THE MONKEY AND THE BUTCHER

Perry's Index to the Aesopica

Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:

THE MONKEY AND THE BUTCHER

A man noticed a monkey hanging in the butcher's shop amidst the other merchandise and foods for sale, and he asked what the monkey tasted like. 'Well,' joked the butcher, 'its taste is a perfect match for its face!'
I think the butcher's remark is more funny than true; I have often met with beautiful people who actually turned out to be complete scoundrels, while having known some ugly people who were truly excellent individuals.

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 496: Gibbs (Oxford) 551 [English]
Perry 496: Phaedrus 3.4 [Latin]

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.