Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
HERMES, THE MAN AND THE ANTS
There was once a ship that sank with all hands on board. A man who saw what
had happened said that the gods' judgment was unfair: because of just one sinner
who was on board the ship, many men had died together with him, even though
they were innocent. While the man was speaking, a swarm of ants started crawling
over him as they rushed in their usual frenzy to feed on some bits of wheat
chaff. When one of the ants bit the man, he proceeded to trample a considerable
number of them underfoot. Hermes then appeared and struck the man with his wand
as he said, 'So, are you going to let the gods pass judgment on you humans just
as you have passed judgment on the ants?' |
 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 306: Gibbs (Oxford) 171 [English]
Perry 306: Townsend 145 [English]
Perry 306: Babrius 117 [Greek]
Perry 306: Chambry 48 [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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