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Barlow 10. DE VULPE ET AQUILA

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Dum Vulpis Proles foris excurrebant, ab Aquila comprehensae Matris fidem implorabant. Accurrit Vulpes Aquilamque rogat ut captivam Prolem dimittat. Aquila, nacta praedam, ad Pullos subvolat. Vulpes, correpta face, quasi nidum incendio absumptura esset, insequitur. Trepidans Aquila: “Parce (inquit) mihi parvisque Liberis, et tuum quidquid habeo reddidero.”

Translation: While the fox's offspring were running around outside, they were caught by the eagle, and called upon their mother's protection. The fox ran up and aked the eagle to let her captured offspring go free. The eagle, having obtained this plunder, flew up to her chicks. The fox, having snatched up a torch, pursued, as if she were going to destroy the nest with fire. The eagle was frightened and said: Spare me and my little children, and whatever of yours I have, I will give back.

[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:

Per Aquilam,

potentis atque audacis animi homines

intelligendi sunt;

per Vulpem,

pauperculi.

Verum quando

et sua Formicis est ira,

impotentes etiam

acceptam iniuriam

interdum probe ulciscuntur.

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