Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
122. THE ROOSTER AND THE THIEVES
Perry 122 (Chambry
158 *)
Thieves broke into a certain house and didn't find anything inside except
a rooster. The thieves grabbed the rooster and made their escape. Later,
when they were ready to kill him, the rooster begged the thieves to let
him go, claiming that he was useful to people because he woke them to
go about their tasks in the dark. The thieves said, 'All the more reason
to kill you: when you wake them up, you prevent us from robbing their
houses!'
The story shows it is precisely the things that frustrate wicked people
which are beneficial to honest folk.
Note: L'Estrange's epimythium cites
the English proverb: 'One Body's Meat, is Another Body's Poison.'
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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