Monday, November 21, 2011

Image: Agricola Invidus et Vulpes


M0830 - M0831 - English - M0832

831. Agricola Invidus et Vulpes. Agricola improbus, cum invideret proximo feturam segetis quaereretque quo pacto corrumpere posset eius labores, captam vulpem, alligata face, in vicini segetem dimittit. At illa, non qua missa erat excurrens, volente sic Deo, eius qui dimiserat combussit segetem!


M0831 = Perry283. Source: Aphthonius 38 (translated into Latin). This is Perry 283. Compare a similar motif in the Biblical Book of Judges 15, when the hero Samson takes 300 foxes, ties them tail to tail, and sets their tails on fire in order to destroy the farmlands of the Philistines; in that case, the foxes ran where he intended. For another fable about fire and greed, see #986.