Confluence of traditions in al-Andalus: Ibn al-Khaṭīb and his version of the Greek fable of 'The wolf and the lamb' and the oriental tale of 'The wolf and the ram'

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to offer the peculiar Arabic version of two tales of different origin, collected by the fourteenth-century Granada vizier Ibn al-Jaṭīb. The first of these is the well-known Greek fable of "The wolf and the lamb" which is part of the classic Esopic collections and which was incorporated by the Grenadian vizier in his historical work Kitāb A'māl al-a'lām. The second story is the tale of Eastern origin "The Wolf and the Ram", only existed until now in the Castilian work of El cavallero Zifar (XIV century), a tale that was also included by Ibn al-Jaṭīb in a supposed letter sent to Pedro I. The analysis of these two stories try to contribute to reinforce the idea of ​​the existence of an intense and flowing cultural relationship between western and eastern literary traditions in the Iberian Peninsula, especially during the 13th and 14th centuries, which is clearly manifested in the different and peculiar existing versions of these stories.