371. Canis Oves Occidens. Pastor quidam cani oves suas dederat custodiendas, optimis illum pascens cibis. At ille saepe aliquam ovem occidebat. Quod cum pastor animadvertisset, canem capiens, eum volebat occidere. Cui canis “Quid me,” inquit, “perdere cupis? Sum unus ex domesticis tuis; interfice potius lupum, qui continue tuo insidiatur ovili.” “Immo,” inquit pastor, “te quam lupum morte dignum magis puto. Ille enim palam se meum hostem profitetur; tu vero sub amicitiae specie quotidie meum imminuis gregem.”
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SLIDESHOW of all the Bennett images, who has a delightful way of imagining the animal characters in human form!
M0371 (not in Perry). Source: Abstemius 78. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; Perry omitted most of Abstemius’s fables. Compare the fable of the sheep and the dog, #296. For other animals pleading for mercy, see the weasel and the man, #193 or the hunter, the partridge, and the rooster, #531.
