Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE OXEN AND THE BUTCHER
There were once some oxen who had decided to destroy all the butchers since
their very profession was hostile to oxen. They banded together and sharpened
their horns in preparation for the coming battle. Among them was a very elderly
ox who had plowed a great deal of earth in his day. This ox said to the others,
'The butchers slaughter us with experienced hands and they kill us without unnecessary
torment, but if we fall into the hands of men who lack this skill, then we will
die twice over -- and there will always be someone to slaughter us, even if
we get rid of the butchers!' |
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 290: Gibbs (Oxford) 446 [English]
Perry 290: Townsend 55 [English]
Perry 290: Babrius 21 [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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