Æsop. (Sixth century B.C.) Fables. The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
The Old Man and Death
AN OLD labourer, bent double with age and toil, was gathering sticks in a forest. At last he grew so tired and hopeless that he threw down the bundle of sticks, and cried out: “I cannot bear this life any longer. Ah, I wish Death would only come and take me!”
