Yisuo Yuyan (Aesop's Fables) (Chinese)

Abstract

This is an impressive book! Its stiff cover and considerable weight are the first features one might notice. Then there is the picture of Zeus on the cover in a dramatic pose. Each of 141 fables gets a page of text and a full page of illustration. The artistic styles of the illustrations vary considerably. Most tend toward what I think art critics would call primitive in the best sense. Among the most engaging of the illustrations are TH (71), BW (75), GGE (99), FS (113), The Boys and the Frogs (117), MSA (121), TB (165), and The Lion, the Ass, and the Fox (207). On 119, are the servant girls killing the alarm-clock-rooster by scalding it with boiling water? This book is a genuine and delightful surprise to me. Well done!