Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
HERACLES AND THE DRIVER
An ox-driver was bringing his wagon from town and it fell into a steep ditch.
The man should have pitched in and helped, but instead he stood there and did
nothing, praying to Heracles, who was the only one of the gods whom he really
honoured and revered. The god appeared to the man and said, 'Grab hold of the
wheels and goad the oxen: pray to the gods only when you're making some effort
on your own behalf; otherwise, your prayers are wasted!' |
 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 291: Gibbs (Oxford) 481 [English]
Perry 291: Jacobs 61 [English]
Perry 291: Townsend 12 [English]
Perry 291: Babrius 20 [Greek]
Perry 291: Chambry 72 [Greek]
Perry 291: Avianus 32 [Latin]
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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