40. Vulpecula et Tintinnabulum. Vulpecula habitabat iuxta flumen; non procul inde alligatum arbori tintinnabulum erat, quo ventis impulso omnia circum loca resonabant. Vulpecula, cui ignota vox illa esset, metuebat ne quid ferae et immanis bestiae tales sonos ederet. Tandem sensim et placide arrepens, perspectaque tintinnabuli inanitate, cuius strepitibus nihil subesset virium, “Nunc deinceps non facile,” inquit, “specie et opinione percelli animum meum patiar.” Multa opinione magnifiunt, quibus praesentibus nihil est contemptibilius.
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SLIDESHOW of all the Kalila-wa-Dimna images from this manuscript. As you can see, in this version, the fox finds a drum, not a bell.
M0040 (not in Perry). Source: Camerarius 377. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; it is a story that comes from the Panchatantra tradition, where the fox hears a drum, not a bell. For another story about misleading sounds, see the story of the lion and the frog, #600.
