Perry 39: The Wise Swallow

As I'm gearing up for the publication of Aesop’s Fables in Latin: Ancient Wit and Wisdom from the Animal Kingdom (coming soon from Bolchazy-Carducci!), I'm reviewing the different Perry numbers that will be included in that book. For each of the fables, I'm posting here a Latin version of the fable along with an illustration that can be compared/contrasted with the version in Barlow's book.

Today's fable is Perry #39, the story of the wise swallow who tried to warn the other birds about the flax seed. At the Aesopus wiki, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable that I have collected. This is one of those interesting fables which is attested in the Greek tradition but also in the medieval Latin tradition, including Ademar, but without an extant poem by Phaedrus. On those grounds, it is probably quite reasonable to suppose that the fable was indeed in Phaedrus, but has not survived in any of the copies which have reached us.

Here is the version in Steinhowel's Aesop (1.20):

Qui non audit bonum consilium, in se inveniet malum, ut haec approbat fabula. Spargi et arari lini semen aves omnes cum viderent, pro nihilo hoc habuerunt. Hirundo autem hoc intellexit. Et convocatis omnibus retulit hoc esse malum. Deinde ut adolevit semen ac bene excrevit, iterum hirundo ait illis: Hoc in nostrum crescit interitum; venite, eruamus illud. Nam cum creverit retia facient ex illo et humanis quidem artibus capi possumus! Eius autem consilium omnes contempserunt. Cum autem contemni consilium illud hirundo videret, ad homines se transtulit, ut sub eorum tectis tutius degeret et quae respuerunt consilium, audire nolentes, semper anxie in retia caderent. Audiant haec propriis semper innitentes opinionibus neque aliorum consiliis assentientes.

Here it is written out in segmented style to make it easier to follow, while respecting the Latin word order:

Qui
non audit bonum consilium,
in se inveniet malum,
ut haec approbat fabula.
Spargi et arari lini semen
aves omnes
cum viderent,
pro nihilo
hoc habuerunt.
Hirundo autem
hoc intellexit.
Et
convocatis omnibus
retulit
hoc esse malum.
Deinde
ut adolevit semen
ac bene excrevit,
iterum
hirundo ait illis:
Hoc
in nostrum crescit interitum;
venite,
eruamus illud.
Nam
cum creverit
retia facient ex illo
et humanis quidem artibus
capi possumus!
Eius autem consilium
omnes contempserunt.
Cum autem
contemni consilium illud
hirundo videret,
ad homines se transtulit,
ut sub eorum tectis tutius degeret
et
quae respuerunt consilium,
audire nolentes,
semper anxie in retia caderent.
Audiant haec
propriis semper innitentes opinionibus
neque aliorum consiliis assentientes.

I like the way this version includes direct speech spoken by the swallow herself!

For an illustration, here is an image from Steinhowel's Aesop which shows the swallow (recognizable by her wings!) speaking to the other birds, who seem to be paying attention... even though they are not going to heed her advice:

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