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Barlow 34. DE SOLE ET VENTO

 

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Sol et Aquilo certabant uter sit fortior. Conventum est experiri vires in Viatorem, ut palmam ferat qui excusserit Viatoris manticam. Boreas horrisono turbine Viatorem aggreditur. At ille non desistit, amictum gradiendo duplicans. Assumit vires Sol qui, nimbo paulatim evicto, totos emolitur radios. Incipit Viator aestuare, sudare, anhelare. Tandem progredi nequiens, sub frondoso nemore, obiecta mantica, resedit et ita Soli victoria contingebat.

 

Translation: The sun and the north wind had a contest to see who was stronger. It was decided to test their strength against a traveler, and the palm of victory would be carried off by the one who managed to shake off the traveler's knapsack. The north wind attacked the traveler with a howling whirlwind. But the traveler did not halt and as he went along he wrapped his cloak doubly tight around him. The Sun donned his powers and after gradually dispersing the cloud he shone forth with all his sunrays. The traveler began to grow hot, to sweat, to pant. Finally, unable to keep going, he cast aside his knapsack and sat down beneath a shady grove and thus victory was awarded to the Sun.

 

[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 this edition, by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view. You can see both moments of the story combined in a single image here. If you look from right to left, you see the wind blasting the traveler who is pulling up his cloak to protect himself from the wind. Then, if you look from left to right, you see the sun beaming down on the traveler, who has cast aside his cloak.