Aesop! Who does not know him, and who has not read, heard, or been enchanted by one of his fables? Aesop is our faithful companion. A loving grandfather, he tenderly holds our hand and leads us with love through the magical paths of his animal world.

In the difficult, ungracious, and steep uphill of life's journey, whenever we are hurt by the world's cruelty or surprised by its insensitivity, we will again find some comfort in Aesop, discovering that all this has been portrayed with his magical pencil by our great teacher.

With my book, I wanted to add my own small stone to the magnificent monument built by the ages in honor of the great teacher. In the form I chose, I tried to give the fable an epigrammatic character, enclosing its entire meaning within four fifteen-syllable verses, which I made sure rhyme to please the child even more.

DIONYSIOS A. TROVAS

This is "Aesop," the elegant, well-printed book by Mr. Trovas, which I recommend to you. You will enjoy a faithful and beautiful rendering of [some] of Aesop's best fables, and you will learn many useful things from the wise, literary, yet simply written introduction.

GRIGORIOS XENOPULOS

Contents of "Basiliou Library": The opinion of the critics (Gr. Xenopoulos), Introductory note (D. A. Trovas), Aesop's fables, The good and the bad, The statue-maker, The peasant and the donkeys, The eagle, The nightingale and the swallow, The black man, The weasel and the hens, The goat and the goatherd, The roosters, The fishermen, The fisherman, The fox and the grapes, The fox and the hedgehog, The fox and the crocodile, The fox and the lion, The fox and the leopard, The fox and the goat, The lame fox, The fox in disguise, The murderer, The charcoal burner and the bleacher, The man who counted the waves, The man and the fox, The farmer and the fox, The black man and the camel, The bear and the fox, The astrologer, The frogs, The frogs and the Sun, The frog doctor, The worm and the fox, The frog and the fox, The oxen and the ax, The cart driver and Hercules, The old man and Death, The shipwrecked man and the sea, The farmer and the snake, The farmer and his children, The farmer and the stork, The agronomist, the donkey and the ox, The cowardly hunter and the woodcutter, The piglet and the sheep, The dolphins and the carp, The oaks and Zeus, The woodcutters and the oak, The fir and the bramble, The deer and the vine, The deer and the lion, Hope among men, The kid and the wolf, Hermes, Hermes and the sculptor, The viper and the fox, Zeus and the men, Hercules and Wealth, The marriages of the gods, The hunter and the dog, The birdcatcher, The old horse, The horse and the groom, The camel, The crab and the fox, The walnut tree, The gardener, The thrush, The flea and the man.