Question

The poor horse was very melancholy, and wandered up and down in the wood, seeking some little shelter from the cold wind and rain. Presently a fox met him: "What’s the matter, my friend?" said he. "Why do you hang down your head and look so lonely and woe-begone?" "Ah!" replied the horse, "justice and avarice never dwell in one house; my master has forgotten all that I have done for him so many years, and because I can no longer work he has turned me adrift and says unless I become stronger than a lion he will not take me back again; what chance can I have of that? He knows I have none, or he would not talk so."

Which inference can be made about the farmer in this text?

Answer 1

That the farmer is selfish and ungrateful—avaricious and unjust. He has turned the old horse away despite its years of service and demands an impossible condition (become stronger than a lion) before he’ll take it back.