Apelles meeting with the little ass invited him to tea that very right. The little ass was trembling with delight. He prances through the wood; he pesters all who pass: 'Apelles bores me so. He will not let me be, you know! Whenever him I see, he asks me in to tea. I'm sure he wants to paint a Pegasus from me.'

'Oh no!' Apelles said as he happened to be near, 'I am painting the judgment of King Midas. I'm acquainting with you because you seem to boast the proper length of ear. So if you'll come to tea, most happy I shall be. For long-eared asses are not rare, but with the ears that you can show, no little or big ass either ever could compare!'
 
Consumed with vanity, the fool admires himself for that which others ridicule, and often makes a boast of that which ought to shame him most.