Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
213. THE CROW AND THE BOASTFUL SWALLOW
Perry 377 (Chambry
350 *)
The swallow boasted to the crow, 'I am a fair young maiden and the daughter
of the King of Athens!' The swallow then proceeded to tell the story of
Tereus and how she had been raped by him and how he had cut out her tongue.
The crow said to her, 'If you talk so much with your tongue cut out, what
would you do if it had been left intact!'
Note: This fable alludes to the famous mythological tale of Procne
and Philomela, the daughters of Pandion, king of Athens (see Fable
505). When Procne's husband, Tereus, raped her sister, Philomela,
he then cut out her tongue so that she would not be able to denounce
him. One version of the legend says that Philomela was then turned into
a swallow, while Procne became a nightingale and Tereus became a hoopoe.
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.
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