Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE GOATHERD AND THE GOAT
A story about a goat, urging us not to try to conceal something
obvious.
A goatherd tried to induce a goat who had strayed from the flock to join the
other goats. He was not able to accomplish anything by shouting or whistling,
so he threw a rock at the goat, and the rock broke one of her horns. The goatherd
begged the goat not to tell the master what had happened, but the goat replied,
'You must be the stupidest goatherd in the world! The horn itself will proclaim
the deed, even if I remain silent.'
Only an utter fool would try to hide what is obvious for all to see. |
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 280: Gibbs (Oxford) 389 [English]
Perry 280: Townsend 37 [English]
Perry 280: Aphthonius 5 [Greek]
Perry 280: Babrius 3 [Greek]
Perry 280: Chambry 15 [Greek]
Perry 280: Phaedrus 6.24 [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.
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