Apuleius. The Golden Ass.

Translation by M. Kuzmin, introduction by Adr. Piotrowsky. M: ACADEMIA, 1930.
«The Golden Ass » is a novel in 11 books, written by a Latin prose writer Lucius Apuleius in the 2nd century. It is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety. Adrian Piotrowsky in his introduction called The Golden Ass the most magical novel of antiquity. Apparently Mikhail Bulgakov was quite familiar with the novel as a few episodes of «The Master and Margarita» refer to the scenes from The Golden Ass. Describing Margarita rubbing herself with Azazello’s magical cream Bulgakov makes an allusion to Pamphile’s transformation into an owl described by Apuleius.