149. Aper et Vulpes. Stabat olim aper iuxta arborem dentesque acuebat. Quem cum vulpes vidisset, “Quidnam dentes acuis,” inquit, “dum nulla necessitas adest, neque venator neque periculum imminet ullum?” Cui aper “Haud frustra id ago,” respondit, “nam si periculum aliquando contigerit, non tunc in acuendis dentibus tempus teram, sed utar promptis et bene paratis.”
Click here for a
SLIDESHOW of all the Medici Aesop images. I like the way that the boar in the illustration has access to his own whetstone!
M0149 = Perry224. Source: De Furia 185. This is Perry 224. Compare the story of the wolf and the porcupine, #97.
