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barlow055

Page history last edited by Laura Gibbs 14 years, 8 months ago

 

HOME | Barlow's Aesop: Previous Page - Next Page

 

Barlow 55. DE EQUO ET LEONE

 

ONLINE FORUM: At the Aesopus Ning Forum, you can ask questions about this fable. You will also  find links there to additional learning materials to help you in reading the Latin (vocabulary, grammar commentary, simplified version, quizzes, macrons, etc.).

 

Venit ad Equum comedendum Leo. Carens autem prae senecta viribus, meditari coepit artem, medicumque se esse profitetur verborumque ambagibus Equum moratur. Equus dolo dolum, artem opponit arti; fingit se dudum in loco spinoso pupugisse pedem oratque ut inspiciens sentem medicus educat. Paret Leo, at Equus multa vi calcem Leoni impingit, et se continuo conicit in pedes. Leo, vix tandem ad se rediens, ictu enim prope exanimatus fuerat: “Pretium (inquit) fero ob stultitiam, et is iure effugit. Dolum enim dolo ultus est.”

 

Translation: A lion came to a horse, intending to eat him. Because he was old, however, the lion was lacking in strength, so he began to craft a trick, claiming that he was a doctor and with a long-winded speech he detained the horse. The horse countered deception for deception, trick for trick, and pretended that he had some time ago pierced his foot in a thorny patch and he begged that the doctor take a look at the thorn and pull it out. The lion obeyed and the horse with great force struck the lion with his hoof and immediately leaped to his feet. At last, the lion regained consciousness, just barely, as he had been almost killed by the blow, and he said, "I am paying the price for my own stupidity, and he has every right to ru away, for a trick has been avenged by a trick."

 

[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:

 

Non est timendus

hostis

qui hostem prae se fert,

sed qui,

cum hostis sit,

benevolentiam simulat;

is demum

timendus est et fugiendus.

 

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

 

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