Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE CAMEL AND THE ELEPHANT
The dumb beasts wanted to elect a king from amongst their ranks. The camel and
the elephant were the two leading candidates because of their size and their
strength. The monkey, however, argued that they were both unqualified. 'The
camel cannot rule us because she doesn't have the guts to fight against those
who step out of line,' said the monkey, 'and there is also a potential danger
if the elephant is king: how will he defend us from the little pigs?'
The fable shows that great achievements are often blocked by some small
thing which prevents their realization. |
 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 220: Gibbs (Oxford) 23 [English]
Perry 220: Chambry 145 [Greek]
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.
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