The Priest and the Wolf
The Priest and the Wolf is an ancient fable of
West Asian origin that was included in collections of Aesop's Fables
in mediaeval Europe. It illustrates how even education cannot change one's basic nature and tells how a priest tries to teach a wolf to read.
The fable's journey
There is a mere reference to what was already an established fable in the West Asian Story of
Beth
are the first two letters, it replaces them with the similar-sounding names of the animals it likes to eat.
If there ever was a Greek equivalent to this fable attributed to Aesop, it has not survived. However, it reappears in Mediaeval Europe as a very popular story, not simply in literary texts but in church architecture. There is a bare mention in a
Nivardus of Ghent's beast epic, Ysengrimus (V.540-60)[5] and a mediaeval German legend collected by Jacob Grimm, "Der Wolf in der Schuole".[6]
The story was equally popular as an illustration in manuscripts and as a motif in church architecture. A chronological listing of the sculpted images suggests a geographical movement from 12th century Italy northwards to France, Switzerland and Germany.[7]
References
- ^ The story of Ahikar, London 1898, p.117
- ^ Text online
- ^ Katharina M.Wilson, Mediaeval Women Writers, Manchester University 1984, pp.87-8
- ^ John C.Jacobs, Syracuse University, 1985, pp.92-3
- ^ Leiden NL 1987, p.447
- ^ Reinhart Fuchs, Berlin 1834, lines 1139-1362
- ^ There is a study of these on the University of Minnesota site along with a gallery of images.