Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
402. THE PIG AND THE WOLF
Perry (Odo
30a)
Once upon a time, the lion held a banquet for all the other animals.
He invited every possible creature and gave them all kinds of meat dishes
to eat and many other fine foods. When the party was over, the animals
went back to their homes. Along the way, the wolf Ysengrimus found the
pig eating some swill. The pig said, 'Where have you been, wolf?' The
wolf said, 'I'm on my way home from the lion's royal banquet. And what
about you: weren't you there too?' The pig asked, 'Were there nice things
to eat and many fine foods?' The wolf replied, 'Yes indeed: there were
many wonderful dishes, very well prepared.' The pig asked, 'Was there
swill to eat? And chaff?' The wolf exclaimed, 'What are you talking about,
you wretched creature! God forbid there would be such vile stuff placed
on the table at a banquet like that!'
Note: The name of the wolf, Ysengrimus, is taken from the medieval
beast epic tradition (in other fables, Odo uses beast-epic names for
the fox, Reinardus, and the cat, Tebertus).
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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