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

229. THE SHEPHERD AND THE LION
Perry 49 (Syntipas 12)

A shepherd had lost one of his sheep and begged the god for help. The man vowed that if he succeeded in finding the sheep, he would offer up another sheep to the god as a sacrifice. As he wandered about, he saw the carcass of the missing sheep chewed to pieces by a lion, and then the man began to pray, 'O god, if I can just escape the threat of this wild animal, I will offer up yet another sheep as ransom for my life!'
This fable shows that each man holds his own life dearer than any amount of wealth or profit.

Note: For another fable about being careful what you pray for, see Fable 462.

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.