The Life of Aesop
Anon.
Translated from the Spanish by John E. Keller and L. Clark Keating, 1993
A number of classical writers gathered together collections of fables under his name, but very little is known of Aesop himself. Legend has it that he was born a slave in the sixth century BC and earned his freedom before carrying his stories across the Greek world. The following two extracts come from an anonymous Life of Aesop, which is something of a fable in itself. Thought to have been assembled some time before the second century AD, the fictional biography was translated widely and proved very popular down the ages. This translation is wonderfully seamless despite being a few stages removed from the earliest texts. It is an English translation of a Spanish version of the story from the fifteenth century.
The young Aesop, a disabled slave, proves his cunning.
In the region of Phrygia, where the ancient city of Troy was located, there was a small village called Amonia in which was born a deformed boy, ugly of countenance and with a body more deformed than any other boy of his time. He had a large head and piercing black eyes; he was long of jaw and had a twisted neck; he had fat calves and big feet; he was large of mouth, hump-backed and bepaunched; he stuttered, and his name was Aesop. As he grew, in time he surpassed all others in astuteness. He was soon captured and removed to a foreign country, where he was sold to a rich citizen of Athens named Aristes. And as this gentleman thought him useless and of no profit to serve in his house, he assigned him to work and dig in the fields and on his property.
One day Zenas, to whom was entrusted the administration of the property for his lord, arose from his sleep to go to work, as he usually did on the aforesaid lands. In a short while his lord came with a lad named Agathopus. And as Zenas was showing his master how hard he worked, it happened that he came upon a fig tree in which there were a few figs that had ripened earlier than those on the other fig trees. From this tree Zenas carefully picked the figs and presented them with great courtesy to his lordship, saying: “To you belong the first fruits of your land.” And the lord, seeing the beauty of the figs, said: “I thank you, sincerely, Zenas, for the great affection you have for me.”
As it was the time at which he was accustomed on such a day to bathe and cleanse himself, he said: “Oh, Agathopus, take and guard these figs carefully, for when I return from the bath I shall begin my meal with them.” But as Agathopus took the figs and looked at them, an uncontrollable urge to gluttony arose within him; he looked again and again at the figs in the presence of one of his comrades, and the two of them together looked at them. And he said; “If I were not afraid of our master I would eat these figs one after another.” His companion replied: “I will tell you how to do it in such a way that we will suffer no harm on their account.” Agathopus said: “How can this be?” Said the other: “This is easy for us, for Aesop comes every day to get the bread you are accustomed to give him. And when the lord asks for his figs, we will say that Aesop, coming in from his toil and finding the figs in the pantry, ate them. And when Aesop is sent for, with that slowness and stammer of his, he will not be able to defend himself or make any excuse, and the lord will beat him, and we will get what we want.” Agathopus, having heard this advice, with his desire for the figs began without further thought to eat, and as he ate them with great pleasure and joy Agathopus said laughing: “Grief and sadness will be your lot, Aesop, for upon your shoulders our lord will furiously avenge our guilt.” And so, talking and laughing, they ate up all the figs.
When the lord came from his bath, he asked them to bring him the figs for the first course of his dinner. And Agathopus said: “My lord, Aesop came from his work and, as he found the pantry open, he went in and, not listening to reason, ate them all.” Hearing this, the lord, moved by anger, said: “Who will send for this Aesop for me?” And when Aesop came before the lord, he said to Aesop: “Tell me, mean rascal, shameless one, is this the way you respect me? So little do you fear me that you have had the boldness to eat the figs that were kept in the pantry for me?” Aesop, not being able to answer his master because of his speech impediment, was afraid. And the lord ordered him stripped. But as he was sharp, clever, and astute and knew that he was being falsely accused by those present, he got down on his knees before his master and, making signs, requested a bit of time before he should be beaten, knowing that he could not counter with words the trick his accusers had laid upon him and that he would have to defend himself by cleverness. Whereupon he went to the fire, picked up a pot of hot water he found there, tossed the contents into a basin, and drank it. Then shortly he stuck his fingers into his throat and threw up only the water that he had drunk, for during that day he had had no other food. Then he begged his lord as a favor to have his accusers drink hot water. By command of their lord they drank it, and to keep from vomiting they held their hands to their mouths, but as their stomachs were swollen with hot water they threw up water mixed with figs. And the lord saw plainly, by the experiment, that they had eaten the figs. Turning to them he said: “Because you lied about this man who is not glib, I order you stripped and publicly beaten, that whosoever shall by deceit raise up an accusation against another will have his hide tanned and burnished for a reward.”
Aesop has gained his freedom and embarks upon a series of travels as a fable-maker.
But when the Egyptians saw Aesop, they considered him a monster and without knowledge, a fakir and jokester, for they did not realize that in ugly and dull vessels there is sometimes contained a balsam that is the most precious of all liquids, and if sometimes the bottles are not clean, they contain clean wines. So Aesop went to the palace and threw himself at the feet of the king, who in all his majesty received him in kindly fashion. And when he said to him: “Tell me, Aesop, with whom do you compare me and mine?” And Aesop replied: “I compare you to the sun, and your followers to the rays of the sun, for certainly you shine in no other manner than the sun and the solar circle and disk, and your people shine like the rays of the sun that surround it.” Then Nectanabo said to him: “What is the kingdom of Licurus like, as compared with ours?” And Aesop smiling said: “In no way is it lower, but much higher. Just as the sun exceeds the moon and astonishes with its splendor, so the kingdom of Licurus exceeds and overwhelms yours.” The king, marveling at such prompt and skillful reply, and impressed by Aesop’s speaking, said: “Bring me the masters who are to build the tower.” Aesop replied: “After one other thing: show me the place where you want it built.” Going straightaway out of the city, the king then showed him the place in the country. And Aesop, in the four corners of the appointed place, put the eagles with the money bags fastened to their feet and with the children in them, who held their tongues in one hand and the food in the other. As the children were borne aloft by the eagles, they called out, showing their tongues and saying: “Give us mortar and give us bricks and wood and the things necessary for building.” When Nectanabo saw this he said: “Why are there men among you who have wings?” And Aesop replied: “For many reasons, yet you, a man, wish to contend with he who is a demigod?”
Then the king of Egypt said: “I confess myself beaten. But I urge you, Aesop, to answer me this: How is it that the mares I brought from Greece, from hearing the neighing of the horses in Babylon, became pregnant and conceived?” And Aesop asked for a day to reply. Going to his house, he ordered his boys to bring him a cat, and they brought it before Aesop, who caused it to he publicly whipped with a stick. The Egyptians, hearing this, tried to free and defend the cat, but not being able to, went to the king and told him of this serious incident. Then the king ordered Aesop to come before him, and when Aesop came before the king he asked him: “Why did you act in this fashion, Aesop? Do you not know that we honor God in the person of a cat?” For the Egyptians honored such an idol. Aesop replied: “This cat this night offended Licurus, for he killed a valiant and generous cock who crowed the hours of the night.” And the king said: “I did not think that you would lie this way, for it cannot be that in one night that cat should go to Babylon and come back here.” Smiling, Aesop said: “The cat went to and returned from Babylon in the same way as the mares who are here get pregnant on hearing the neighing of the horses that are in Babylon.” For these words the king praised and commended the learning of Aesop.
But the following day King Nectanabo had all the learned men and men of philosophic science summoned to the city of the sun. Informing them of Aesop’s wisdom, he invited them to dine, and Aesop with them. When they were at table, one of them said to Aesop: “I greet you in peace. I am sent by God to talk to you. What do you say to that?” Aesop answered: “God by no means wishes men to learn to lie; since your word says that you fear and honor God but little.” Another said: “There is a great temple, one column of which holds up twelve cities, and each city is covered with thirty beams which represent two women.” Aesop said: “In Babylon the children can solve this question. For the temple is the roundness of the earth, the column is the year, the twelve cities are the twelve months, the thirty columns are the days thereof, and the two women tell day and night. For the two continuously run after each other.” King Nectanabo said to his lords: “It is right for me to send tribute to the king of Babylon.”
One of the learned men said: “Let us ask Aesop yet another question: What thing is it that we never see or hear?” And the king said: “I ask you, Aesop, to tell us what thing it is that we never hear or see?” Aesop replied: “Allow me to answer tomorrow.” And when he went to his house, he pretended to write a contract and obligation in which Nectanabo confessed to having received as a loan from King Licurus one thousand silver marks, which he obliged himself to repay at a time already past. And the next morning Aesop took that contract and showed it to the king. After reading it the king marveled and said to his powerful men; “You hear and see that I received some money a while ago which King Licurus of Babylon lent to me.” They said, “We have never heard or seen such a thing.” Then, said Aesop: “If what you say is true, the question is resolved.” The king, hearing this, said: “Happy art thou, Licurus, to possess such a man.” And so he sent the tribute with Aesop. And he, having returned to Babylon, told King Licurus all that he had done in Egypt and then presented the tribute which the king had sent. And for this King Licurus ordered a gold statue of Aesop raised in public.
After a few days, desiring to see Greece, Aesop asked leave of the king, promising to return and spend the rest of his life in Babylon. And thus traveling through the cities of Greece, showing his wisdom through fables, he earned a great reputation and increased in wisdom. Finally Aesop came to a city called Delphi, which was a much honored city and the chief place of the region. As the people heard him and followed him there was no honor they did not do him. And Aesop said to them: “Men of Delphi, you certainly are like a tree that is brought to the sea. The wood, when it is far from the sea, seems a large object, but when it is near it knows itself to be small, just as I was when I was distant from your city: I thought that you were the most excellent of all, but now, being near you, I know you for the least discreet of all.” The people of Delphi, hearing these and similar words, said among themselves; “This fellow is feared and followed in many other towns. If we are not careful, certainly by his fables and stories he will take away and diminish the authority of our city. Therefore let us take counsel concerning this affair.” So they agreed to kill Aesop by a trick, claiming that he was evil and sacrilegious. But on account of the people they did not dare to kill him publicly without reason, so they detained Aesop’s servant, who had to prepare his affairs for his departure. And they placed secretly within his luggage a golden vessel that came from the temple of the sun. Aesop, not knowing the tricks and treason that had been prepared against him, left that place for another, called Focida, and to that place the men of Delphi followed him and there took him prisoner with great clamor. When Aesop asked them why they detained him, they shouted loudly: “O evil one, O villainous, wicked man. Why did you steal from the Temple of Apollo and the Sun?” This Aesop denied freely, maintaining it with a heavy heart. But the men of Delphi, unpacking his luggage, found in it in the golden goblet, and showed it to everyone with great tumult and noise and resolutely dragged him to prison.
Aesop, not yet knowing their deceit and treason, asked them to let him go his way. And they pressed and constrained him more than ever, and kept him in prison more determinedly. Then Aesop, seeing no way to escape and knowing that they had decided to kill him, groaned and complained of his bad fortune. A friend of his, whose name was Demas, coming into the prison and seeing Aesop wailing, said to him: “Why are you moaning in this fashion, Aesop? Be stout-hearted and have hope and console yourself.” But the people of Delphi publicly sentenced him to death as a thief and guilty of sacrilege of the temple. And coming together as one man, they took Aesop out of the prison to throw him over a cliff. Realizing this, Aesop said: “In the days when dumb animals were in agreement, the mouse and the frog made peace and concluded a friendship. The former invited the latter to dinner. And as they were entering a room where there were bread, honey, figs, and other good things to eat, the mouse said to the frog: ‘Choose of this food and eat what suits you best, and you will have a better appetite.’ After they had pleased themselves with those foods, the frog said to the mouse: ‘Since I have had pleasure and joy with you, it is but right that you should see my house and company and should partake of my goods as a friend and brother. But so that you may proceed most surely, tie your foot to mine.’ The mouse believed him and so, with their feet tied, the frog jumped into the river and took the mouse with him, swimming. And the mouse, seeing that he was drowning, said loudly: ‘By your treachery I am killed. Some among the living must avenge me upon you.’ And while they were locked in this struggle, a kite, seeing the mouse in the water, seized both him and the frog and ate them both. And now, without guilt and against justice, I am to die at your hands and am punished. But Babylon and Greece will avenge me upon you who do this evil deed to me.”
The men of Delphi, hearing this, had no wish to let Aesop go, but rather struggled to carry him to the cliff from which they meant to throw him. But Aesop, struggling, fled from their hands and repaired to the Temple of Apollo and climbed up the altar. But it did him no good, for those of Delphi by force and cruelty took him from there with great wrath, determination, roughness, and beatings and carried him off to throw him over the cliff. Now Aesop, seeing himself thus carried off dishonorably, said to them: “Citizens of Delphi, look upon this your god. Although his dwelling is small, you do not wish to dishonor it, but look with shame and moderation toward Apollo, to whom I had resorted when you dragged me forth.” But they, not heeding his words, with great zeal carried him off to death. And Aesop, seeing his end near, said very quickly: “Evil and cruel men, since I cannot make you understand my counsels, at least listen carefully to this story: A woman had a mad virgin for a daughter, and she continually begged the gods to give her daughter some brains. The mother offered this prayer many times and even in public that her mad daughter might recover her mind. And a few days later, being in a village where she had gone with her mother, the daughter went out of the house and saw how a village boy wished to have indecent carnal knowledge of a she-ass. The girl came up to the boy and asked, ‘What are you doing, good fellow?’ And he replied: ‘I am giving some brains to this she-ass.’ The mad girl, remembering her mother’s words, said: ‘Oh, good lad, I wish you would give me some brains also, and if you do so, you will not labor in vain, for my mother will be very grateful to you.’ The country boy left the she-ass and violated and corrupted the virgin. And she, thus corrupted and happy, ran to her mother saying: ‘Rejoice, mother, for on account of your prayers I have been given brains.’ The mother replied: ‘And thus the gods have answered my prayers, or what is this?’ The daughter answered: ‘Just now a boy put a rather long thing with balls hanging below it into my stomach, taking it out and returning it quickly. I received it gladly for certain, and thus he gave me brains, and I feel it so in my heart.’ Then said the mother: ‘Woe to you, my daughter, rather you have lost the few brains you had.’
“Similarly I urge you to hear another fable in this manner: A farmer, as he was growing old in the country and had never seen a city, and desiring to see one, asked his relatives to take him to the city. They put the old man in a cart pulled by two yoked asses, and they said: ‘Now spur them and by themselves they will take you to the city.’ But as the old man was going toward the city, a whirlwind came up suddenly so that the sky was dark, and the asses, wandering from the road, took him to a high and dangerous place. The old man, seeing he was in danger of death, called upon Jupiter, saying: ‘O Jupiter, how did I offend your temples and majesty that I thus perish miserably? For would that I were dragged and killed or cast down from a cliff by valuable and excellent horses rather than by such vile asses.’ “And so,” said Aesop, “I am not tormented by distinguished and illustrious men, but by useless and perverse servants am I killed.”
Reaching the place where he was to be thrown over, he spoke to them again in this way: “A man, being obsessed by love of his daughter, sent his wife to town, and he had the daughter in the house, whom he violated and ravished. The daughter said to him: ‘You are doing forbidden and ugly things. I had rather suffer this crime and evil from a hundred others than from you alone.’ “And so,” said Aesop, “wicked and perverse men of Delphi, I would prefer to besiege all of Cicilia and suffer all the perils of the sea rather than die thus wrongly at your hands. I beg you and your gods, and your land, and I admonish all of you to hear me who am dying unjustly that you may receive from them other, more just vengeance in the form of torments and penalties.” But, unwilling to hear anything, the men of Delphi had him thrown over a steep cliff, and thus ended the life of the harassed Aesop.
After Aesop’s death, pestilence and hunger and a great furor and madness of heart fell upon those of Delphi, concerning which they asked advice of Apollo; and the reply came that they should build an oratory for Aesop to placate and appease the gods. Thus, with compunction and repentance in their hearts for having killed Aesop unjustly, they built a temple to him. By this means the princes of Greece and the important persons and presidents of the provinces heard of Aesop’s death. Coming to Delphi and having made diligent inquiry and learned the truth, they summoned to justice and suitably punished those who had caused his death. Thus they avenged Aesop’s death. Here concludes the life of Aesop.