Belly

The belly and its members. The fable of Menenius Agrippa to the Roman people when they seceded to the Sacred Mount: “Once on a time the members refused to work for the lazy belly; but, as the supply of food was thus stopped, they found there was a necessary and mutual dependence between them.” Shakespeare introduces the fable in his Coriolanus, i. 1.

The belly has no ears. A hungry man will not listen to advice or arguments. The Romans had the same proverb, Venter non habet aures; and in French, Ventre affamé nʹa point dʹoreilles.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.