The Sword in the Road. A traveller found a sword lying in the road as he was walking. He asked the sword, "Who lost you?" The sword made this reply, "One man lost me, but I have made many lose their lives."
Gladius in Via Iacens. Gladium viator invenit in via, dum ambulat, iacentem, quem interrogavit, "Quis te perdidit?" Cui tale contra responsum dedit, "Me quidem unus, ego vero multos."
Notes. This is Steinhowel 4.18 , which is Perry 579 in Perry's classification scheme. This fable depends on a pun in Latin - the verb perdere, which means both "to lose" and also "to kill, destroy" - which is hard to capture in English.
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