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Perry's Index to the Aesopica

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

HERMES AND TIRESIAS

Hermes wanted to test Tiresias's prophetic power, so the god stole some of Tiresias' cattle from the pasture. He then assumed human form and went to the city in order to pay Tiresias a visit. When Tiresias was told about the loss of his cattle, he took Hermes with him and they went out together to seek an auspice regarding the theft. Tiresias asked Hermes to tell him about any sign from the birds that he happened to see. The first sign Hermes saw was an eagle flying from the left to the right, and he reported this to Tiresias. Tiresias said that this didn't have anything to do with the cattle. Next, Hermes saw a crow sitting on a tree who first looked up and then looked down towards the ground. Hermes reported this observation to the soothsayer and at this point Tiresias declared, 'Yes, that crow is swearing by both Heaven and Earth that I could get my cattle back... if you were willing to cooperate!'
This fable can be used for a man who is a thief.

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 89: Gibbs (Oxford) 475 [English]
Perry 89: L'Estrange 170 [English]
Perry 89: Chambry 110 [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.