Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
572. THE OLD WOMAN AND THE WINE JAR
Perry 493 (Phaedrus
3.1)
An old woman saw a wine jar that had been drained empty, but the lees
of the exquisite wine still sent forth a pleasant odour from the noble
vessel. The woman greedily imbibed the smell, deeply inhaling through
both nostrils, and said, 'Oh sweet spirits, I do declare, how excellent
you must once have been to have left behind such fine remains!'
People who know me will be able to say what this fable is about.
Note: Phaedrus is playing with the comic stereotype of the drunken
old woman, who was a stock figure of both Greek and Roman comedy (e.g.,
Plautus,
Cistellaria 149: 'This old woman is both a big talker and a big
drinker').
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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