Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE DOGS AND THE CROCODILES
If you try to deceive someone who has his wits about him,
you will waste your time and be made fun of as well.
Legend has it that when dogs drink from the Nile they do so on the run to avoid
being caught by the crocodiles. So when a certain dog started to lap some water
as he ran, a crocodile said, 'Drink as much as you want, take your time, don't
be afraid!' The dog then said to the crocodile, 'By god, I would do just that,
if I didn't already know that you have a craving for my flesh!' |
 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 482: Gibbs (Oxford) 102 [English]
Perry 482: Ademar 31 [Latin]
Perry 482: Phaedrus 1.25 [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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