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osius073

Page history last edited by Laura Gibbs 15 years, 11 months ago

 

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Leo et Rana

 

Parallels: For parallel versions, see Perry 141.

 

Sustinet ingentes toto quos edere rictu

Rana, sonos pavitans hausit ut aure Leo:

Perculsum perhibent clamoribus acriter illis,

Edere quos magnam credidit ipse feram.

Mox animo redeunte tamen circumspicit audax,

Inque hostem posito se parat ille metu.

At de vicino repentem flumine Ranam

Observans, temere se stupuisse videt.

Concipit hinc iram pariter, pariterque pudorem,

Iamque domans Ranam calce premente necat.

Quolibet est strepitu res digna pudore moneri,

Explorat a parum turpe timere viro.

 

Here is the poem in a more prose-like word order for easy reading:

 

Rana toto rictu sustinet edere sonos ingentes

quos ut Leo aure hausit pavitans.

Perhibent Leonem acriter perculsum esse illis clamoribus

quos ipse credidit magnam feram edere.

Mox tamen, animo redeunte,

audax circumspicit

et, metu posito,

ille parat se in hostem.

At observans Ranam repentem de vicino flumine

videt se stupuisse temere.

Hinc concipit iram pariter et pariter pudorem,

et iam domans calce premente necat Ranam.

Res est digna pudore moveri quolibet strepitu;

viro turpe est timere parum explorata.

 

Here is the poem with meter marks:

 

Sustinet ~ ingen~tes to~to quos ~ edere ~ rictu

Rana, so~nos pavi~tans = hausit ut ~ aure Le~o:

Percul~sum perhi~bent cla~moribus ~ acriter ~ illis,

Edere ~ quos mag~nam = credidit ~ ipse fe~ram.

Mox ani~mo rede~unte ta~men cir~cumspicit ~ audax,

Inqu(e h)os~tem posi~to = se parat ~ ille me~tu.

At de ~ vici~no re~pentem ~ flumine ~ Ranam

Obser~vans, teme~re = se stupu~isse vi~det.

Concipit ~ hinc i~ram pari~ter, pari~terque pu~dorem,

Iamque do~mans Ra~nam = calce pre~mente ne~cat.

Quolibet ~ est strepi~tu res ~ digna pu~dore mo~neri,

Explorat ~ a pa~rum = turpe ti~mere vi~ro.

 

Translation:

 

A Frog, with his mouth wide open, kept on uttering loud noises which the Lion feared as they reached his ear. They say the Lion was sharply struck by these rumbles, which he believed were being produced by a huge beast. But quickly his courage returned and he boldly looked around, putting aside his fear, and readied him to face the foe. But seeing a Frog slithering out of the nearby stream, the Lion saw that he had amazed for no good reason. Thus he felt equal parts anger and shame and now lowering his paw he subdues and kills the Frog. It is a shameful thing to be affected by any sort of noise; for a brave person it is disgraceful to be afraid of things that have not been fully explored.

 

[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.]

 

Illustration:

 

Here is an illustration from the 1575 edition; click on the image for a larger view. This is another one of those cases where it looks like the artist was not 100% clear about which story he was supposed to be illustrating, as this picture is clearly an illustration of the fable of the lion's share, with no sign of a frog!

 

 

Because this fable is attested only in the Greek tradition prior to the Renaissance, I cannot supply an image from the 1501 edition of Aesop's fables as I've usually done when the Osius illustration doesn't match the fable. So, in order to give you a picture of a frog and a lion, here is a puppet theater with frog and lion puppets!

 

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