Perry 373: Ant and Grasshopper

Today's fable is Perry 373, the story of how the ant worked all summer storing up food for winter, while the grasshopper (or cricket or cicada) had nothing to eat when winter came. I guess I should have been more like the ant, storing up blog posts for when the beginning of the semester arrives... but I had too much fun playing ping pong this summer, ha ha! Anyway, at del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected.

For a Latin version of the fable by the medieval scholar Vincent of Beauvais:

Formica hieme frumentum ex caverna trahens siccabat quod aestate colligens coagulaverat. Cicada autem eam rogabat, esuriens, ut daret aliquid illi de cibo, ut viveret. Cui Formica: Quid faciebas (inquit) in aestate? At illa: Non mihi vacabat: per saepes oberrabam cantando. Formica igitur, ridens et frumentum includens, ait: Si aestate cantasti, hieme salta!

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

Formica
hieme
frumentum
ex caverna trahens
siccabat
quod
aestate
colligens coagulaverat.
Cicada autem
eam rogabat,
esuriens,
ut daret aliquid illi
de cibo,
ut viveret.
Cui Formica:
Quid faciebas
(inquit)
in aestate?
At illa:
Non mihi vacabat:
per saepes oberrabam
cantando.
Formica igitur,
ridens
et frumentum includens,
ait:
Si aestate cantasti,
hieme salta!

I've created a slideshow of images for this story. You can visit the album, or view a full-screen version of the slideshow. Here is a small version of the slideshow; to hide the captions, just click on the caption icon in the lower left-hand corner.

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Perry 376: Puffed-Up Frog

Today's fable is Perry 376, the story of the frog who puffed herself, trying to rival an ox in size... a fatal mistake! At del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected.

This is another one of the fables that you can find in Odo of Cheriton, so I thought I would include his version here. I especially like his moral for the story, about the great oxen of the church hierarchy!

Contra magna appetentes ex invidia. Rana vidit Bouem in prato incedentem.
Cogitavit si posset esse ita magna ut Bos ille, et vocavit filios, dicens: Ecce quanta decentia et magnificientia, si possem ad magnitudinem Bovis pervenire! Et intumuit et inflata est quantum potuit. Et ait filiis suis: Adhuc ita magna sum ut ille Bos? Dixerunt filii: Nondum magna es ut caput Bovis. Est ita, dixit Rana; adhuc inflabor. Et in tantum intumuit quod media crepuit.
Sic sunt plerique qui vident episcopos, abbates, archidiaconos, quasi boues, cum magna pompa incedentes. Cogitant qualiter possent ita magni fieri, et in tantum conantur quod in anima uel corpore moriuntur.

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

Contra magna appetentes
ex invidia.
Rana
vidit Bouem
in prato incedentem.
Cogitavit
si posset esse ita magna
ut Bos ille,
et vocavit filios,
dicens:
Ecce quanta decentia et magnificientia,
si possem ad magnitudinem Bovis pervenire!
Et intumuit et inflata est
quantum potuit.
Et ait filiis suis:
Adhuc ita magna sum
ut ille Bos?
Dixerunt filii:
Nondum magna es
ut caput Bovis.
Est ita, dixit Rana;
adhuc inflabor.
Et in tantum intumuit
quod media crepuit.
Sic sunt plerique
qui vident episcopos, abbates, archidiaconos,
quasi boues,
cum magna pompa incedentes.
Cogitant
qualiter possent ita magni fieri,
et in tantum conantur
quod in anima uel corpore moriuntur.

I've created a slideshow of images for this story. You can visit the album, or view a full-screen version of the slideshow. Here is a small version of the slideshow; to hide the captions, just click on the caption icon in the lower left-hand corner.

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Perry 358: Donkey in the Lion's Skin

Today's fable is Perry 358, the story of the donkey who dressed himself up in a lion's skin and was able to scare everybody... until, of course, someone finally saw through his disguise. At del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected. One of the variations you will see in this fable is just how the donkey gives himself away: sometimes his hooves stick out from underneath, sometimes it his long donkey ears that come poking out, and sometimes the donkey lets out a tell-tale bray!

This is one of the fables that you can find in Odo of Cheriton, one of my very favorite medieval authors. For some odd reason, his version of the story involves LOTS of donkeys! :-)

Asini viderunt quod homines male et dure tractaverunt eos, stimulando, onera imponendo. Viderunt etiam quod timuerunt Leones. Condixerunt ad invicem quod acciperent pelles leoninas et sic homines timerent illos. Fecerunt sic. Asini igitur, induti pellibus leoninis, saltabant, discurrebant. Homines fugerunt, credentes esse Leones. Tandem Asini inceperunt recanare. Homines diligenter auscultaverunt et dixerunt: Vox ista vox Asinorum est; accedamus proprius. Accesserunt tandem; viderunt caudas illorum et pedes et dixerunt: Certe isti sunt Asini, non Leones, et ceperunt Asinos et multum bene verberaverunt.

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

Asini viderunt
quod homines
male et dure tractaverunt eos,
stimulando, onera imponendo.
Viderunt etiam
quod timuerunt Leones.
Condixerunt ad invicem
quod acciperent pelles leoninas
et sic homines timerent illos.
Fecerunt sic.
Asini igitur,
induti pellibus leoninis,
saltabant, discurrebant.
Homines fugerunt,
credentes
esse Leones.
Tandem Asini
inceperunt recanare.
Homines
diligenter auscultaverunt
et dixerunt:
Vox ista
vox Asinorum est;
accedamus proprius.
Accesserunt tandem;
viderunt caudas illorum et pedes
et dixerunt:
Certe isti sunt Asini,
non Leones,
et ceperunt Asinos
et multum bene verberaverunt.

I've created a slideshow of images for this story. You can visit the album, or view a full-screen version of the slideshow. Here is a small version of the slideshow; to hide the captions, just click on the caption icon in the lower left-hand corner.

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Perry 370: The Trumpeter

Today's fable is Perry 370, the story of the trumpeter captured during the war. At del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected. This is one of those fables that is interesting on a literal level - is the trumpeter really culpable? It's kind of like thinking about those civilian contractors in Iraq, who are not carrying weapons but are part of the American occupation. Like all good fables, though, the story of the trumpeter gets its real significance from being able to be applied metaphorically to all kinds of situations, to people who "aid and abet" in any kind of endeavor which is likely to result in negative consequences, just as the trumpeter here did not kill any of the enemy, but roused the men of his army to do so.

Here is a version of the story from the Jacobs & Doering Latin reader:

Tubicen ab hostibus captus, Ne me, inquit, interficite; nam inermis sum, neque quidquam habeo praeter hanc tubam. At propter hoc ipsum, inquiunt, te interimemus; quod, cum ipse pugnandi sis imperitus, alios ad pugnam incitare soles. Fabula docet, non solum maleficos esse puniendos, sed etiam eos, qui alios ad male faciendum irritent.

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

Tubicen
ab hostibus captus,
Ne me, inquit, interficite;
nam inermis sum,
neque quidquam habeo
praeter hanc tubam.
At propter hoc ipsum,
inquiunt,
te interimemus;
quod,
cum ipse
pugnandi sis imperitus,
alios
ad pugnam incitare soles.
Fabula docet,
non solum maleficos
esse puniendos,
sed etiam eos,
qui
alios
ad male faciendum irritent.

I've created a slideshow of images for this story. You can visit the album, or view a full-screen version of the slideshow. Here is a small version of the slideshow; to hide the captions, just click on the caption icon in the lower left-hand corner.

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Perry 352: City Mouse and Country Mouse

Today's fable is Perry 352, the story of the city mouse and the country mouse. Judging by the delighted responses of the students in my college folklore classes, this is still a very well known and much-beloved story even today - although not all the students associate the story with Aesop. It has much the same theme of the simple life, although expressed in quite different terms, as yesterday's story of the wolf and the dog. At del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected.

I love this version of the story in Odo of Cheriton, which has some great back-and-forth dialogue between the mice, including the story of how the city mouse's own mother and father were killed in their pursuit of fine dining!

Quaedam Mus Domestica quaerebat a Campestri Mure quid comederet. Quae respondit: Duras fabas, quandoque sicca grana tritici uel hordei. Et ait Mus Domestica: Arida sunt cibaria tua. Mirum est quod fame non peris. Quaesiuit Silvestris: Et quid comedis tu? Certe comedo pingues morsellos, quandoque album panem. Iterum adiecit: Venias ad prandium meum et optime comedes. Placuit Campestri et ivit ad domum alterius Muris. Homines sedentes ad prandium micas et morsellos proiecerunt. Mus Domestica dixit Silvestri: Exeas de foramine; ecce quot bona proiciuntur. Exivit Campestris et cepit unum morsellum, et saltavit Cattus post Murem, et vix evasit in foramen. Ait Mus Domesticus: Ecce, frater, quam bonos morsellos frequenter comedo; maneas mecum per aliquot dies. Respondit Mus Silvestris: Boni sunt morselli; sed habes singulis diebus talem socium? Et quaesiuit Domestica qualem. Et ait Silvestris: Unum magnum Murilegum qui fere me totum devoravit. Respondit Mus Domestica: Certe ita est, quoniam patrem meum et matrem interfecit, et ego multotiens vix evasi. Et ait Campestris: Certe nollem habere totum mundum cum tali periculo; remaneas cum morsellis tuis. Melius volo vivere cum pane et aqua in securitate quam habere omnes delicias cum tali socio: Rodere malo fabam quam cura perpete rodi.

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

Quaedam Mus Domestica
quaerebat a Campestri Mure
quid comederet.
Quae respondit:
Duras fabas,
quandoque sicca grana tritici uel hordei.
Et ait Mus Domestica:
Arida sunt cibaria tua.
Mirum est
quod fame non peris.
Quaesiuit Silvestris:
Et quid comedis tu?
Certe comedo pingues morsellos,
quandoque album panem.
Iterum adiecit:
Venias ad prandium meum
et optime comedes.
Placuit Campestri
et ivit ad domum alterius Muris.
Homines
sedentes ad prandium
micas et morsellos proiecerunt.
Mus Domestica dixit Silvestri:
Exeas de foramine;
ecce quot bona proiciuntur.
Exivit Campestris
et cepit unum morsellum,
et saltavit Cattus post Murem,
et vix evasit in foramen.
Ait Mus Domesticus:
Ecce, frater,
quam bonos morsellos
frequenter comedo;
maneas mecum per aliquot dies.
Respondit Mus Silvestris:
Boni sunt morselli;
sed habes singulis diebus talem socium?
Et quaesiuit Domestica
qualem.
Et ait Silvestris:
Unum magnum Murilegum
qui fere me totum devoravit.
Respondit Mus Domestica:
Certe ita est,
quoniam patrem meum et matrem interfecit,
et ego multotiens vix evasi.
Et ait Campestris:
Certe nollem habere
totum mundum
cum tali periculo;
remaneas cum morsellis tuis.
Melius volo vivere
cum pane et aqua in securitate
quam habere omnes delicias
cum tali socio:
Rodere malo fabam
quam cura perpete rodi.

I've created a slideshow of images for this story. Visit the album, or view a full-screen version of the slideshow. Here is a small version of the slideshow; to hide the captions, just click on the caption icon in the lower left-hand corner.

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Perry 346: Wolf and Dog

Today's fable is Perry 346, the story of the wolf who envied the dog - until he learned about the dog's collar. At del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected. This is a story well-represented in the Latin tradition, beginning with Phaedrus, a poet who took a special interest in stories of slavery and freedom - not surprisingly, since Phaedrus himself was a freedman.

This is another of the fables you can find in Jacobs & Doering's Latin reader; here is their version of the story:

Lupus canem videns bene saginatum, Quanta est, inquit, felicitas tua! Tu, ut videtur, laute vivis, at ego fame enecor. Tum canis, Licet, inquit, mecum in urbem venias et eadem felicitate fruaris. Lupus conditionem accepit. Dum una eunt, animadvertit lupus in collo canis attritos pilos. Quid hoc est? inquit. Num iugum sustines? Cervix enim tua tota est glabra. Nihil est, canis respondit. Sed interdiu me alligant, ut noctu sim vigilantior; atque haec sunt vestigia collaris, quod cervici circumdari solet. Tum lupus, Vale, inquit, amice! nihil moror felicitatem servitute emptam! Haec fabula docet, liberis nullum commodum tanti esse quod servitutis calamitatem compensare possit.

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

Lupus
canem videns
bene saginatum,
Quanta est, inquit,
felicitas tua!
Tu, ut videtur,
laute vivis,
at ego fame enecor.
Tum canis,
Licet, inquit,
mecum in urbem venias
et eadem felicitate fruaris.
Lupus conditionem accepit.
Dum una eunt,
animadvertit lupus
in collo canis
attritos pilos.
Quid hoc est? inquit.
Num iugum sustines?
Cervix enim tua
tota est glabra.
Nihil est,
canis respondit.
Sed interdiu me alligant,
ut noctu sim vigilantior;
atque haec sunt
vestigia collaris,
quod
cervici circumdari solet.
Tum lupus,
Vale, inquit, amice!
nihil moror felicitatem
servitute emptam!
Haec fabula docet,
liberis
nullum commodum
tanti esse
quod
servitutis calamitatem
compensare possit.

I've created a slideshow of images for this story. You can view the album, or see a full-screen version of the slideshow. Here is a small version of the slideshow; to hide the captions, just click on the caption icon in the lower left-hand corner.

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Some dynamic content may not display if you are reading this blog via RSS or through an email subscription. You can always visit the Bestiaria Latina blog to see the full content, and to find out how to subscribe to the latest posts.

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Perry 332: The Mischievous Dog

Today's fable is Perry 332, the story of the dog who was foolishly proud of his punishment for biting people. At del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected. In some versions, the dog is hobbled with a clog, while in other versions he wears a bell.

I was pleased to find that this is one of the stories that was included in Jacobs & Doering's Latin reader! I especially like the accusative used with "O" (exclamatory accusative): O te stolidum!

Cani mordaci paterfamilias iussit tintinnabulum ex aere appendi, ut omnes eum cavere possent. Ille vero aeris tinnitu gaudebat, et, quasi virtutis suae praemium esset, alios canes prae se contemnere coepit. Cui unus senior, O te stolidum, inquit, qui ignorare videris isto tinnitu pravitatem morum tuorum indicari! Haec fabula scripta est in eos, qui sibi insignibus flagitiorum suorum placent.

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

Cani mordaci
paterfamilias iussit
tintinnabulum ex aere appendi,
ut omnes
eum cavere possent.
Ille vero
aeris tinnitu gaudebat,
et,
quasi virtutis suae praemium esset,
alios canes
prae se contemnere coepit.
Cui unus senior,
O te stolidum, inquit,
qui ignorare videris
isto tinnitu
pravitatem morum tuorum indicari!
Haec fabula scripta est
in eos,
qui
sibi insignibus flagitiorum suorum placent.

Here is a slideshow of illustrations (some show the dog with a clog, while others show a bell). Visit the album, or view a full-screen version of the slideshow. Here is a small version of the slideshow; to hide the captions, just click on the caption icon in the lower left-hand corner.

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Some dynamic content may not display if you are reading this blog via RSS or through an email subscription. You can always visit the Bestiaria Latina blog to see the full content, and to find out how to subscribe to the latest posts.

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Perry 291: The Driver and Hercules

Today's fable is Perry 291, the story of the man whose wagon was stuck in the mud. We may not drive wagons anymore, but it's still a story that is easy to relate to - and I definitely admire the moral, which, as you will see, is basically "God helps those who help themselves" (a saying which many people assume can be found in the Bible, but not so - the English version seems to derive from Ben Franklin). At del.icio.us, you can see a complete list of the versions of this fable type that I have collected.

Here is the version from the Renaissance poet Caspar von Barth. It's a comparatively easy bit of poetry (as poetry goes!), written in iambic meter:

Saxis onustum obhaeserat luto plaustrum,
Ibi bubulcus voce maxima Divos
Inclamitare, nil sed ipse conari,
Digito nec uno tangere arduam molem.
Olli supremus robore adstitit Divum
Manumque iussit applicare tormento.
Ita, fatus, auxilium invocato divinum,
Ignavia ne vota tute corrumpas.

Here it is written out in segmented style to make it easier to follow, with some adjustments to the word order. Be careful here of the so-called "future imperative," invocato - the future imperative often gets short shrift in Latin textbooks, but it is not that uncommon in Latin, especially the kind of Latin which features direct speech, as often in the fables. I also added in a dicitur to help explain the use of the infinitives inclamitare and conari.

Plaustrum
saxis onustum
luto obhaeserat;
ibi bubulcus
voce maxima
[dicitur] inclamitare Divos,
sed
ipse nil conari,
nec digito uno
tangere arduam molem.
Supremus robore Divum
olli adstitit
et iussit
manum applicare tormento,
fatus,
"invocato auxilium divinum
ita:
ne tute corrumpas vota
ignavia."

For an image, here is Walter Crane's illustration for the story (along with a version in limerick form):

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