Aesop's Fables: A New Translation
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Authors
Waterfield, Robin
Issue Date
2024
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Abstract
I am glad to greet a sensitive new translation of Aesop. Waterfield’s introduction is a well informed, helpful dive into the world of fable. My only disagreement is whether all cultures have always produced fables, but that is a point certainly open to argument. His selection of 400 fables makes sense. Those interested in his criteria for inclusion will find them stated on 23. He wisely recommends that fables should be read at random. His arrangement of the fables is novel: by groups of characters. He thus begins with inanimate objects, moves through birds and reptiles, and then has sections on particular animals, like the fox and the monkey. Humans have several groups, and the last two are “Other Mortals” and “Gods and Goddesses.” He keeps to the original’s promythium or epimythium and catalogues their correspondence with Perry numbers at the end. I agree with Maria Adelman on the back cover when she describes the translation as “faithful, clear, and endlessly readable.” This was a happy find as we got ready to go into a lunch at Harry’s Cafe that turned out to be a Babette’s feast!
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Basic Books
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13660 (Access ID)