In Classical times the fable only appears in Greek sources, most notably in the Histories of Herodotus, where Cyrus the Younger applies it to Greek envoys who submit to him too late. It tells of a fisherman piping to the fish to make them dance. When they will not oblige, he catches them in a net and mocks their death agonies: “Silly creatures, you would not dance for me before and now that I am no longer playing you do so.”