Aesop Deconstructs Himself

After the episode recounted previously, the students chide Xanthos for what had happened to them. Xanthos responds that it was not his fault, but Aesop's. To prove it, he decides to have another dinner-party and to give his shopping instructions to Aesop in front of the students, so that, in case anything goes wrong, they will know that Aesop, with his language-games, is to be blamed. Since Aesop has a tendency to say that up is down, Xanthos tells him to buy something inferior (ch. 54):

καὶ δὴ καλέσας τὸν Αἴσωπον λέγει αὐτῷ “ἐπειδή σοι ἔδοξε τὰ ἄνω κάτω λαλεῖν, ἀπελθὼν εἰς τὴν ἀγοράν, εἴ τι σαπρόν, εἴ τι χεῖρον, αὐτὸ ἀγόρασον.”

Aesop, of course, buys tongues again. When he serves them the pickled tongues, the students say, 'What, tongues again?!', as Xanthos turns greenish or pale and the students conjecture that perhaps Aesop's intention is to cure them of yesterday's diarrhea:

οἱ σχολαστικοὶ εἶπον “τί ἐστι πάλιν τοῦτο, γλῶσσαι;” ὁ Ξάνθος ἀποχλωριᾷ. οἱ σχολαστικοὶ εἶπον “ἴσως ἀπὸ τῆς χθεσινῆς διαρροίας τὸν στόμαχον ἡμῶν θέλει τῷ ὄξει ἀνακτήσασθαι.”

But when he serves them a second tongue, this time roasted, they wonder whether he is trying to make them sick again:

Αἴσωπος παρέθηκεν ἑκάστῳ ὀπτὴν γλῶσσαν. οἱ σχολαστικοὶ εἶπον “οὐᾶ, τί ἐστι τοῦτο; ὁ χθεσινὸς ὑπόμωρος πάλιν διὰ γλωσσῶν ἀσθένειαν ἡμῖν κατασκευάζει;”

When asked for an explanation, Aesop has a philosophico-moral discourse at the ready (ch. 55):

Αἴσωπος εἶπεν “καὶ τί χεῖρον διὰ γλώσσης οὐκ ἔστιν; διὰ γλώσσης ἔχθραι, διὰ γλώσσης ἐπιβουλαί, ἐνεδρεῖαι, μάχαι, ζηλοτυπίαι, ἔρεις, πόλεμοι· οὐκοῦν χεῖρον οὐδέν ἐστι τῆς μιαρωτάτης γλώσσης.”

The students, though, are not impressed this time. Now, they think that listening to Aesop will lead to madness and that his interior is as unsightly as his interior:

εἷς τῶν σχολαστικῶν τῶν συνανακειμένων ἐν τῷ δείπνῳ τοῦ Ξάνθου λέγει “καθηγητά, τούτῳ ἐὰν πρόσσχῃς ταχέως σε εἰς μανίαν περιτρέψει· οἵα γὰρ ἡ μορφὴ αὐτοῦ τοιαύτη καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ. <ὁ> φιλολοίδορος καὶ κακεντρεχὴς δοῦλος οὗτος ὀβολοῦ ἄξιος οὐκ ἔστιν.”

In reading Aesop's thought on the evils of the tongue, I was reminded of James 3:5-11 (Greek text here):

5οὕτως καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα μικρὸν μέλος ἐστὶν καὶ μεγάλα αὐχεῖ. Ἰδοὺ ἡλίκον πῦρ ἡλίκην ὕλην ἀνάπτει: 6καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα πῦρ, ὁ κόσμος τῆς ἀδικίας, ἡ γλῶσσα καθίσταται ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν, ἡ σπιλοῦσα ὅλον τὸ σῶμα καὶ φλογίζουσα τὸν τροχὸν τῆς γενέσεως καὶ φλογιζομένη ὑπὸ τῆς γεέννης. 7πᾶσα γὰρ φύσις θηρίων τε καὶ πετεινῶν ἑρπετῶν τε καὶ ἐναλίων δαμάζεται καὶ δεδάμασται τῇ φύσει τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ: 8τὴν δὲ γλῶσσαν οὐδεὶς δαμάσαι δύναται ἀνθρώπων: ἀκατάστατον κακόν, μεστὴ ἰοῦ θανατηφόρου. 9ἐν αὐτῇ εὐλογοῦμεν τὸν κύριον καὶ πατέρα, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ καταρώμεθα τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς καθ' ὁμοίωσιν θεοῦ γεγονότας: 10ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ στόματος ἐξέρχεται εὐλογία καὶ κατάρα. οὐ χρή, ἀδελφοί μου, ταῦτα οὕτως γίνεσθαι. 11μήτι ἡ πηγὴ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς ὀπῆς βρύει τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ πικρόν; 12μὴ δύναται, ἀδελφοί μου, συκῆ ἐλαίας ποιῆσαι ἢ ἄμπελος σῦκα; οὔτε ἁλυκὸν γλυκὺ ποιῆσαι ὕδωρ.