Ko e Ngaahi Fepale ʻa ʻIsope
Aesop’s fables in Tongan — the 1870s translation by James Egan Moulton and Tevita Tonga Mohenoa.
KO E PEA MO E FŌKISI
Naʻe faʻa pōlepole ha pea ʻi heʻene ʻofa lahi ki he tangatá; koeʻuhí, tokua, ka ʻilo ʻe ia ha taha kuo mate, ʻoku ʻikai te ne ala ki ai ʻo hangē ko e manu niʻihi. Pea kata ʻa e fōkisí ʻo ne pehē, "Te u tui ki hoʻo lau ʻofá, ka ne taeʻoua hoʻo faʻa kai moʻui ia."
A Bear boasted very much of his philanthropy, saying that of all animals he was the most tender in his regard for man, for he had such respect for him that he would not even touch his dead body. A Fox hearing these words said with a smile to the Bear, “Oh! that you would eat the dead and not the living.”
Accepted English translation — George Fyler Townsend, 1867.