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Barlow 72. DE ASINO LEONIS PELLE INDUTO
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Asinus, in silvam veniens, exuvias Leonis offendit. Quibus indutus, in pascua redit, greges et armenta territans fugansque. Herus autem, qui vagum fallacemque Asinum perdiderat, occurrit. Asinus, viso Hero, cum rugitu obviam fecit. At Herus, prehensis quae extabant auriculis, “Alios licet (inquit) fallas; ego te probe novi.”
Translation: A donkey went into the woods and came across the skin of a lion. He put it on, and went back to the pasture, and he terrified the flocks and herds, driving them away. Meanwhile, the master who had lost the wandering and deceitful donkey, ran up. The donkey, when he saw the master, brayed and went to meet him. But the master grabbed the donkey's ears that were sticking out, and said: "Even if you can fool the others, I know you all too well!"
[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:
Quod non es,
nec te esse simules;
multi qui
Hectores se esse,
et iactant, et videri volunt,
ex sua loquacitate
redarguuntur
et, vero comperto,
irridentur.
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