2.2.1 The Ass
The ass in Aesop’s Fables seems to have no idea who they are, who is prone to be conceited over something he does not possess. In “The Ass Carrying the Image”, a certain man put an image on the back of his ass to the temples. As they went along the road all the people they met uncovered and bowed their heads out of reverence for the image, but the ass thought they were doing it out of respect for him. So he refused to work. His driver found his idiot and hit him hard (Aesop, 2012:299). Similarly, the ass remains blindly conceited, assuming the dignity of another in “The Ass in the Lion's Skin”, an ass once found a Lion's skin. He put it on and went towards his native village. Everyone fled at his approach, for which he was very proud. In his delight he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then everyone knew him, and his owner punished him for the fright he had caused (Aesop, 2012:92). In the fable, “The Ass’s Brains”, the ass was taken in by the lion and the fox, and lost his own life, even being ridiculed by the fox as a foolish animal with no brains. Again in “The Ass, the Fox and the Lion”, the ass was a poor victim fooled by the loin and the fox, and fell victim to the lion (Aesop, 2012:25).
The ass is also one of the animals closely related to people’s daily lives; however its image is much negative in contrast with the ox. The reason might lie in the fact that the ass is not as strong as the ox in build, which limits their manual capability, also the ass needs to be fed constantly to maintain its physical energy; therefore, it didn't receive the ancient Greek people's recognition in its work performance. Aesop used the image of the ass to represent someone who is the smug, lazy and greedy. These people are not welcomed by the society.
2.2.2 The Frog
The frogs are good helpers of the crops. But in Aesop’s Fables, their images are very notorious. All the proverbs seems to certify how stupid and ignorant they are. In “The Mouse, the Frog and the Hawk”, a mouse and a frog became friends, even though they were not well mated, for the mouse lived entirely on land, while the frog was equally at home on land or in the water. The frog tied himself and the mouse together by the leg with a piece of thread. The frog jumped into a pool, taking the mouse with him, and began swimming about and croaking with pleasure, which killed the poor mouse who floated about on the surface in the wake of the frog. A hawk saw the dead body and seized him together with the frog that was unable to loosen the knot which bound him to the mouse, and thus was carried off along with him and eaten by the hawk (Aesop, 2012:101). Because of the innocence of the frog, he causes the death of his friend and himself. In “The Frogs Desiring a King”, the naïve frogs could not be just content with their happy life living in a marshy swamp, instead they wanted to be ruled by a king, determined to send up a petition to Jove to give them what they wanted. Their constant discontent made Jove angry, so he sent among them a big stork that gobbled them all up. Then the frogs repented when too late (Aesop, 2012:113). In “The Ox and the Frog”, a little frog told his father of an ox he once encountered. While the little one describing how big the ox was, the father blew himself out to make himself as broad as the ox, and his self-conceit led to his self-destruction (Asope, 2012:146).
The frog usually lives in the pond which confines it to the small ecologic world making it contented with the secluded life, daring not venture out. In Aesop’s Fables, the frog’s shortsightedness and lack of adventurous spirits were much condemned. By the negative image of the image, probably Aesop intended to warm people of the danger of being too contented with and confined to a stagnant life which could only result in ignorance leading to their own demise.
2.2.3 The Horse
The horse in Aesop’s Fables seems always get caught up in revenge. His desire to get revenge gets the better of him and he pays a great price for it, losing his own freedom. For instance, in “The Horse, Hunter and Stag”, a quarrel had arisen between the horse and the stag, so the horse came to a hunter to ask his help to take revenge on the stag. The hunter agreed, but demanded that a piece of iron be placed between his jaws and a saddle be placed on his back. The horse agreed to the conditions, and the hunter soon saddled and bridled him. Then with the aid of the hunter the horse soon overcame the stag, but the horse could not get out of the shackles any more (Aesop, 2012:410). The horse’s fate repeats in another fable entitled “The Horse and the Stag”. In the fable, again the horse got into a dispute with a stag, and asked a man to help him in punishing the stag, and in return, the horse would receive a bit in his mouth, and agree to carry the man. He finally found out that instead of obtaining revenge on the stag, he had enslaved himself to the service of man (Aesop, 2012:384). 《伊索寓言》中的动物形象(4):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_7400.html