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DE URSO ET DUOBUS VIATORIBUS

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

Introduction: As you can see from this fable, even the ancient Greeks and Romans shared our belief that "playing dead" is a way that you can perhaps survive the attack of a bear. In Joseph Jacobs' version of this fable, he gives the moral as "Never trust a friend who deserts you at a pinch." G.F. Townsend concludes that "Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends." What do you think is the lesson we should learn from this story of the bear and the two so-called friends? For another story about false friends, see the story of the lion who went hunting with the sheep. For another story about a bear, see the story of the bear who attacked the bee-hive.

Latin Text:

Amici duo, facto foedere, iter inceptantes, Urso obviam dabant. Alter ex Amicis trepidus arborem conscendit. Alter autem, constratus humi, se mortuum simulabat et spiritum totum compressit. Accedens Ursus, ad faciem os admovens et mortuum credens, abibat, intactum relinquens. Tandem descendebat ex arbore Amicus et, Socium accedens, percontatus, quid illi susurraverat Ursus. Cui ille respondit, "Monebat me Ursus, ut de falsis et perfidis Amicis in posterum caverem."

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

Amici duo,

facto foedere,

iter inceptantes,

Urso obviam dabant.

Alter ex Amicis

trepidus

arborem conscendit.

Alter autem,

constratus humi,

se mortuum simulabat

et spiritum totum compressit.

Accedens Ursus,

ad faciem os admovens

et mortuum credens,

abibat,

intactum relinquens.

Tandem descendebat ex arbore

Amicus

et, Socium accedens,

percontatus,

quid

illi susurraverat Ursus.

Cui ille respondit,

"Monebat me Ursus,

ut de falsis et perfidis Amicis

in posterum caverem."

Translation: Two friends, having made a pact, set out on a journey and ran into a bear. One of the friends was afraid and climbed a tree. The other, however, stretched out on the ground and pretended to be dead, holding his breath. The bear came up and pressed his mouth towards the man's face and, concluding he was dead, went away, leaving him unharmed. Finally the friend got down from the tree, went up to his partner and asked what the bear had whispered to him. He answered, "The bear warned me that in the future I should beware of false and treacherous friends."

[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.]

Parallels: For parallel versions, see Perry 65.

Related Links: Crossword Puzzle

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