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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

30. THE WOLVES AND THE DOGS
Perry 342 (Chambry 216 *)

The wolves wanted to make friends with the dogs, so they said, 'Since we have so much in common, why don't you treat us as your brothers and friends? It is merely our attitude that divides us. We wolves all live a life of freedom, while you dogs are the slaves of people who make you wear collars around your necks and who beat you with sticks whenever it pleases them. And that is not your only hardship: you even have to guard their flocks and, what's worse, when they are eating their dinner, they toss you nothing but the bones as your share. If you will agree to our bargain, you can turn everything over to us and we'll eat our fill together.' Right away the dogs agreed, so the wolves attacked the flock and killed the dogs, so that the flock could not call out for help against the wolves.
The fable shows that these are the wages of people who betray their country.


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.