An Entertaining Tale of Quadrupeds: Translation and Commentary

Nicholas (U. of Melbourne, Australia) and Baloglou (State U. of New York, Oswego) have done an admirable job in creating a translation and commentary of this 15th-century Byzantine text that's accessible to specialist and non-specialist alike. The tales are of very human-like activities, banter, and scuffles between talking animals. In their lengthy (159- page) introduction to the side-by-side translation, Nicholas and Baloglou describe the political and cultural context of the work, emphasizing the political innuendo that might be gleaned from the tale's satirical tone. They describe the tales within the context of other texts, both Byzantine and foreign. Appendices provide the texts of some of these influences, as well as discussion of literary and historical issues raised in the animals' stories. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).