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Perry's Index to the Aesopica

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

THE WITCH ON TRIAL

There was a witch who claimed to be able to perform magic ceremonies to avert divine wrath. She was often employed for such purposes and earned a considerable profit in this line of work. Certain people then accused her of sacrilege. The woman was arrested and condemned to death. As they were leading her away, someone saw her and said, 'You claimed to be able to turn aside the anger of the gods, so why weren't you able to ward off the plans of mere mortals?'
The fable shows that people often make extravagant promises which they are completely unable to carry out.

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 56: Gibbs (Oxford) 315 [English]
Perry 56: L'Estrange 89 [English]
Perry 56: Chambry 91 [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.