Question

The Dog in the Manger
by Aesop
There was once a Dog who lay all day long in a manger where there was plenty of hay. It happened one day that a Horse, a Cow, a Sheep, and a Goat came one by one and wanted to eat the hay. The Dog growled at them and would not let them have so much as a mouthful.

Then an Ox came and looked in, but the Dog growled at him also.

“You selfish fellow,” said the Ox. “You cannot eat the hay. Why do you want to keep it all to yourself?”

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Adapted from “The Dog in the Manger,” by Aesop, in The Talking Beasts: A Book of Fable Wisdom, ed. Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith, Public domain.

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Questions
How does the story convey the theme of selfishness?

The author uses a piece of dialogue that is spoken by the dog to the ox.

The author compares the hay in the manger to the grass in the fields.

The author uses a piece of dialogue to show how the ox scolds the dog.

The author includes the perspective of the manger owner in the story.

Answer 1

The author uses a piece of dialogue to show how the ox scolds the dog.

Explanation: The ox’s spoken lines (“You selfish fellow… Why do you want to keep it all to yourself?”) directly label and criticize the dog’s behavior, making the theme of selfishness explicit.