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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.