An Entertaining Tale of Quadrupeds

by Unknown, Nick Nicholas (Translator), George Baloglou (Translator)

An Entertaining Tale of Quadrupeds is the first English verse translation of the Greek satirical poem Diegesis Paidiophrastos ton Zoon ton Tetrapodon . Written by an anonymous author in fourteenth-century Byzantium, this vernacular allegorical poem has long been recognized as a unique document, one that appears to have originated independently of comparable works in other traditions. A medieval Animal Farm , the story describes a convention of animals in which each beast vaunts its uses to humanity while denigrating others, resulting in a cataclysmic battle. The authors provide extensive textual analysis and notes on the form, style, and context of the poem.

544 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 2003

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Unknown" when the author or editor (as applicable) is not known and cannot be discovered. If at all possible, list at least one actual author or editor for a book instead of using "Unknown".

Books whose authorship is purposefully withheld should be attributed instead to Anonymous.

Reviews

[Abigail K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, glad it's preserved, but the format of this edition made me a bit mad.

The poem itself is sandwiched between a long, unorganized and confusing introduction, and an equally long section of commentary, textual notes, and appendixes. I think it would have been much more readable if the commentary and notes were added as footnotes so you could more easily read them as you read the text, and the pictures in the back should have been interspersed throughout! They're so fun, why shove them to the back?!

As for the text itself, it is very gruesome and disgusting, but it's definitely a product of its time in Byzantine history. There were parts that were clearly direct jibes at the political climate of the 14th century. It may not be beautiful writing, but it certainly is "entertaining"!

[Christopher Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking into consideration that it is dated and Byzantine, the book was alright. I'm not certain it would as popular today as it was back in the 1300s, but it does serve as marker of what can and will be banned. The story is x-rated, even by today's standards and full of dick jokes. The folly of government and subjects is in full view and also the mistreatment of animals by humans in probably more stark in the book than any PETA advert featuring naked ladies in lettuce. All of this said, don't read unless you are into Christian-themed pornography about animals that boast about being killed by human beings and their penis sizes. In all honesty, it's probably an amazing book if you wanted to do pomo or feminist criticism and compare to something today.