Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
ZEUS AND THE JAR OF GOOD THINGS
Zeus gathered all the useful things together in a jar and put a lid on it. He
then left the jar in human hands. But man had no self-control and he wanted
to know what was in that jar, so he pushed the lid aside, letting those things
go back to the abode of the gods. So all the good things flew away, soaring
high above the earth, and Hope was the only thing left. When the lid was put
back on the jar, Hope was kept inside. That is why Hope alone is still found
among the people, promising that she will bestow on each of us the good things
that have gone away. |
 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 312: Gibbs (Oxford) 526 [English]
Perry 312: Babrius 58 [Greek]
Perry 312: Chambry 123 [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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