Perry 155: Wolf and Lamb

Today's fable is Perry 155, the story of the wolf and the lamb who came to drink at the spring. At the del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected. This is one of the best-attested fables in the Latin tradition, and often appears first in the medieval "Romulus" collections, just as it was the first poem in Phaedrus's fables from ancient Rome.

You can find this story told in many versions, with the wolf making all kinds of elaborate charges against the lamb, and the lamb steadfastly maintaining his innocence. Here in this version by John of Sheppey, you can see the story reduced to its most clear and simple message: the wolf is going to eat that lamb, no matter what! Notice that Bishop John casts the story as an allegory of rich and poor, a common theme in the sermons of the medieval preachers:

Contra calumniosos causam nocendi quaerentes, cum sum potentes, contra pauperes. Agnus et Lupus sitientes ad rivulum e diverso venerunt. Sursum bibebat Lupus, longeque inferio Agnus. Lupus, ut Agnum vidit, sic ait: Turbas mihi aquam bibenti. Agnus vero patienter dixit: Quo modo eam turbarem tibi, quae de te ad me currit? Cui Lupus: Et maledicis mihi. Et Agnus: Non. Et Lupus: Adhuc mihi loqueris! Statimque ei vitam eripuit.

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

Contra calumniosos
causam nocendi quaerentes,
cum sum potentes,
contra pauperes.
Agnus et Lupus
sitientes
ad rivulum e diverso venerunt.
Sursum bibebat Lupus,
longeque inferio Agnus.
Lupus,
ut Agnum vidit,
sic ait:
Turbas mihi aquam bibenti.
Agnus vero
patienter dixit:
Quo modo eam turbarem tibi,
quae de te ad me currit?
Cui Lupus:
Et maledicis mihi.
Et Agnus:
Non.
Et Lupus:
Adhuc mihi loqueris!
Statimque
ei vitam eripuit.

For an image of the story, here is an illustration from Bewick's Aesop - what I like about this one is that it makes it very clear how the water is running down from the wolf to the lamb; there's even a little waterfall there!

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