There was an old man trudging along the road, carrying a heavy bundle of wood on his back.
Finally, he put down his bundle and collapsed by the side of the road.
"I can't go on," he thought to himself, so he decided to call on Death.
"I summon you now, O Death!" he cried.
To the man's surprise, Death appeared before him.
"Why have you summoned me?" Death asked.
The old man replied in a shaky voice, "Perhaps you could help put this bundle of wood back on my shoulders...?"
Death laughed, and he did as the man asked.
Inspired by: Mille Fabulae et Una, a collection of Latin fables that I've edited, free to read online. I am not translating the Latin here; instead, I am just telling a 100-word version of the fable.
Notes: This is fable 816 in the book, which is Perry 60. Sometimes the fable is about an old man, and sometimes about a poor man, as here.
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