The Astrologer

by Aesop

　　A man who lived a long time ago believed that he could read thefuture in the stars. He called himself an Astrologer, and spenthis time at night gazing at the sky.

　　One evening he was walking along the open road outside thevillage. His eyes were fixed on the stars. He thought he sawthere that the end of the world was at hand, when all at once,down he went into a hole full of mud and water.

　　There he stood up to his ears, in the muddy water, and madlyclawing at the slippery sides of the hole in his effort to climbout.

　　His cries for help soon brought the villagers running. As theypulled him out of the mud, one of them said:

　　"You pretend to read the future in the stars, and yet you fail tosee what is at your feet! This may teach you to pay moreattention to what is right in front of you, and let the futuretake care of itself."

　　"What use is it," said another, "to read the stars, when youcan't see what's right here on the earth?"

　　Take care of the little things and the big things will take careof themselves.