a jar of honey having been upset in a housekeeper's room, a number of flies were attracted by its sweetness, and placing their feet in it ate it greedily.

their feet, however, became so smeared with the honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and so were suffocated.

just as they were expiring, they exclaimed, "o foolish creatures that we are; for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves!"