226. Asinus Porco Invidens. Asinus porco, qui sub eodem erat domino, plurimum invidebat quod omnis laboris expers, variis nutriretur cibis indiesque pinguior fieret; ipse autem, plurimum laboris sustinens, duris paleis aleretur. Unde macilentus effectus, vix ingredi posset. Sed ubi vidit contubernalem suum ad lanienam trahi ut, occisus, hominum esset cibus, aliquantulum recreatus, “At at,” inquit, “hinc illa in nutriendo porco hominum diligentia? O quam melius est asinum esse quam porcum!”
M0226 (not in Perry). Source: Abstemius 121. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; Perry omitted most of Abstemius’s fables. Compare the fable of the donkey who envies the horse, but then changes his mind, #260. The donkey could also be an object of envy; see the story of the onager and the donkey, #147.
