369. Canis Lutulentus et Herus. Canis, tempore hiberno domum revertens et madidus et lutulentus, gaudii impotens ut dominum videt, gestitque prosilitque atque renuentem amplectitur pedibus sordidis. Is igitur, graviter obiurgans, ait, “Inepte! Fuge, fuge cum istis blanditiis tuis indoctis; forsan putas te urbanum esse, at mihi bestia inficeta videris!” Fabula scripta est amicis imprudentibus, quorum officia saepe nocent, nedum iuvent.
M0369 (not in Perry). Source: Desbillons 2.44 (adapted into prose). This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; it appears original to Desbillons, as he cites no source. Compare the fable of the donkey greeting his master, #243. For an even more inept friend, see the story of the bear and the man, #137.
