Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
72. Jupiter and the Monkey (Perry 364)
JUPITER ISSUED a proclamation to all the beasts of the forest and promised
a royal reward to the one whose offspring should be deemed the handsomest.
The Monkey came with the rest and presented, with all a mother's tenderness,
a flat-nosed, hairless, ill-featured young Monkey as a candidate for the
promised reward. A general laugh saluted her on the presentation of her
son. She resolutely said, 'I know not whether Jupiter will allot the prize
to my son, but this I do know, that he is at least in the eyes of me his
mother, the dearest, handsomest, and most beautiful of all.'
George Fyler Townsend's translation of the fables, first published in 1867, is
in the public domain and can be found at many websites, including Project
Gutenberg.
Illustrations come from: Aesop's Fables, by George Fyler Townsend, with
illustrations by Harrison Weir, 1867, at Google
Books. |