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Perry's Index to the Aesopica

Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:

THE HARE AND THE COWHERD

A swift-footed hare was fleeing from a hunter. A cowherd happened to see where the hare had concealed himself in a thicket. The hare then said to the cowherd, 'I beg you by the power of the gods on high and all that you hold dear, do not give me away! I have never done any harm to this field.' The cowherd replied, 'Do not be afraid! Hide yourself, and do not worry.' Then the hunter arrived hot on the trail of the hare, shouting, 'Hey there, cowherd, did a hare happen to come this way?' 'He did,' said the cowherd, 'but then he ran off that way, to the left.' Yet as he spoke, the cowherd actually turned his head to the right and winked. The hunter did not take the hint and quickly vanished out of sight. At this point the cowherd said to the hare, 'So, are you going to thank me for having concealed you?' The hare replied, 'Well, I cannot deny that I am grateful to your tongue, many thanks. But as for your lying eyes, I wish someone would just rip them right out of your head!'

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.


Perry 22: Caxton 4.3 [English]
Perry 22: Gibbs (Oxford) 387 [English]
Perry 22: L'Estrange 104 [English]
Perry 22: Townsend 135 [English]
Perry 22: Steinhowel 4.3 [Latin, illustrated] Mannheim University Library
Perry 22: Babrius 50 [Greek]
Perry 22: Chambry 34 [Greek]
Perry 22: Ademar 50 [Latin]
Perry 22: Phaedrus 6.28 [Latin]
Perry 22: Rom. Anglicus 78 [Latin]
Perry 22: Rom. Nil. (metrica) 35 [Latin]
Perry 22: Rom. Nil. (rhythmica) 2.21 [Latin]


You can find a compilation of Perry's index to the Aesopica in the gigantic appendix to his edition of Babrius and Phaedrus for the Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1965). This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the Aesopic fable tradition. Invaluable.