Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE OLD DOG AND HIS MASTER
There was a dog who had been swift and strong when attacking all kinds of wild
beasts, never failing to do what his master wanted, but now he found himself
beginning to grow feeble under the burden of old age. On one occasion he was
sent forward to fight with a bristling boar. The dog seized the boar by the
ear, but the weak grip of his decaying teeth allowed the quarry to get away.
The hunter was angry and scolded the dog. The stalwart old hound said to the
man in reply, 'I did not fail you in spirit, only in strength. Praise me for
what I once was, even if you must condemn me for what I am now!'
Philetus, you can clearly see why I have written this story. |
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 532: Caxton 2.7 [English]
Perry 532: Gibbs (Oxford) 388 [English]
Perry 532: L'Estrange 26 [English]
Perry 532: L'Estrange 27 [English]
Perry 532: Townsend 120 [English]
Perry 532: Steinhowel 2.7 [Latin, illustrated] Mannheim
University Library
Perry 532: Ademar 62 [Latin]
Perry 532: Phaedrus 5.10 [Latin]
Perry 532: Rom. Anglicus 91 [Latin]
Perry 532: Walter of England 27 [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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