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Barlow 58. DE VULPE ET PARDO
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Vulpes et Pardus de pulchritudine concertabant et, Pardo suam pellem versicolorem extollente, Vulpes, cum suam praeponere non possit, dicebat Pardo, “At quanto ego sum speciosior, et quam longe formosior, quae non corpus, sed animum versicolorem et variis notis insignem sortita sum?”
Translation: A fox and a leopard were disputing about their beauty; as the leopard praised his multi-colored pelt, the fox - since she was not able to put her pelt ahead of the leopard's - said to him, "But how much more lovely am I, and how much more beautiful by far, since I have been allotted not a multi-colored body, but a mind that is multi-colored and distinguished for its various qualities?"
[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:
Pulchritudo animi
antecellit pulchritudinem corporis
et est omni corporis ornatu potior.
Illustration: Here is an illustration from this edition, by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view.
