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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

181. THE SWALLOW AND THE SNAKE
Perry 227 (Babrius 118)

Spring had arrived, and a twittering swallow (that bird who dwells in human houses) built her nest in the wall of the place which is home to the elderly jurors of the court. In that hall of justice, the mother bird gave birth to seven baby birds. But a snake came creeping out from his hole and devoured all the chicks one by one. The wretched mother bewailed the untimely demise of her children and said, 'Woe is me, and woe is my lot in life! This is the place where mankind's laws and judgments are made but I, a swallow, am the victim of injustice and have to run away.'

Note: This fable can also be found in the Greek Anthology, 7.210, although that version is not set in a courthouse (and the story ends with the snake falling into a fire).

Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.