Monday, October 4, 2010

Illustrated: Pulex et Pediculus


M0703 - M0704 - M0705

704. Pulex et Pediculus. Dicitur quod quidam pediculus diu nutritus fuit in sanguine cuiusdam viri et numquam eum mordebat nisi quando dormiebat. Quadam vero nocte hospitatus est quidam pulex apud eum et, indiscrete mordens et vulnerans dormientem, excitavit eum. Qui, statim surgens et inquirens stragula sua, invenit pediculum et strictis unguibus occidit eum. Pulex vero assiliens huc et illuc evasit.


pulex

Click here for a SLIDESHOW of all the colored Steinhowel images. This image was not originally drawn to accompany this fable, but it suits it very nicely!

M0704 (not in Perry). Source: Liber Kalilae et Dimnae 1.34. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; it is a story found in the Panchatantra tradition. For a story about a woman who accuses her husband of being lice-ridden (“lousy”), see #942.