799. Venus et Ancilla. Turpem ac male sordidam ancillam quidam ardebat suam et poscenti praebebat cuncta paratissime. Quae, abundans auro tenuemque filo trahens circa suras purpuram, quavis occasione pugnam dominae familias conserebat. Venerem autem, utpote felicitatis auctorem incensis lychnis honorabat et nulla non die sacrificans, precabatur, supplicabat, rogabat, donec tandem ambobus una dormientibus adstitit per somnos Dea et, ancillae visa ante oculos, “Ne mihi gratiam referas quasi te pulchram fecerim! Isti,” inquit, “succenseo cui pulchra videris.”
M0799 = Perry301. Source: Babrius 10 (translated into Latin prose). This is Perry 301. The Roman goddess Venus was equivalent to the Greek Aphrodite, goddess of love. For a story where Venus favors a love match (at least initially), see the story of the cat and her human lover, #397.
