The World’s Wit and Humor: An Encyclopedia in 15 Volumes. 1906.
Ivan Krylov (17681844)The Swan, the Pike, and the Crab
From the “Fables”
W
They work without accord;
And naught but trouble doth result,
Although they all work hard.
Resolved a load to haul;
All three were harnessed to the cart,
And pulled together all.
But though they pulled with all their might,
The cart-load on the bank stuck tight.
The swan pulled upward to the skies;
The crab did backward crawl;
The pike made for the water straight—
It proved no use at all!
’Tis not for me to say;
But this I know: the load is there
Unto this very day.