534. Cygnus et Ciconia. Cygnus, moriens, interrogabatur a ciconia, cur in morte, quam cetera animalia adeo exhorrent, multo suaviores quam in omni vita emitteret sonos, cum potius maestus esse deberet. Cui cygnus “Quia,” inquit, “neque cibi quaerendi cura amplius cruciabor, neque aucupum laqueos extimescam.”
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M0534 (not in Perry). Source: Abstemius 13. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; Perry omitted most of Abstemius’s fables. For another fable about the proverbial swan song, see #532.
