Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
25. THE DOVES AND THE KITE
Perry 486 (Phaedrus
1.31)
The person who turns to a dishonest for help in times of trouble
will be ruined, not rescued.
The doves kept having to run away
from the kite, eluding death on the swiftness of their wings. The rapacious
kite then decided to try some deceptive advice, fooling the defenceless
flock by means of a trick. “Why do you prefer this anxious way of life,”
he asked, “when instead you could strike up an agreement with me and
make me your king, so that I would keep you safe from all possible
danger?” The doves were persuaded by the kite's advice and turned themselves
over to his care but once he became king, the kite began to feast on his
subjects one by one, wielding supreme authority with the fierceness of
his talons. Then one of the survivors said, “This is the punishment we
deserve, since we put our lives in the hands of this thieving scoundrel!”
 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.
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