# The Boy and the Snails explained — Aesop's Fables

> Chapter companion for Aesop's Fables by Aesop.

## What happens

A farmer's boy collects snails to roast over a fire, but when the snails retreat into their shells and hiss from the heat, the boy scolds them for whistling while their homes are burning.

## Themes in this chapter

### Human Nature and Vice

The boy's hypocrisy in blaming the snails for reacting to the fire he himself set highlights human tendency to ignore one's own role in causing suffering.

## Character check-ins

### The Boy

The farmer's boy who collects snails to roast and eats them, then criticizes their hissing.

## Key lines

> You abandoned creatures, how can you find heart to whistle when your houses are burning?

You wretched creatures, how can you dare to make noise when your homes are on fire?

_The boy's ironic rebuke of the snails for hissing in pain as they burn._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fables_se/chapters/the-boy-and-the-snails
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fables_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fables_se/chapters