Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
365. THE FOX AND THE HYENA
Perry 242 (Chambry
341)
They say that hyenas change their nature every year, so that sometimes
they are male and sometimes female. So when a hyena saw a fox and criticized
her for having spurned her friendly overtures, the fox replied, 'Don't
blame me! Blame your own nature, which makes it impossible for me to tell
whether you would be my girlfriend or my boyfriend!'
This is a story for an ambiguous person.
Note: In Greek and Roman folklore, the hyena was believed to be a hermaphrodite
(e.g., Ovid,
Metamorphoses 15.408 ff.).
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.
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