Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel (1736-1809), an Alsatian writer of fables. In his fable about the wild boar and the birds he has a Mennonite play the part of a frank and courageous friend of the truth: “ ‘Sir,’ said his renter Hans, an intelligent Mennonite, who was just riding past the forest on his way from the market, ‘appearances deceive you; from the stirred up earth many a worm creeps forth; with a cry of joy the gay flock of birds pounces upon it, and this fellow thinks that their melody is coined because of his merit’ ” (free English rendering of German verse).

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 159. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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