The hungry Fox seeing a crow holding a small cluster of grapes in its beak, and seeing that his entreaties to the crow to share some her bounty with him were ignored, tried a different approach.
“Oh beautiful crow, how your feathers shimmer in the sun. How often have I enjoyed your song; could I not hear your lovely song now, to help ease my loneliness and the sorrow of my hunger?” thus spoke the fox in crooning tones.
The vain crow, pleased at the thought of being considered a comely creature, and puffed up with the thought of having the voice of angels..opened her beak and cried ‘CAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!’ In the process, the cluster of grapes dropped from her beak and were quickly consumed by the cunning fox who then ran laughing and away, calling out with a snear... “oh crow...your song has indeed soothed my hunger, and while your feathers may shimmer, may they now shiver at the ugliness of your folly!”
Aesop’s lesson: Avoid the flatterer who dupes thru one’s puffed up pride.
from Proverbs 29:5
A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps.
Synthesis: Having a realistic knowledge of ones faults and strengths before the King of Grace, can help one ward off and resist the flattering entreaties of those who would do one harm.
My point in all this was to illustrate thru a story what a dry static statement “Avoid the flatterer” could not. Analogies are built thru the heart of allegory, lesson fables and parables and are communicated in a deeper heart and intellectual sense much more effectively then simple dry admonitions could ever be.
PS: I did expand a little on the original fable...I admit before the King of Grace to a bit of creative vanity!
And Proverbs are not wooden premises; they are statements that are true often enough to be worthy of consideration. Using them woodenly can arise from misunderstanding, but a good dollop of self righteousness (because they can be expounded to sound so moral and judgmental) goes a ways towards that kind of misstep.
I.e. you can pretty much validly preface any proverb with “There is a time when.” That would get pretty wearisome after a while, and so that part is left off and it’s called a proverb.