An Ass started to play on the roof and broke tiles. The Owner beat him. The Ass thought it strange he could not do with yesterday a Monkey did.
People that live by example need to look closely at the example they are following.
Townsend version
An ass climbed up to the roof of a building, and frisking about there, broke in the tiling. The owner went up after him and quickly drove him down, beating him severely with a thick wooden cudgel. The Ass said, “Why, I saw the Monkey do this very thing yesterday, and you all laughed heartily, as if it afforded you very great amusement.”
Asinus Ludens
Asinus quidam, domum ingressus, cum in ea ludere ac saltare coepisset, vas fictile rupit. Hoc videns, quidam accurrit eumque fustibus inde abegit. Sed asinus ad eum, qui suos humeros fuste caedebat, conversus, “Atqui,” inquit, “heri, et prius etiam, hoc idem faciens simius, magnam vobis attulit voluptatem.”
Perry #359