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The Fox and the Grapes is one of the Aesop's fables, numbered 15 in the Perry Index.〔(Aesopica )〕 The narration is concise and subsequent retellings have often been equally succinct. The story concerns an anthropomorphized fox that tries to eat grapes from a vine but cannot reach them. Rather than admit defeat, it denies they are desirable in a rationalisation that has been identified with cognitive dissonance. ==The fable== The fable of The Fox and the Grapes is one of a number which feature only a single animal protagonist. There are several Greek versions as well as one in Latin by Phaedrus (IV.3) which is terse and to the point: ::''Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked 'Oh, you aren't even ripe yet! I don't need any sour grapes.' People who speak disparagingly of things that they cannot attain would do well to apply this story to themselves''. In her version of La Fontaine's Fables, Marianne Moore underlines his ironical comment on the situation in a final pun, "Better, I think, than an embittered whine".〔The text appears on p.4 of the document at (cfaitc.org )〕 Although the fable describes purely subjective behaviour, the English idiom sour grapes which develops from the story is now often used also of envious disparagement to others. Similar expressions exist in other languages,〔''The Concise Dictionary or European Proverbs'', London 1998, (p.989, proverb 986 )〕 but in the Scandinavian equivalent the fox makes its comment about rowanberries since grapes are not common in northern latitudes.〔See the Wiktionary definition of the Swedish proverb and the YouTube animation of its Finnish equivalent: 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Fox and the Grapes」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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