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

96. THE RAVEN AND THE BIRDS
Perry 577 (Romulus 4.11)

The raven pretended that it was his birthday and invited the birds to a party. Once the birds were inside, he locked the door and began to kill them one by one.
This fable is meant for people who rush off to some merry feast but who find that things are the opposite of what they expected.

Note: In other medieval versions of this fable it is a vulture or a hawk who throws the party.


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.