Demades the orator was once speaking in the assembly at Athens; but the people were very inattentive to what he was saying, so he stopped and said, "Gentlemen, I should like to tell you one of Aesop's fables." This made every one listen intently. Then Demades began: "Demeter, a swallow, and an eel were once travelling together, and came to a river without a bridge: the swallow flew over it, and the eel swam across", and then he stopped. "What happened to Demeter?" cried several people in the audience. "Demeter," he replied, "is very angry with you for listening to fables when you ought to be minding public business."

　　參考譯文：

　　有一次，演說家狄馬德斯在雅典的一次集會上演講，但是沒有一個人認(rèn)真聽，他便停下來，說：“先生們，我很想告訴你們一個伊索寓言里的故事。”這話受到了人們的重視。接著，他開始說：“有一次，德墨忒爾(掌管農(nóng)業(yè)，結(jié)婚，豐饒的女神)和一只燕子，一只鰻魚同行，他們要穿過一條沒有橋的河，燕子飛過去，鰻魚游過去了。”講到這里，他便停下來，不再講了。聽眾中有幾個人問他：“那么德墨忒爾怎么過去的呢?”他回答說：“德墨忒爾正在生你們的氣呢，因?yàn)槟銈儗彩聞?wù)毫無興趣，一心只喜歡聽伊索寓言。”