Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
564. HERMES AND THE DOG
Perry 308 (Babrius
48)
There was a four-cornered statue of Hermes by the side of the road, with
a heap of stones piled at its base. A dog approached the statue and said
to it, 'To begin with, Hermes, I salute you! And now I am going to anoint
you, since I cannot let a god go by without anointing him, much less a
god of the athletes.' Hermes said to the dog, 'If you can just leave the
oil alone and not pee on me, I shall be grateful enough; you do not need
to honour me in any other way!'
Note: The 'four-cornered statue' was a herm, a rectangular or square
pillar decorated with the head of Hermes on top and with male genitalia
below which was supposed to bring fertility and good luck. Herms could
be found at crossroads and also in the gymnasia, where the athletes
trained.
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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