In the region of Phrygia, where the ancient city of Troy was located, there was a small village called Amonia in which was born a deformed boy, ugly of countenance and with a body more deformed than any other boy of his time. He had a large head and piercing black eyes; he was long of jaw and had a twisted neck; he had fat calves and big feet; he was large of mouth, hump-backed and bepaunched; he stuttered, and his name was Aesop. As he grew, in time he surpassed all others in astuteness. He was soon captured and removed to a foreign country, where he was sold to a rich citizen of Athens named Aristes. And as this gentleman thought him useless and of no profit to serve in his house, he assigned him to work and dig in the fields and on his property.

One day Zenas, to whom was entrusted the administration of the property for his lord, arose from his sleep to go to work, as he usually did on the aforesaid lands. In a short while his lord came with a lad named Agathopus. And as Zenas was showing his master how hard he worked, it happened that he came upon a fig tree in which there were a few figs that had ripened earlier than those on the other fig trees. From this tree Zenas carefully picked the figs and presented them with great courtesy to his lordship, saying: “To you belong the first fruits of your land.” And the lord, seeing the beauty of the figs, said: “I thank you, sincerely, Zenas, for the great affection you have for me.”