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Parallels: For parallel versions, see Perry 540.
Paterfamilias saeuum habebat filium.
Hic, e conspectu cum patris recesserat,
uerberibus seruos afficiebat plurimis
et exercebat feruidam adulescentiam.
Aesopus ergo narrat hoc breuiter seni:
"Quidam iuuenco uetulum adiungebat bouem.
Is cum refugiens impari collo iugum
aetatis excusaret uires languidas,
'Non est quod timeas' inquit illi rusticus;
'non ut labores facio, sed ut istum domes,
qui calce et cornu multos reddit debiles.'
Et tu nisi istum tecum assidue retines,
feroxque ingenium comprimis clementia,
uide ne querela maior accrescat domus."
Atrocitati mansuetudo est remedium.
Here is the poem in a more prose-like word order for easy reading:
Not yet available.
Here is the poem with meter marks:
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Translation:
A father had an unmanageable son who indulged his vicious adolescent temper by brutally whipping the slaves whenever his father wasn't looking. Aesop therefore shared this little story with the father. 'A farmer once yoked an old bull to a young bull. The old bull tried to escape being yoked to this mismatched partner, complaining that his strength had become feeble with age. The farmer said to the bull, "Have no fear. I am not doing this to make you work but so that you will keep the young bull in check, seeing as how he has lamed many of the other bulls with his kicking and butting." So too you must always keep that boy beside you in order to restrain his reckless inclinations with your own moderation, or else you will end up with even greater cause for complaint in your household.'
A mild disposition can put a stop to vicious behaviour.
Illustration:
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