859. Vetula Lac ad Forum Portans. Vetula, dum in urceo ad forum lac portaret, coepit cogitare quomodo posset fieri dives. Attendens autem quod de suo lacte tres obolos habere posset, coepit cogitare quod emeret pullum gallinae et nutriret, ex cuius ovis multos pullos acquireret; quibus venditis, emeret porcum; quo nutrito et impinguato, venderet illum ut inde emeret pullum equinum, et tam diu nutriret ipsum quod aptus esset ad equitandum, et coepit intra se dicere, “Equitabo equum illum, et ducam ad pascua et dicam, ei, io, io.” Cum autem haec cogitaret, coepit movere pedes et, quasi calcaria in pedibus haberet, coepit talos movere et prae gaudio manibus plaudere; ita quod motu pedum et plausu manuum urceum fregit et, lacte in terra effuso, in manibus suis nihil invenit.
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M0859 (not in Perry). Source: De Vitry 51 (shortened). This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; Perry was not systematic in his coverage of medieval sources. In his stories for children, Leo Tolstoy told a version of this fable as “The Peasant and the Cucumbers.” Read a Fabula Facilis version of this fable.
