Aper – The Boar and the Fruit

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Animal taleLesson: greedLesson: flatteryBoarDeceptionSetting: natureFood and drinkOrchard

Frightened of a fierce, huge boar, a herdsman escapes up a fruit-tree. He throws down fruit which the boar eats until it is full, sated, and sleepy. When the herdsman descends, the boar lies passively, and the herdsman kills it. In some versions (e.g., Mischle Sendebar), the boar eats until it bursts; in other versions, the herdsman strokes it gently until it falls fully asleep before killing it, while in other versions it is a monkey who tricks the boar.

[Added by Jane Bonsall]

Note

Along with Avis, Senescalcus, and Canis, Aper is one of the few inset tales that appears in both 'Eastern' and 'Western' versions of the narrative tradition. Nishimura notes the following: Motifs: Oriental = TMI J514.4: Greedy pig looks up into tree for figs. Western = K836: Ferocious boar fed and put to sleep by rubbing. Killed. TU716: Boar killed by cunning. Analogues: Gesta Romanorum, 115 ‘Der Elefant und die Jungfrauen’. Reference stories, etc.: The story of the wild boar of Mount Erymantos, vanquished by Heracles (Kure Shigeichi, Greek Mythology, p. 325). Kojiki, 3.5 ‘Emperor Yuryaku, Mt. Katsuragi’ (the boar comes toward him and he flees up a tree). Firdowsi, The Book of Kings, ‘The Scrolls of Bijan and Manije’ (story of a group of boars ravaging the forest on pp. 326-333). Folktales about killing unicorns and beasts that do evil in the forest (Grimm’s Fairy Tales, KHM 20, ‘Das tapfele Schneiderlein’ = unicorns; KHM 28, ‘Der singende Knochen’ = boars). Bibliography: Landau 13. Krappe, 1924, pp. 390-398.

Critical Literature
Nishimura (2001), Epstein (1967), Clouston (1884), Campbell (1907), Chauvin (1892-1922)

Aper appears in the following versions and secondary versions

Has Language Of Version Has Branch Of Tradition Is Adapted From A (Seven Sages) Old French Seven Sages of Rome V (Lost metrical Old French Sept Sages) Anonymous Verse Version German (High and Low German) Seven Sages of Rome German Version H, Versfassung / Verse Version, Latin Version H Arabic Version A (The Seven Viziers) Arabic Book of Sindbad   Arabic Version A101 (Hundred and One Nights) Arabic Book of Sindbad   Aventewr von Diocleciano German (High and Low German) Seven Sages of Rome H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Bühnenfassung / Stage adaptation: Sebastian Wild, Tragedj German (High and Low German) Seven Sages of Rome Redaction G Catalan Version L Catalan Seven Sages of Rome Occitan Version L Continental Group w   Seven Sages of Rome   D (Sept Sages de Rome) Old French Seven Sages of Rome   Dutch Verse Version: Van den seven vroeden van binnen Rome   Seven Sages of Rome   Dutch Version A Dutch Seven Sages of Rome French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages Dutch Version H   Seven Sages of Rome   Early Modern and Modern Welsh Version A Welsh Seven Sages of Rome Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein English Erasto English Seven Sages of Rome French Erasto, Italian Erasto English Version H   Seven Sages of Rome   Erasto (Es) Italian Seven Sages of Rome L'Amabile di Continentia (Em) Erastus, or, The Roman Prince English Seven Sages of Rome Francis Kirkman, Prince Erastus Francis Kirkman, Prince Erastus English Seven Sages of Rome French Erasto French A/L Overlap Old French Seven Sages of Rome L (Sept Sages de Rome), French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages French Erasto French Seven Sages of Rome Erasto (Es) French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages Old French Seven Sages of Rome A (Seven Sages)

Aper is narrated in the following occurrences

Narrator Pages Empress A (Seven Sages), Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Cardiff MS 2.83 (RMWL MS 6), Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Cardiff MS 3.4 (RMWL Cardiff MS 5), Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Llanover MS 13075B, Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Llanstephan MS 117, Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Llanstephan MS 171, Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Llanstephan MS 2., Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 163, Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 652, Anonymous Verse Version, Arabic Version A101 (Hundred and One Nights), Augsburg Universitätsbibliothek Cod. I. 2. 2° 22, Aventewr von Diocleciano, Bamberg Staatsbibliothek Msc. Class. 87, Basel Universitätsbibliothek Mscr. A IX 15, Basel Universitätsbibliothek UBH E II 3, Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. Magdeb. 208 (excerpts within Gesta Romanorum), Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 184, Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 409 (excerpts within Gesta Romanorum), Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 618, Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 641, Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 710, Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. theol. lat. fol. 239, Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. theol. lat. qu. 109, Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. theol. lat. qu. 151, Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. theol. lat. qu. 272, Bern Burgerbibliothek Cod. 388, Bern Burgerbibliothek Cod. 723, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3660, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3662, Brno Moravská knihovna RKP-0048.042 (Rkp 84), Brno Moravský zemský archiv Cerr II 361, Brussel Koninklijke Bibliotheek 9245, Brussel Koninklijke Bibliotheek II 1171, Bühnenfassung / Stage adaptation: Sebastian Wild, Tragedj, Cambridge University Library MS Dd.1.17, Cambridge University Library MS Ff. 2, 38, Cambridge University Library MS Gg.6.28, Catalan Version L, Chantilly Musée Condé MS 683, Colmar Bibliothèque Municipale Ms. 55, Colmar Bibliothèque des Dominicains CPC 6 (278), D (Sept Sages de Rome), Dresden Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Mscr. Dresd. C 398, Dresden Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Mscr. Dresd. F 61a, Dresden, Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Mscr. Dresd. F 61a, Dublin Trinity College Library Ms 667, Dutch Verse Version: Van den seven vroeden van binnen Rome, Dutch Version A, Dutch Version H, Early Modern and Modern Welsh Version A, Edinburgh National Library of Scotland Advocates MS 19.2.1 (Auchinleck Manuscript), Edinburgh National Library of Scotland MS. 16500 (Asloan Manuscript), Eichstätt Universitätsbibliothek Cod. st 698, English Erasto, English Version H, Erasto (Es), Erastus, or, The Roman Prince, Erlangen Universitätsbibliothek Ms. B 11, Florence Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Gaddiano 166, Florence Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Landau Finaly 13, Florence Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Palatino 680, Francis Kirkman, Prince Erastus, French A/L Overlap, French Erasto, French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages, Gdańsk PAN Biblioteka Gdańska Ms. 1974, German Version A: Allegatio/Libellus, German Version H, H (Historia Septem Sapientum), Hans von Bühel, Dyocletianus Leben, Hebrew Group A, Hebrew Group B, Hebrew Prints, Hungarian Version H: Pontianus tsaszar historiaia, I (Versio Italico), Il Libro dei Sette Savi de Roma (C), Italian Prose (V), Italian Version A, K (Sept Sages de Rome), L (Sept Sages de Rome), L'Amabile di Continentia (Em), Latin Mishle Sendebar, Latin Version A, Latin Version A: Allegatio / Libellus, Latin Version H, Leiden Universiteit Or. 14.303, Libro de los Engaños, Libro dei Sette Savj (A), London British Library Add. MS. 27429, London British Library Additional MS 15685, London British Library Arundel 140, London British Library Cotton Galba E IX, London British Library Egerton 1995, M ('Male Marastre'), Madrid Biblioteca Nacional de España 6052 (ant. Q.224), Madrid Real Academia Española 'El Conde Lucanor', Ms. 15, Mario Teluccini, Erasto in verse, Mario Teluccini, Erasto. Pesaro: Girolamo Concordia, 1566., Middle English Version A, Middle Welsh Version A, Midland Version, Mishle Sendebar, Modena Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, Estense It. 95 (α.P.8.20), Old Swedish Redaction C, Old Swedish Version A: Sju vise mästare, Older Scots Version A: Buke of the Sevyne Sagis, Oxford Balliol College Library MS 354 (Richard Hill's Commonplace Book), Oxford Bodleian Library Jesus College MS. 111, Oxford Bodleian Library Jesus College MS. 20, Oxford Bodleian Library Rawlinson poet. 175, Padua Biblioteca Civica C.M. 304/6, Paris Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal 3354, Paris Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal 3516, Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3660, Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3661, Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3662, Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 573, Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 95, Parma Biblioteca Palatina Parm. 01391, Polish Version H, Prosafassung / Prose Version, S (Scala Coeli), Scots Version H: Rolland, Seuin Seages, Spanish Erasto, Spanish Version H: Los Siete Sabios de Roma, Spanish Version S: Diego de Cañizares, Scala Çeli, St. Florian Stiftsbibliothek Cod. XI 92 B, Storia d'una Crudele Matrigna (M), Storia di Stefano (R), Storia favolosa di Stefano (S), Swedish Version H: Sju vise mästare, Thystorye of ye vii wyse Maysters of rome (English, 16th c.), Toronto Aga Khan Museum 00513, Tunis Bibliothèque nationale de Tunisie, MWT 04576, Uppsala Universitetsbiblioteket Cod. C 7, Venice Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana It. IX 621 (=10697), Versfassung / Verse Version, Versio Italica historiae septem sapientum (L), Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein, Wien Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Cod. 2937

Aper appears in the following manuscripts

Has Language Has Siglum Of The Version Of The Seven Sages Has Language Group Within Version Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Cardiff MS 2.83 (RMWL MS 6) Welsh A (Seven Sages) Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Cardiff MS 3.4 (RMWL Cardiff MS 5) Welsh A (Seven Sages) Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Llanover MS 13075B Welsh A (Seven Sages) Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Llanstephan MS 117 Welsh A (Seven Sages) Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Llanstephan MS 171 Welsh A (Seven Sages) Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein Aberystwyth National Library of Wales Llanstephan MS 2. Latin, Middle Welsh A (Seven Sages) Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 101a Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 163 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 652 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Augsburg Universitätsbibliothek Cod. I. 2. 2° 22 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Bamberg Staatsbibliothek Msc. Class. 87 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Basel Universitätsbibliothek Mscr. A IX 15 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Basel Universitätsbibliothek UBH E II 3 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. Magdeb. 208 (excerpts within Gesta Romanorum) Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 184 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 409 (excerpts within Gesta Romanorum) Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 618 Latin Mishle Sendebar Latin Mishle Sendebar Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 641 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. lat. qu. 710 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. theol. lat. fol. 239 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H Berlin Staatsbibliothek Ms. theol. lat. qu. 109 Latin H (Historia Septem Sapientum) Latin Version H