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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.