Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE CROW AND THE WATER JAR
A thirsty crow noticed a huge jar and saw that at the very bottom there was
a little bit of water. For a long time the crow tried to spill the water out
so that it would run over the ground and allow her to satisfy her tremendous
thirst. After exerting herself for some time in vain, the crow grew frustrated
and applied all her cunning with unexpected ingenuity: as she tossed little
stones into the jar, the water rose of its own accord until she was able to
take a drink.
This fable shows us that thoughtfulness is superior to brute strength, since
this is the way that the crow was able to carry her task to its conclusion. |
 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 390: Caxton Avyan 20 [English]
Perry 390: Gibbs (Oxford) 453 [English]
Perry 390: Jacobs 55 [English]
Perry 390: Townsend 186 [English]
Perry 390: Steinhowel Avyan 20 [Latin, illustrated] Mannheim
University Library
Perry 390: Avianus 27 [Latin]
Perry 390: Rom. Anglicus 107 [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.
|
