M0545 (not in Perry). Source: Abstemius 177. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; Perry omitted most of Abstemius’s fables. For another story where the peacock loses his feathers, see #117 or #546.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Image: Pavo et Miles
545. Pavo et Miles. Pavo apud militem, qui galeam multis struthionis pennis ornaverat, gloriabatur se multo pulchriores pennas habere, utque id verum esse approbaret, caudam in gyrum explicuit. Miles illarum pulchritudine illectus, avem capiens, eam tanto privavit ornatu conumque galeae insignivit. Tunc secum pavo “Me miserum et stultum,” inquit, “qui tam pretiosas res raptori ostendi, quas occultare debebam.”
