Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE OWL AND THE OTHER BIRDS
Since the owl was a wise bird, she advised the other birds when the first oak
tree sprouted that they should not allow it to grow. If they didn't uproot the
tree at all costs, it would produce an inescapable substance, birdlime, that
would bring about their death and destruction. Later on, when the people began
to sow flaw, the owl told the birds that they should pluck out the flax seed,
since it was also going to wreak havoc on the birds. The third time the owl
saw a man with a bow and she said that the man would overtake them with their
own feathers: although the man walked on foot he would be able to launch arrows
with wings. Each time the birds refused to heed the owl's advice. They acted
as if she were crazy and said she was out of her mind. As things turned out,
the birds discovered, much to their surprise, that the owl had been right all
along. Therefore, whenever any other bird encounters the owl, they now treat
her with reverence, as if she were an expert in everything. But the owl does
not give them advice any more; she only complains. |
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.
In Perry 437, the owl warns the birds about
various dangers: birdlime, flax, and archery, but the birds ignore
the owl every time; later they repent and worship the owl, but the
owl refuses to give them any more advice. In Perry
39, the swallow realizes that the mistletoe is dangerous and warns
the other birds, who ignore her advice so the swallow leaves the birds
and comes to live among people. (Perry 277 is
a dialogue between the nightingale and the swallow, which is explains
why the swallow dwells with people.) |
Perry 437: Gibbs (Oxford) 488 [English]
Perry 437: Townsend 242 [English]
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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