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

135. ZEUS AND THE SNAKE
Perry 221 (Chambry 122 *)

Zeus was getting married and all the animals brought gifts to the wedding. The snake also came creeping along, holding a rose in his mouth. When Zeus saw him, he said, 'I am willing to take gifts from all the other animals, even when they carry them in their feet, but from your mouth, I will take nothing.'
The fable shows that even the favours of wicked people are frightening.


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.