ΠΑΡΔΑΛΙΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΩΠΗΞ
ἀλώπηξ καὶ πάρδαλις περὶ κάλλους ἤριζον. τῆς δὲ παρδάλεως παρ’ ἕκαστα τὴν τοῦ σώματος ποικιλίαν προβαλλομένης ἡ ἀλώπηξ ὑποτυχοῦσα ἔφη·
“καὶ πόσον ἐγὼ σοῦ καλλίων ὑπάρχω, ἥτις οὐ τὸ σῶμα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν πεποίκιλμαι;”
ὁ λόγος δηλοῖ, ὅτι τοῦ σωματικοῦ κάλλους ἀμείνων ἐστὶν ὁ τῆς διανοίας κόσμος.
A fox and a leopard quarreled about their beauty. When the leopard was, at every occasion, pointing out her richly ornamented coat, the fox replied by saying:
“So how much more beautiful than you am Ι since I don’t have an ornamented body but an ornamented soul?”
The fable shows that better than bodily beauty is the embellishment of the mind.
(Translation: Jenny Teichmann)
