Animal Peculiarity

In this and in the rich variety of topics and in a certain fondness for piquant, not to say earthy, stories from the life of men and of animals, one may trace the influence of the Milesian Tales. Unfettered by any canons of style or language, picaresque, and sometimes gross, they pandered to popular taste. To adopt their technique while refining the style and imparting a moral flavour to his narratives may well have seemed to Aelian a sure way of gaining like popularity with educated readers.