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Barlow 98. DE RUSTICO ET SILVA

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Accedebat Silvam Rusticus et rogabat Arbores ut sibi lignum concederent, ex quo ansam securis fabricaret. Concedebant lignum illi Arbores, quod ad domum deportabat. Quo mox ad securim adaptato, ad Silvam redibat et omnes Arbores ad unum detruncabat.

Accēdēbat silvam Rūsticus et rogābat Arborēs ut sibi lignum concēderent, ex quō ansam secūris fabricāret. Concēdēbant lignum illī Arborēs, quod ad domum dēportābat. Quō mox ad secūrim adaptātō, ad silvam redībat et omnēs Arborēs ad ūnum dētruncābat.

Translation: A country-man went into the woods and asked the trees to give him some wood from which he could make a handle for his axe. The trees gave the wood to him, which he carried home and as soon as he fitted it to his axe, he went back to the woods and cut down all the trees, every last one.

[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:

Quod

levissima

et quae minutuli videntur momenti,

in gravissimum nonnunquam tendunt dispendium.

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