<< Home Page | Oxford (Gibbs) Index

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

49. THE SWANS AND THE GEESE
Perry 228 (Syntipas 60)

Some swans and some geese became friends and went out onto the meadows. As they were feeding contentedly together, they were discovered by hunters. The swans, owing to the swiftness of their bodies, were immediately able to take wing and fly away. The geese, however, were naturally more heavy and so they were left behind and caught by the hunters.
The fable represents people who are not whole-heartedly devoted to their friends but instead abandon them at the critical moment.

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.