Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
GREED AND JEALOUSY
To become better acquainted with the baffling logic of mortal men, Jupiter sent
Phoebus Apollo from the heavenly citadel to visit the earth. At that moment
two men happened to be asking the gods to fulfill their opposite prayers: one
of the men was greedy, and the other was a jealous man. The mighty god examined
each of them and offered himself as a mediator. When they made their requests,
Apollo told them, 'The gods agree to grant your prayers, but the thing that
one of you requests will immediately be given two-fold to the other.' The greedy
man whose limitless desire could never satisfy his longing allowed the other
man to choose first, expecting to augment his prospects by that man's prayer,
thus carrying off two prizes for himself. Instead, he met with an unexpected
loss, since the jealous man realized that the other man was trying to take his
own reward. Thus, he voluntarily requested that a punishment be inflicted on
his body: by asking to be blinded in one eye, he thus condemned the other man
to a life of total darkness, with two blind eyes. The wise Apollo laughed at
the human condition and told Jupiter about the wickedness spawned by such jealous
feelings: because it rejoices in the unhappy things that happen to other people,
wretched jealousy gladly works to its own disadvantage. |
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 580: Caxton Avyan 17 [English]
Perry 580: Gibbs (Oxford) 162 [English]
Perry 580: Jacobs 54 [English]
Perry 580: Steinhowel Avyan 17 [Latin, illustrated] Mannheim
University Library
Perry 580: Avianus 22 [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.
|