<< Home Page | Oxford (Gibbs) Index

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

311. THE SOW AND THE WOLF
Perry 547 (Phaedrus App. 19)

A pregnant sow lay on the ground, groaning with the pangs of labour. A wolf came running up and offered his assistance, saying that he could play the role of midwife. The sow, however, recognized the deception lurking in the wicked wolf's conniving mind and she rejected his suspicious offer. 'It is enough for me,' said the sow, 'if you will just keep your distance!' If that sow had entrusted herself to the treacherous wolf, she would have wept with the pain of childbirth while bewailing her own demise.

Note: There is a promythium appended to the fable in Perotti's Appendix: 'A man should be put to the test before you put your trust in him.'


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.