Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE CITY MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE
A city mouse once happened to pay a visit to the house of a country mouse where
he was served a humble meal of acorns. The city mouse finished his business
in the country and by means of insistent invitations he persuaded the country
mouse to come pay him a visit. The city mouse then brought the country mouse
into a room that was overflowing with food. As they were feasting on various
delicacies, a butler opened the door. The city mouse quickly concealed himself
in a familiar mouse hole, but the poor country mouse was not acquainted with
the house and frantically scurried around the floorboards, frightened out of
his wits. When the butler had taken what he needed, he closed the door behind
him. The city mouse then urged the country mouse to sit back down to dinner.
The country mouse refused and said, 'How could I possibly do that? Oh, how scared
I am! Do you think that the man is going to come back?' This was all that the
terrified mouse was able to say. The city mouse insisted, 'My dear fellow, you
could never find such delicious food as this anywhere else in the world.' 'Acorns
are enough for me,' the country mouse maintained, 'so long as I am secure in
my freedom!'
It is better to live in self-sufficient poverty than to be tormented by
the worries of wealth. |
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 352: Caxton 1.12 [English]
Perry 352: Gibbs (Oxford) 408 [English]
Perry 352: Jacobs 7 [English]
Perry 352: L'Estrange 10 [English]
Perry 352: Townsend 216 [English]
Perry 352: Steinhowel 1.12 [Latin, illustrated] Mannheim
University Library
Perry 352: Aphthonius 26 [Greek]
Perry 352: Babrius 108 [Greek]
Perry 352: Chambry 243 [Greek]
Perry 352: Ademar 13 [Latin]
Perry 352: Odo 16 [Latin]
Perry 352: Rom. Anglicus 11 [Latin]
Perry 352: Rom. Nil. (metrica) 9 [Latin]
Perry 352: Rom. Nil. (rhythmica) 1.11
[Latin]
Perry 352: Walter of England 12 [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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