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

597. THE MAN AND THE SWORD
Perry 579 (Romulus 4.20)

A wicked man comes to ruin himself while bringing ruin to many others as well; listen to the following fable, for example.
A traveller was walking along and found a sword lying in the road. He said to the sword, 'Who lost you?' The weapon replied, 'One man has lost me, but I have caused the loss of many a man!'
This fable tells us that a bad man can come to ruin, but he is able to harm many other people first.


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.