THE FOX AND THE GROUND-BIRD

Perry's Index to the Aesopica

Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:

THE FOX AND THE GROUND-BIRD

There is a bird that country folk call 'ground-bird,' which makes sense, because this bird makes her nest on the ground. A ground-bird happened to run into a conniving vixen, and as soon as she noticed her, the ground-bird flew even higher on her wings. 'Greetings!' said the vixen, 'May I ask why you are running away? It's not as if there were not plenty of food for me here in the field -- grasshoppers, beetles, locusts in abundance -- so there's nothing for you to be afraid of. I am actually very fond of you because of your retiring manner and honest ways.' The singing bird replied, 'Your words are certainly pleasant to hear, but I am no equal to you on the ground. Here in the air, though, I can hold my own. Why don't you come on up with me? This is the place where I would trust you with my life!'

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 557: Gibbs (Oxford) 101 [English]
Perry 557: Phaedrus 6.32 [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.