The Fly and the Moth (Greek Folk Tale)

A Fly alighted one night upon a pot of honey, and finding it very much to his taste, began to eat it along the edges.

Little by little, however, he had soon crept away from the edge and into the jar, until at last he found himself stuck fast. His legs and wings had become so smeared with the honey that he could not use them.

Just then a Moth flew by, and seeing him struggling there, said: “Oh, you foolish Fly! Were you so greedy as to be caught like that? Your appetite was too much for you.”

The poor Fly had nothing to say in reply. What the Moth said was true. But by and by, when evening came, he saw the Moth flying round a lighted candle in the giddiest way, and each time a little closer to the flame, until at last he flew straight into it and was burned.

“What!” said the Fly, “are you foolish, too? You found fault with me for being too fond of honey; yet all your wisdom did not keep you from playing with fire.” It is sometimes easier to see the foolishness of others than to detect our own.