Perry 115: Birdcatcher and Snake

Today's fable is Perry #115, the story of the man who was laying a trap for a bird and accidentally stepped on a snake, which proceeded to bite him - a story of the hunter hunted! 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:

Venator quidam, sumpto visco et arundinibus, venatum exiit. Cum autem turdum procera in arbore considentem vidisset, calamis inter se in longitudinem iunctis, oculos ad eum levabat, ipsum capere exoptans. Interim vero contigit, ut Viperam sub pedibus iacentem nescius premeret. Quae cum exasperata ipsum momordisset, iam iam ille deficiens, Me miserum, inquit, qui cum alium venari vellem, ab alio ad mortem raptus sum. Haec fabula docet quod qui amicis insidias parant, saepe ab aliis inopinato insidiis opprimuntur.

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

Venator quidam,
sumpto visco et arundinibus,
venatum exiit.
Cum autem
turdum
procera in arbore considentem
vidisset,
calamis
inter se in longitudinem iunctis,
oculos ad eum levabat,
ipsum capere exoptans.
Interim vero contigit,
ut Viperam
sub pedibus iacentem
nescius premeret.
Quae cum exasperata
ipsum momordisset,
iam iam ille deficiens,
Me miserum (inquit),
qui
cum alium venari vellem,
ab alio
ad mortem raptus sum.
Haec fabula docet
quod
qui amicis insidias parant,
saepe ab aliis
inopinato
insidiis opprimuntur.

For an image of the story, here is an illustration from Osius's Aesop - look closely, and you'll see the snake!

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