Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE RAVEN, THE SWALLOW AND THE SEASONS
The swallow and the raven were quarrelling with each other about who was more
beautiful. The raven said to the swallow, 'Your beauty is seen only in the springtime,
and when winter comes it cannot hold out against the cold. My physique, on the
other hand, holds up admirably both during the cold of winter and the summer
heat.'
This fable shows that the strength and well-being of the body are superior
to physical beauty or the charms of youth. |
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.
Perry 229: Gibbs (Oxford) 192 [English]
Perry 229: L'Estrange 159 [English]
Perry 229: Townsend 24 [English]
Perry 229: Chambry 348 [Greek]
Perry 229: Syntipas 3 [Greek]
You can find a compilation of Perry's index to the Aesopica in the gigantic appendix to his
edition of Babrius and Phaedrus for the Loeb Classical Library
(Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1965). This book is an absolute must for anyone interested
in the Aesopic fable tradition. Invaluable.
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