<< Home Page | Oxford (Gibbs) Index

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

225. THE BULLS AND THE WAGON
Perry 45 (Babrius 52)

Four strong bulls were straining with their shoulders to pull a wagon into town, while the wagon kept on creaking. The driver was filled with rage and leaned down next to the wagon, speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard, 'You vile creature, why are you raising such a ruckus? Those who are carrying you on their shoulders aren't making a sound!'

Note: An epimythium probably added by a later editor reads: 'Bad people are in the habit of weeping and wailing when others are working, just as if they were also exerting themselves.'


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.