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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

253. THE BEAUTY CONTEST OF THE ANIMALS
Perry 364 (Babrius 56)

Zeus had decided to award prizes to the most beautiful animal babies so he inspected each and every one of them in order to reach a decision. The monkey also participated, claiming to be the mother of a very beautiful baby: a naked, snub-nosed little monkey whom she cradled in her arms. When the gods took a look at that monkey, they all started to laugh but his mother insisted, 'The winner is for Zeus to decide! But in my eyes this one is the most beautiful of all.'

Note: An epimythium probably added by a later editor reads: 'This story has the following meaning for everyone, in my opinion: each person thinks that his own child is beautiful.' For the beauty contest of the animals, see Fable 329 and for another fable about the monkey and her offspring, see Fable 497.


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.