Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE KING'S SON AND HIS GUTS
Xanthus, Aesop's master, said to him, 'Can you tell me why we sometimes look
at our own shit after we go to the bathroom?' Aesop replied, 'A long time ago
the son of a king indulged in all kinds of luxurious foods. As a result, he
spent a lot of time in the bathroom. And once he spent such a long time sitting
there that he forgot what he was doing and crapped his own guts out. Ever since,
anyone taking a crap bends over to make sure he hasn't done the same thing.
But you don't have to worry about that, since you don't have any guts to begin
with!' |
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.
Perry 380: Gibbs (Oxford) 567 [English]
You can find a compilation of Perry's index to the Aesopica in the gigantic appendix to his
edition of Babrius and Phaedrus for the Loeb Classical Library
(Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1965). This book is an absolute must for anyone interested
in the Aesopic fable tradition. Invaluable.
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