Thursday, January 27, 2011

Boothby: The Ass and the Gipsies

Him whom the fates to misery doom,
Disgrace pursues beyond the tomb.
Gipsies, to bear their baggage, led
An Ass, o'ercharg'd and scantly fed:
Of blows and poverty he died.
The Gipsies stript the wretch's hide,
To make a drum; which, beaten still,
Seem'd a continuance of ill.


Source: Boothby - Phaedrus 4.1.
negotiator et asinus

Click here for a SLIDESHOW of all the colored Steinhowel images. As often in Steinhowel's Aesop, both stages of the story are shown in one frame: on the left you can see the long-suffering donkey, and on the right you can see the donkey being "drummed" even after his death.
M0245 Perry164

No comments:

Post a Comment