Fable 46 - The Man Who Promised the Impossible

A poor man was very ill, and not expected to live. As the doctors were about to give up hope for him, he appealed to the gods,
promising to offer up to them a hecatomb and to consecrate to them some votive offerings if he recovered.
The man’s wife who was at his side, asked him:
‘And where are you going to get the money to pay for all that?’
The man told her:
‘Do you think I might get better so that the gods can call me to account?’

This fable shows that men readily make promises which in reality they have no intention of keeping.