Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
AESOP AND THE ATHLETE
Aesop, that wise man from Phrygia, once saw a winning athlete who was making
extravagant boasts, so he asked whether the man's opponent had been more powerfully
built. The athlete replied, 'Watch what you're saying! I was much stronger than
he was.' 'You fool!' said Aesop. 'What kind of prize do you deserve if you were
the stronger athlete and simply triumphed over an inferior opponent? You might
have earned my grudging admiration if your opponent had in fact been superior
to you in strength, so that you had to defeat him by means of your exceptional
athletic prowess.' |
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 541: Gibbs (Oxford) 210 [English]
Perry 541: Phaedrus 6.13 [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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