The Narrative of the Quadrupedal Animals and the Bird Fancier are metrical vernacular stories featuring animal and bird heroes, likely written in 14th-century Constantinople by anonymous poets.

In the Narrative, King Lion's attempts to achieve a peace agreement between herbivorous and carnivorous animals, which he has summoned to a general assembly, fail miserably because they contradict the natural laws governing society. The assembly ends in a wild massacre; everything remains as it always has and will be for eternity! The dialogues that unfold are intense and coarse, with disputes presented with astonishing skill, while irony and rough humor are not lacking.

In the Bird Fancier, quarreling, reproaches, and insults are hurled between wild and tame birds during the wedding reception organized by King Eagle for his son. He himself will intervene and put an end to the argument by reconciling the subjects of his kingdom.

These texts have a primarily entertaining but also instructive character, showcasing a deep understanding of animal physiology and allegorically capturing facets of multicultural Byzantine society and its material culture, becoming very beloved and widely disseminated.

This critical edition follows the illuminated Greek manuscript of the Library of the Seraglio of Constantinople (Constantinopolitanus Seragliensis 35), which preserves the best form of the two works. The extensive introduction and comments accompanying the edition delve into the literary genre to which the texts belong, the medieval vernacular edifying literature, while the fifty-two color images included in the manuscript-guide are reproduced here, bringing the texts to life.