The Rose and the Amaranth

The humble amaranth hangs down its head

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The Rose and the Amaranth

The Rose and the Amaranth is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 369 in the Perry Index.^[1] It stands in contrast to those plant fables like The Oak and the Reed and The Trees and the Bramble in which the protagonists arrogantly debate with each other. In this, however, the lowly amaranth praises the rose for its beauty and reputation and is answered, equally humbly, that a rose's life is brief while the amaranth (the name of which means literally 'the undying flower') is everlasting.

In Classical times there were only Greek versions of the story and it spread into Western Europe comparatively late. One of the first to give a version in English was Brook Boothby in a poem that concludes

Love is the rose-bud of an hour;

Friendship the everlasting flower.^[2]

The fable's moral is that beauty does not last, and that enviable conditions carry their penalty. This message is what underlies the question and answer format of Paul Otteson's lyric "The Rose and the Ameranth" on his February Fables CD (2011), although there the lesson is drawn from the human situation.^[3]

References

↑ Aesopica site
↑ Fables & Satires II, Edinburgh 1809, p.95
↑ The lyrics and a recording are available on Paul Otteson's website

Aesop

Aesop's Fables	The Ant and the Grasshopper The Ass and his Masters The Ass and the Pig The Ass Carrying an Image The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Astrologer who Fell into a Well The Bear and the Travelers The Belly and the Members The Bird-catcher and the Blackbird The Bird in Borrowed Feathers The Boy Who Cried Wolf The Cat and the Mice The Cock and the Jewel The Cock, the Dog and the Fox The Crow and the Pitcher The Crow and the Snake The Deer without a Heart The Dog and Its Reflection The Dog and the Wolf The Dove and the Ant The Farmer and the Stork The Farmer and the Viper The Fir and the Bramble The Fisherman and the Little Fish The Fowler and the Snake The Fox and the Crow The Fox and the Grapes The Fox and the Mask The Fox and the Sick Lion The Fox and the Stork The Fox and the Weasel The Fox and the Woodman The Frog and the Ox The Frogs Who Desired a King The Goat and the Vine The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs The Honest Woodcutter The Horse and the Donkey The Lion and the Fox The Lion and the Mouse The Lion, the Bear and the Fox The Man with two Mistresses The Mischievous Dog The Miser and his Gold The Mountain in Labour The Mouse and the Oyster The North Wind and the Sun The Oak and the Reed The Old Man and Death The Old Woman and the Doctor The Rose and the Amaranth The Satyr and the Traveller The Sick Kite The Snake and the Crab The Snake in the Thorn Bush The Tortoise and the Hare Town Mouse and Country Mouse The Travellers and the Plane Tree The Trees and the Bramble The Two Pots The Walnut Tree Washing the Ethiopian white The Wolf and the Crane The Wolf and the Lamb The Woodcutter and the Trees The Young Man and the Swallow

Apocryphal	An ass eating thistles The Bear and the Gardener Belling the cat (also known as The Mice in Council) The Blindman and the Lame The Boy and the Filberts Chanticleer and the Fox The Dog in the Manger The drowned woman and her husband The Elm and the Vine The Fox and the Cat The Gourd and the Palm-tree The Hawk and the Nightingale Jumping from the frying pan into the fire The milkmaid and her pail The miller, his son and the donkey The Monkey and the Cat The Priest and the Wolf The Scorpion and the Frog The Shepherd and the Lion Still waters run deep The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Related	Perry Index The labyrinth of Versailles The Lion's Share

Screen adaptations	Aesop's Film Fables The Grasshopper and the Ants

Print adaptations	Ysopet The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian "The Taill of the Cok and the Jasp" "The Taill of how this forsaid Tod maid his Confessioun to Freir Wolf Waitskaith" "The Taill of Schir Chanticleir and the Foxe" "The Taill of the Uponlandis Mous and the Burges Mous" La Fontaine's Fables

Translators	Demetrius of Phalerum Phaedrus Babrius Avianus Dositheus Magister Alexander Neckam Adémar de Chabannes Odo of Cheriton John Lydgate Kawanabe Kyōsai Laurentius Abstemius Roger L'Estrange Gabriele Faerno Hieronymus Osius Marie de France Robert Henryson Jean de La Fontaine Ivan Krylov Nicolas Trigault Zhang Geng Robert Thom Zhou Zuoren

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