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Barlow 41. DE LEPORIBUS ET RANIS

*Not included in the Bolchazy-Carducci book.*

Parallels: For parallel versions, see Perry 138.

Latin Text:

Silva insolito mugiente turbine, trepidi lepores rapide incipiebant fugere. Fugientibus cum obsisteret palus, stetere anxii, utrimque comprehensi periculis. Quodque maioris esset incitamentum timoris, vident in paludem insilientes immergi ranas. Tum unus ex leporibus, ceteris prudentior, Quid, inquit, inaniter timemus? Animis opus est, corporis quidem agilitas nobis adest, sed animi desunt. Hoc periculum turbinis non fugiendum, sed contemnendum.

Here is a segmented version to help you see the grammatical patterns:

Silva

insolito mugiente turbine,

trepidi lepores

rapide incipiebant fugere. Fugientibus cum obsisteret palus,

stetere anxii,

utrimque comprehensi periculis. Quodque

maioris esset incitamentum timoris,

vident

in paludem insilientes

immergi ranas.

Tum unus ex leporibus,

ceteris prudentior,

Quid, inquit,

inaniter timemus?

Animis opus est,

corporis quidem agilitas

nobis adest,

sed animi desunt.

Hoc periculum turbinis

non fugiendum,

sed contemnendum.

Translation: In the woods, an unusual hurricane was blowing, and the nervous rabbits quickly began to run away. When a swamp blocked the fleeing rabbits, they stood there anxiously, facing dangers both in front and behind, and, what was a cause of even greater fear, they saw the frogs jumping into the swamp and plunging below the waters. Then one of the rabbits, more wise than the rest, said, "What are we so foolishly afraid of? We need courage; we do have bodily quickness, but we are lacking in courage. We should not run away from the hurricane; rather, we should scoff at it."

[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.