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Barlow 13. DE LUPO ET SUE

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PRE-READING VERSION (simplified):

Sus parturiebat.

Lupus dicit:

"Ego fetus tui custos ero!"

Lupus pollicetur se fetus custodem fore.

Sus puerpera est.

Sus puerpera dicit:

"Tuo obsequio non egeo, Lupe!"

Sus respondet Lupi obsequio se non egere.

Sus orat Lupum ut abeat.

Sus Lupo dicit:

"Si pius haberi velis, abi!

Longius abi!

Tua benevolentia constat absentia!

Tua benevolentia non constant praesentia!"

Sus orat, si Lupus velit pius haberi, longius abeat.

Lupi benevolentia constabat non praesentia, sed absentia.

Parturiebat Sus; pollicetur Lupus se custodem fore fetus. Respondet Puerpera Lupi obsequio se non egere, oratque, si velit pius haberi, longius abeat; Lupi enim benevolentia constabat non praesentia, sed absentia.

Translation: A sow was giving birth and a wolf promised that he would be a guardian to her offspring. The expectant mother answered that she had no need of the wolf's services and asked him to move farther away if he wanted to be considered a devoted fellow - this was because the good will of the wolf consisted not in his presence but in his absence. 

[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.]

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