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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

385. THE HORSE AND HIS GROOM
Perry 319 (Babrius 83)

There was a groom who used to sell his horse's barley to the innkeepers and drink all evening long. He would then spend the whole next day combing and currying the horse. The horse said to the groom, 'If you really want me to look good, then don't sell the food that nourishes me!'

Note: An epimythium probably added by a later editor reads: 'Someone who wants to help his friend must give him what is essential and appropriate. No fancy decorations can help someone who lacks life's basic necessities.'

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.