The Moral Fables of Aesop by Robert Henryson

Abstract

A first-rate piece of scholarship that puts Henryson within our reach. Very readable versions of the 13 fables. Henryson's morals are strongly allegorical and (like the fables) lengthy, but the stories are well done, especiallyThe Fox, the Wolf, and the Cadger ;The Fox, the Wolf, and the Farmer ; andThe Wolf and the Wether. Clever Lawrence the fox outwits everyone. There is strong, eloquent social criticism, e.g. concerning the sheep misaccused by the dog before the wolf. At times Henryson is preachy, e.g. about the maids that sweep a jewel out of the house just to get the floor clean! There is fun in the stories, as when the fox with a penance of no meat during Lent takes a kid to water and brings him out a salmon, or the frightened wolf defecates three times when pursued by (a wether disguised as) a dog. Many mice come to help the roped-in lion. WL is less well done; I think I might have killed that talky lawyerlike lamb myself! Extra paperback for $7.50 at Avenue Victor Hugo, Boston, April, '89.