Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
66. THE STOMACH AND THE BODY
Perry 130 (Livy,
History 2.32.9)
Back when all the parts of the human body did not function in unison
as is the case today, each member of the body had its own opinion and
was able to speak. The various members were offended that everything won
by their hard work and diligent efforts was delivered to the stomach while
he simply sat there in their midst, fully at ease and just enjoying the
delights that were brought to him. Finally, the members of the body revolted:
the hands refused to bring food to the mouth, the mouth refused to take
in any food, and the teeth refused to chew anything. In their angry effort
to subdue the stomach with hunger, the various parts of the body and the
whole body itself completely wasted away. As a result, they realized that
the work done by the stomach was no small matter, and that the food he
consumed was no more than what he gave back to all the parts of the body
in the form of blood which allows us to flourish and thrive, since the
stomach enriches the blood with digested food and then distributes it
equally throughout the veins.
Note: In Plutarch,
Life of Coriolanus 6, the stomach puts a stop to the foolish body
parts by laughing at them. There is nothing funny about the medieval
Latin versions of the fable, in which the protest reaches its logical
conclusion and the entire body dies of hunger. This story is perhaps
best known from the version found in the opening scene of Shakespeare's
Coriolanus.
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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