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

65. THE DONKEY AND THE OX
Perry 181 (Ademar 34)

A donkey and an ox had been yoked together to pull a single load. The ox was making a great effort, even though he had an injury to his horn, while the donkey was doing nothing to help. As the ox struggled to pull the load by himself, he soon died. The driver then loaded the ox's carcass upon the donkey and began beating him mercilessly. The donkey broke down and collapsed under the weight, dropping dead in the middle of the road. A flock of birds flew up and alighted on the donkey's carcass. 'If only you had been kind enough to help the ox pull the load,' they said, 'you would not have died this untimely death, with carrion birds feasting on your flesh.'

Note: The Greek versions of this fable are about a horse and a donkey (e.g., Chambry 141), and there is also a version about an ox and a camel (Plutarch, Preservation of Health 27).

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.