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Barlow 7. DE VULPE, CANE ET GALLO
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Canis et Gallus rus obambulabant. Nocte appropinquante, Gallus altam ascendebat arborem, Canis autem ad pedem arboris securus dormiebat. Intempesta nocte, Gallus canoram vocem edidit. Vulpes praeteriens audit accurritque et inter salutandum promisit quod optimam doceret novamque oden, si ab arbore descenderet. “Descendam subito,” respondebat Gallus. “Saltem a te peto ut Comitem expergiscaris meum, qui infra in utramque aurem dormit.” Vulpes, novae praedae avida, Canem expergiscitur. Canis subito in eam irruens apprehendit laniatque.
Translation: A dog and a rooster were journeying through the countryside. Night came on, and the rooster went up a tall tree, while the dog slept unconcerned at the foot of the tree. In the dead of night, the rooster gave out a loud cock-a-doodle-doo. A fox, who was passing by, heard the rooster. She ran up and as she greeted the rooster she promised that she would teach the rooster an excellent new ode, if he would just come down from the tree. I'll come down right away, said the rooster, only I need you to wake up my friend who is sound asleep down below. The fox, greedy for yet another victim, woke the dog. The dog immediately attacked the fox, grabbed her, and tore her to pieces.
[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:
Odio digna est
simulatio,
et simulatione capienda;
non est timendus hostis
qui hostem prae se fert,
sed qui,
cum hostis sit,
benevolentiam simulat,
is demum timendus est,
et odio dignissimus.
Illustration: Here is an illustration from this edition, by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view.
