Via Susan Hill comes this story from Alberto Manguel and his biography of Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey/
'In 1990 the Colombian Ministry of Culture set up a system of itinerant libraries to take books to the inhabitants of distant rural regions. For this purpose carrier book bags with capacious pockets were transported on donkeys 'backs up into the jungle and the sierra. Here the books were left for several weeks in the hands of a teacher or village elder who became the librarian in charge. Most of the books were technical works.. but a few literary works were also included. According to one librarian the books were always safely accounted for.
'I know of a single instance in which a book was not returned,' she said. 'We had taken, along with the usual practical titles, a Spanish translation of THE ILIAD. When the time came to exchange the books the villagers refused to give this back. We decided to make them a present of it but asked why they wanted to keep that particular title. They explained that Homer`s story reflected their own. It told of a war torn country in which mad gods mix with men and women, who never know exactly what the fighting is about or when they will be happy or why they will be killed.'