Formica et Columba: Ant and Dove

Source: Aesop's Fables, 1687 (illustrated by Francis Barlow) .

Parallels: For parallel versions, see Perry 235.

Latin Text: Formica, ut sitim sedaret, fonticulum accessit, sed in fonticulum elapsa et paene lymphis absorpta, Columba arborem insidens fonticulo contiguum, ramusculum ore direptum in fonticulum deiecit, cuius adminiculo servata Formica evasit. Sed interea adfuit Auceps et Columbae insidias tensurus, Formica tibiale gravissime mordebat, cui cum fricandi gratiam admovebat, percepit id Columba et impune avolavit.

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

Formica,

ut sitim sedaret,

fonticulum accessit,

sed in fonticulum elapsa

et paene lymphis absorpta,

Columba

arborem insidens

fonticulo contiguum,

ramusculum

ore direptum

in fonticulum deiecit,

cuius adminiculo servata

Formica evasit.

Sed interea

adfuit Auceps

et Columbae

insidias tensurus,

Formica

tibiale

gravissime mordebat,

cui

cum fricandi gratiam admovebat,

percepit id

Columba

et impune avolavit.

Translation:

An ant, in order to slake her thirst, approached a little spring, but she slipped in the spring and had almost been swallowed by the waters. A dove sitting in a tree next to the spring, took a little twig in her mouth and tossed it down into the water, and saved by this assistance, the ant escaped. But meanwhile a bird-catcher had arrived and was about to stretch out his trap for the dove. The ant bit him most painfully on the shin, and when he reached for the bite in order to scratch it, the dove perceived it and flew away safely.

[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.]

This edition of Aesop's fables was published in French, Latin, and English, so here it the English poem that accompanies this fable (I've modernized some of the 17th-century spelling):

A Pismire once saved by a gentle Dove

Who seeing her like to be ensnared, she strove

With her keen sting the Fowler's heel to fret.

The Dove perceived it and avoids the net.

Behold, unthinking man, the pious Ant

Can teach you gratitude and industry in want.

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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