Sunday, June 08, 2008

Perry 113: Tuna and Dolphin

Today's fable is Perry #113, the story of the dolphin who chased the tuna fish. At the Aesopus wiki, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable that I have collected. This is a fable from the Greek tradition, not well attested in the Latin tradition. Luckily, however, I was able to find this simple prose version in de Furia's Latin Aesop:

Thynnus, a Delphino agitatus, magnaque vi actus, cum ab eo iam iam caperetur, in quamdam insulam, ex vehementi, quo ferebatur, impetu, imprudens desiluit, in eamdemque et ipse Delphinus, qui illum pari vi insequebatur, eiectus est. Tum Thunnus conversus, eumque efflantem animam conspicatus, Non amplius (inquit) molesta mihi mors est, cum meae necis auctorem mecum una pereuntem videam. Fabula innuit quod facile homines calamitates sustinent, cum earum auctores infelicitatibus pressos aspiciant.

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

Thynnus,
a Delphino agitatus,
magnaque vi actus,
cum ab eo iam iam caperetur,
in quamdam insulam,
ex vehementi, quo ferebatur, impetu, imprudens desiluit,
in eamdemque
et ipse Delphinus,
qui illum pari vi insequebatur,
eiectus est.
Tum Thunnus conversus,
eumque efflantem animam conspicatus,
Non amplius (inquit)
molesta mihi mors est,
cum meae necis auctorem
mecum una pereuntem videam.
Fabula innuit
quod
facile homines calamitates sustinent,
cum earum auctores
infelicitatibus pressos aspiciant.

For an image of the story, here is an illustration from Barlow's Aesop which shows the traditional depiction of a dolphin (very un-Flipper-esque) that became established in Renaissance art and which Barlow still follows:





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