If I shall anywhere insert the name of Æsop, to whom I have already rendered every {honor} that was his due, know that it is for the sake of {his} authority, just as some statuaries do in our day, who obtain a much greater price for their productions, if they inscribe the name of Praxiteles on their marbles, and Myron[1] on their polished silver. {Therefore} let {these} Fables obtain a hearing. Carping envy more readily favours the works of antiquity than those of the present day. But now I turn to a Fable, with a moral to the purpose. [Footnote V.1: _And Myron_)--Ver. 7. Myron was a famous sculptor, statuary, and engraver, of Greece. He was a native of Eleutheræ, in Bœotia, and according to Petronius Arbiter, died in extreme poverty.] FABLE I. DEMETRIUS AND MENANDER. Demetrius,[2] who was called Phalereus, unjustly took possession of the sovereignty of Athens. The mob, according to their usual practice, rush from all quarters vying with each other, and cheer him, and wish him joy. Even the chief men kiss the hand by which they are oppressed, while they silently lament the sad vicissitudes of fortune. Moreover, those who live in retirement, and take their ease, come creeping in last of all, that their absence may not injure them. Among these Menander, famous[3] for his Comedies (which Demetrius, who did not know him, had read, and had admired the genius of the man), perfumed with unguents, and clad in a flowing robe, came with a mincing and languid step. As soon as the Tyrant caught sight of him at the end of the train: “What effeminate wretch,” said he, “is this, who presumes to come into my presence?” Those near him made answer: “This is Menander the Poet.” Changed in an instant, he exclaimed: “A more agreeable looking man could not possibly exist.” [Footnote V.2: _Called Phalereus_)--Ver. 1. Demetrius Phalereus, the statesman, philosopher, and ruler of Athens, was so called from the Attic demus, or borough of Phalerus, where he was born. He died in exile in Egypt, according to some accounts, of the bite of a serpent. There seems no good reason for giving to his rule over the Athenians the epithet of “improbum,” found in the next line, although in the latter years of his government he gave himself up in a great measure to sensual pursuits.] [Footnote V.3: _Menander, famous_)--Ver. 9. Menander, the inventor of the New Comedy. Some of the Comedies of Terence are Translations from his works.] FABLE II. THE TRAVELLERS AND THE ROBBER.