Skip to content
Fables Chapter 4 - The Sick Man and the Fireman artwork

Fables Chapter 4 - The Sick Man and the Fireman

The Robert Louis Stevenson Library

October 14, 2026

In which a fireman encounters a sick man in a burning house who insists that the strong should be saved before the weak, prompting a thoughtful discourse on strength and service.

Speakers Robert Louis Stevenson

TopicsFiction

Robert Louis Stevenson (0:00)

Section 4 Of Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson The Slipperfox Recordings in the Public Domain Read by Ben Tucker The Sick Man and the Fireman There was once a sick man in a burning house to whom there entered a fireman. Do not save me, said the sick man. Save those who are strong.

Will you kindly tell me why? inquired the fireman, for he was a civil fellow. Nothing could possibly be fairer, said the sick man. The strong should be preferred in all cases, because they are of more service in the world. The fireman pondered a while, for he was a man of some philosophy. Granted, said he at last, as a part of the rue fell in, but for the sake of conversation, what would you lay down as the proper service of the strong? Nothing can possibly be easier, returned the sick man. The proper service of the strong is to help the weak.

Again the fireman reflected, for there was nothing hasty about this excellent creature. I could forgive you for being sick, he said at last, as a portion of the wall fell out. But I could not bear your being such a fool. And with that he heaved up his fireman's axe, for he was imminently just, and clove the sick man to the bed.

End of section 4 The Sick Man and the Fireman

Thousands of transcripts fetched by people building searchable podcast archives

Fetch the whole transcript

The demo key returns a sample episode in full, no card needed:

request
curl -H "x-api-key: pt_demo" \
  https://spoken.md/transcripts/1000651996090

Markdown with the speakers named, for your notes, your knowledge base, or anything that makes HTTP calls.

From $0.10 per transcript. No subscription. Credits never expire. Prices exclude VAT, added at checkout for EU customers. Not what you expected? Email us within 14 days with 20 or fewer credits used and we refund the pack in full.

Using your own key:

request
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY" \
  https://spoken.md/transcripts/1000796359410