Of Beasts, Birds and Men: Fables from Three Lands

Abstract

One part of a Myths, Tales and Legends grouping of reading books by this publisher. Aesop, LaFontaine, and Krilov are mixed together; the book is a fine short collection of typical fables. (A quick check suggests that there is no overlap between White's fables here and those in her Aesop's Fables [1964] from Random House. The absence of a T of C or index makes the task of checking more difficult.) Here there are simple two-color illustrations; maybe the best of them is for A Monkey and Eyeglasses (27). There are many fables here, presumably from Krilov, that are new to me, like The Fire and the Grove (7), A Clever Mechanic (8), Fortune and the Beggar (20), The Cobblestone and the Diamond (23), The Athlete (42), The Liar (50), and The Goblin and the Miser (62). The Hermit and the Bear (10) has a good moral, A helpful fool is more dangerous than a foe, as does The Mosquito and the Shepherd (35): When a humble person tries to open a great one's eyes to truth, he cannot be certain of gratitude. Different: the lion has the wolf (not the ass) and the fox as partners dividing spoil (29), and the ox (not the ass) is the scapegoat in the time of plague (46).