Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
280. THE MOUNTAIN IN LABOUR
Perry 520 (Phaedrus
4.24)
A mountain had gone into labour and was groaning terribly. Such rumours
excited great expectations all over the country. In the end, however,
the mountain gave birth to a mouse.
This is a fable written for people who make serious-sounding threats
but who actually accomplish nothing.
Note: Thanks to its citation by Horace,
Art of Poetry 139, this proverbial saying has enjoyed a long-lived
popularity.
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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