A singing youth captivates a woman but the relation cools.
Babrius Translation (The Husband and The Gallant)
A Youth was singing sweetly at mid-night:
A wife that heard him, rose, and in delight
Peep’d from her windows, whence a view she had,
By the bright moon-beam, of a handsome lad.
She therefore left her spouse asleep to snore,
Came down the halls, and passed without the door,
And quickly gain’d the object she desired.
Her husband rose in haste: his eyes enquir’d
Where was his mate, whom in the home he lack’d?
Soon did the song his doubting steps attract.
Then cried he to his wife, “Be not dismay’d,
“This youth within our house to sleep persuade.”
He took him in: the youth found both were bent
To please, and of the wife grew negligent.
So runs the fable. Read its moral right,
’Tis ill to triumph, when one may requite.
How do you think an AI might simplify this fable? Here is one answer, and the illustration above was made from this simplification:
The Singing Youth and the Wandering Wife
One quiet night, a young man sang sweetly under the moonlight. A woman, hearing his lovely voice, looked out her window and saw he was handsome. Captivated, she quietly left her sleeping husband and went outside to meet the singer. Her husband woke up, found her missing, and followed the sound of the song. When he saw them together, he calmly said to his wife, “Don’t be afraid. Invite the youth to stay with us.” They welcomed the singer into their home. But over time, the young man lost interest in the wife, as both she and her husband were too eager to please him.
Moral
Do not boast over a gain that can quickly turn against you.
Perry. #350