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Barlow 78. DE PISCATORE ET PISCICULO

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Smaridem Pisciculum captabat Piscator, quem, ut se tunc demitteret donec grandesceret unde luculentius et lautius hospitum fauces expleret, importunis precibus fatigavit. Cui Piscator: “Me sane insulsum crederes, si tam futilibus et lubricis promissis fidem adhiberem et certum commodum pro spe incerta commutarem.”

Translation: A fisherman caught a little smaris fish. The fish then asked the fisherman to let him go free until he could grow big (and thus he would fill the throats of the dinner guests more splendidly and sumptuously). With these persistent pleas, the fish wearied the fisherman. The fisherman said to the fish, "You would think I was quite foolish if I were to put stock in such useless and slippery promises, and exchange a definite advantage for a vague hope."

[This translation is meant as a help in understanding the story, not as a "crib" for the Latin. I have not hesitated to change the syntax to make it flow more smoothly in English, altering the verb tense consistently to narrative past tense, etc.]

The Moral of the Story:

Quam stolidi sunt

qui,

spe oblactati magnae fortunae,

nugantur omnino

et tempus

in trivialibus consumunt.

Illustration: Here is an illustration from this edition, by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view.