# The Gnat and the Bull

_Retold by Talerie (talerie.com) from Aesop’s Fables: a new translation_ · 1 min read · ages 4+

A tiny gnat sits for a long time on the horn of a huge bull, and when it is time to fly off, it asks the bull whether he minds if it goes. The bull says it is all the same to him: he didn’t notice when the gnat came, and he won’t know when it goes.

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Once upon a time, a tiny gnat flew down and landed on one of the horns of a huge bull. There it sat, resting, for a long, long time.

When the gnat had rested enough and was ready to fly off, it felt it would be rude to leave without a word. Surely the bull would want to know.

“Do you mind if I go now?” the gnat asked.

The bull only raised his eyes, without the least bit of interest, and did not move.

“It’s all the same to me,” he said. “I didn’t notice when you came, and I won’t know when you go.”

**Moral:** Some of us think we matter far more to others than we really do.

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- Read online: https://talerie.com/en/tales/the-gnat-and-the-bull
- Author's country: Greece (https://talerie.com/en/tales/country/greece)
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q54308928
- Tale type: Perry 137 (per Wikidata)
- Source: Aesop's Fables: a new translation, tr. V. S. Vernon Jones (1912) (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11339)
- Public-domain basis: Talerie contemporary retelling (CC0 2026), based on: Aesop's Fables: a new translation, tr. V. S. Vernon Jones (1912) — translation: author died 564 BC (+70 passed); translator V. S. Vernon Jones died 1955 (+70 passed)
- License: CC0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)