Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE HARE AND THE LION'S JUSTICE
There was once a lion king who did not have a bad temper. In fact, he never
took any pleasure in acting violently but was instead mild and just, as if he
were a human being. During this lion's reign, so they say, all the wild animals
assembled to present their petitions and receive verdicts in their disputes.
Every animal was called to account: the wolf for what he had done to the lamb,
the leopard for what she had done to the wild goat, the tiger for what he had
done to the deer, and so on. In the end, all the animals were at peace with
one another. The timid hare then proclaimed, 'Now has come the day for which
I have always prayed, when even the weak creatures are feared by the strong!' |
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 334: Gibbs (Oxford) 20 [English]
Perry 334: Townsend 9 [English]
Perry 334: Babrius 102 [Greek]
Perry 334: Chambry 195 [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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