and the Reed and The Trees and the Bramble in which the protagonists arrogantly debate with each other. But in this story, the lowly amaranth praises the rose for its beauty and reputation and is answered, equally humbly, that a rose's life is brief while the amaranth (the name of which means literally 'the undying flower') is everlasting.[2]

In Classical times there were only Greek versions of the story and it spread into Western Europe comparatively late. One of the first to give a version in English was Brook Boothby in a poem that concludes

Love is the rose-bud of an hour;
Friendship the everlasting flower.[3]

The fable's moral is that beauty does not last, and that enviable conditions often have a downside.

An American musical illustration of the fable occurs as a section of Liz Nedela's Fables for Oboe and Piano.[4]

## References[edit]

* Children's literature portal

1. ^ "THE ROSE AND THE AMARANTH". mythfolklore.net. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
2. ^ St. Clair, Kassia (2016). The Secret Lives of Colour. London: John Murray. p. 130\. ISBN 9781473630819. OCLC 936144129.
3. ^ Fables & Satires II, Edinburgh 1809, p.95
4. ^ There is a performance available at J. W. Pepper.com

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Aesop

Aesop's
Fables|

* The Ant and the Grasshopper
* The Ass and his Masters
* The Ass and the Pig
* The Ass Carrying an Image
* The Ass in the Lion's Skin
* The Astrologer who Fell into a Well
* The Bear and the Travelers
* The Belly and the Members
* The Bird-catcher and the Blackbird
* The Bird in Borrowed Feathers
* The Boy Who Cried Wolf
* The Cat and the Mice
* The Cock and the Jewel
* The Cock, the Dog and the Fox
* The Crow and the Pitcher
* The Crow and the Snake
* The Deer without a Heart
* The Dog and Its Reflection
* The Dog and the Wolf
* The Dove and the Ant
* The Farmer and the Stork
* The Farmer and the Viper
* The Fir and the Bramble
* The Fisherman and the Little Fish
* The Fowler and the Snake
* The Fox and the Crow
* The Fox and the Grapes
* The Fox and the Lion
* The Fox and the Mask
* The Fox and the Sick Lion
* The Fox and the Stork
* The Fox and the Weasel
* The Fox and the Woodman
* The Frog and the Ox
* The Frogs Who Desired a King
* The Goat and the Vine
* The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
* The Honest Woodcutter
* The Horse and the Donkey
* The Horse that Lost its Liberty
* The Lion and the Mouse
* The Lion, the Bear and the Fox
* The Man with Two Mistresses
* The Mischievous Dog
* The Miser and his Gold
* The Moon and her Mother
* The Mountain in Labour
* The Mouse and the Oyster
* The North Wind and the Sun
* The Oak and the Reed
* The Old Man and Death
* The Old Woman and the Doctor
* The Rose and the Amaranth
* The Satyr and the Traveller
* The Sick Kite
* The Snake and the Crab
* The Snake in the Thorn Bush
* The Tortoise and the Hare
* Town Mouse and Country Mouse
* The Travellers and the Plane Tree
* The Trees and the Bramble
* The Two Pots
* The Walnut Tree
* Washing the Ethiopian White
* The Weasel and Aphrodite
* The Wolf and the Crane
* The Wolf and the Lamb
* The Woodcutter and the Trees
* The Young Man and the Swallow

Apocryphal|

* An ass eating thistles
* The Bear and the Gardener
* Belling the Cat (also known as The Mice in Council)
* The Blind Man and the Lame
* The Boy and the Filberts
* Chanticleer and the Fox
* The Dog in the Manger
* The drowned woman and her husband
* The Elm and the Vine
* The Fox and the Cat
* The Gourd and the Palm-tree
* The Hawk and the Nightingale
* The miller, his son and the donkey
* The Monkey and the Cat
* The Priest and the Wolf
* The Scorpion and the Frog
* The Shepherd and the Lion

Related|

* Jataka tales
* Panchatantra
* Perry Index
* The labyrinth of Versailles
* Lion's share
* Out of the frying pan into the fire
* Still waters run deep
* The milkmaid and her pail
* Wolf in sheep's clothing
* Aesop's Fables (album)

Screen
adaptations|

* Aesop's Film Fables
* The Grasshopper and the Ants

Print
adaptations|

* Ysopet
* The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian
* "The Cock and the Jasp"
* "The Taill of how this forsaid Tod maid his Confessioun to Freir Wolf Waitskaith"
* "The Taill of Schir Chanticleir and the Foxe"
* "The Taill of the Uponlandis Mous and the Burges Mous"
* La Fontaine's Fables

Translators|

* Demetrius of Phalerum
* Phaedrus
* Babrius
* Avianus
* Dositheus Magister
* Alexander Neckam
* Adémar de Chabannes
* Odo of Cheriton
* John Lydgate
* Kawanabe Kyōsai
* Laurentius Abstemius
* Roger L'Estrange
* Gabriele Faerno
* Hieronymus Osius
* Marie de France
* Robert Henryson
* Jean de La Fontaine
* Ivan Krylov
* Nicolas Trigault
* Robert Thom
* Zhou Zuoren

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