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Barlow 96. DE ANU ET ANSERE

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Anus quaedam Anserem alebat, qui illi quotidie ovum aureum excludebat. Anus avarissima, existimans Anserem habuisse in visceribus fodinam auream, cupiditate commota, Anserem confestim interfecit et, cum viscera perscrutabatur et unicum tantum ovum deprehenderat, spe sublactata inani, exclamabat, “O me infelicem, tantae crudelitatis consciam, quae, non modico contenta lucro, iam omnia perdiderim.”

Translation: A certain old woman raised a goose, which every day laid for her a golden egg. The old woman, who was extremely greedy, thought that the goose must have gotten a gold-mine in its guts; prompted by this craving, she promptly killed the goose and when she inspected the guts and had gotten hold of only one single egg, having been tantalized by a vain hope, she exclaimed, "O unhappy me, an accomplice in such great cruelty! Not content with a moderate profit, I have now lost it all."

[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.]

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