Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE SWALLOW AND THE OTHER BIRDS
Some birds who had flocked together saw a man sowing flax seed but they thought
nothing of it. The swallow, however, understood what this meant. She called
an assembly of the birds and explained that this was an altogether dangerous
situation, but the other birds just laughed at her. When the flax seed sprouted,
the swallow warned the birds again, 'This is something dangerous; let's go and
pull it up. If it is allowed to grow, people will make it into nets and we will
not able to escape the traps that they devise.' The birds mocked the swallow's
words and scorned her advice. So the swallow went to the people and began to
make her nest only under the roofs of their houses. Meanwhile, the other birds
refused to heed the swallow's warnings, so now they are constantly being trapped
in nets and snares. |
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.
In Perry 437, the owl warns the birds about
various dangers: birdlime, flax, and archery, but the birds ignore
the owl every time; later they repent and worship the owl, but the
owl refuses to give them any more advice. In Perry
39, the swallow realizes that the mistletoe is dangerous and warns
the other birds, who ignore her advice so the swallow leaves the birds
and comes to live among people. (Perry 277 is
a dialogue between the nightingale and the swallow, which is explains
why the swallow dwells with people.) |
Perry 39: Caxton 1.20 [English]
Perry 39: Gibbs (Oxford) 487 [English]
Perry 39: Jacobs 12 [English]
Perry 39: L'Estrange 17 [English]
Perry 39: Steinhowel 1.20 [Latin, illustrated] Mannheim
University Library
Perry 39: Chambry 349 [Greek]
Perry 39: Ademar 20 [Latin]
Perry 39: Rom. Anglicus 18 [Latin]
Perry 39: Rom. Nil. (metrica) 16 [Latin]
Perry 39: Rom. Nil. (rhythmica) 1.18
[Latin]
Perry 39: Walter of England 20 [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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