Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE OLD MAN, THE DONKEY AND
THE PACK SADDLES
When there is a change in government, nothing changes for
the poor folk except their master's name.
A cowardly old man had led his donkey out to pasture. At the unexpected sound
of the enemy approaching, the old man was stricken with terror and tried to persuade
the donkey to run away so that he wouldn't be captured. The donkey obstinately
asked the old man, 'Tell me, do you suppose the victor will make me carry two
pack saddles instead of one?' The old man said he did not think so. 'I rest my
case,' concluded the donkey. 'What difference does it make who my master is,
if I always carry one saddle at a time?' |
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 476: Gibbs (Oxford) 11 [English]
Perry 476: Townsend 169 [English]
Perry 476: Phaedrus 1.15 [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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