Fable 34: Cervus in Bovium Stabulo

Here's the next fable with a kind of running commentary that is not entirely possible within the confines of the forthcoming book from Bolchazy-Carducci. This will be Fable 34 in the book: De Cervo in Bovium Stabulo. For more information about this fable, see the Discussion Forum for this fable at the Aesopus Ning.

Persecutus a canibus, Cervus ad stabulum bovium confugiebat et ibi totum corpus, praeterquam cornua, abscondebat. Adibat stabulum Servus et ille, oscitanter et negligenter huc et illuc oculos circumferens, mox decessit. Fortunae suae nimis applausit laetabundus Cervus et sese tutissimum autumabat. Sed statim, ipso Hero ingrediente locum, et rebus curiosius perlustratis, cornua Cervi detexit et fustibus cum vicinis adoriebatur.

Persecutus a canibus, Cervus
= This deponent participle, normally active in meaning, is used passively here, with an ablative of agent, “chased by dogs.”

ad stabulum bovium confugiebat
= You can see the i-stem of the word bos clearly here in the genitive plural form.

et ibi totum corpus, praeterquam cornua,
= Although corpus could be nominative or accusative, the fact that the stag was the subject of the previous verb, we can probably expect the stag to be the subject of an upcoming verb, with corpus as the object.

abscondebat.
= Here is the verb we were waiting for: cervus is the subject and corpus is the object.

Adibat stabulum Servus
= The stag is is already hidden in the stable, and now another character approaches: a servant.

et ille,
= The pronoun refers to the servant: ille (servus).

oscitanter et negligenter
= These two adverbs summarize the servant's attitude towards his work: whether it's a farm or a shopping mall, you can still see plenty of people who go about their work this way! (Or, rather, go about not really working!) The verb oscito means to "gape" or "yawn" and, more generally, it means to be sleepy or drowsy.

huc et illuc oculos circumferens,
= The pair of adverbs huc et illuc can be expressed as "hither and thither" in old-fashioned English, but a more idiomatic translation would be simple "here and there."

mox decessit.
= Here is the verb which goes with the earlier nominative pronoun, ille (servus) ... decessit.

Fortunae suae nimis applausit
= The verb applausit takes a dative complement.

laetabundus Cervus
= The adjective laetabundus modifies the subject of the verb, so you might want to translate it as an adverb, rather than an adjective.

et sese tutissimum
= Accusative plus infinitive construction in indirect statement, with sese (alternate form of se) as the accusative subject and tutissimum as the predicate adjective: sese (esse) tutissimum. The superlative is used to express an extreme degree, something like the modern English idiom: "totally safe."

autumabat.
= This is the verb which introduces the indirect statement, sese (esse) tutissimum.

Sed statim,
= The Latin adverb statim survives in hospital lingo in English: "stat."

ipso Hero ingrediente locum,
= Ablative absolute construction.

et rebus curiosius perlustratis,
= Another ablative absolute construction. The comparative form of the adverb expresses the idea of “very carefully, quite carefully,” without an explicit comparison, although the implied comparison is to the servant's careless approach to things!

cornua Cervi detexit
= Remember that the stag had hidden his body in the stable... praeterquam cornua!

et fustibus cum vicinis adoriebatur.
= The deponent verb adoriebatur is transitive and takes an implied direct object, cervum.

Here is the illustration of the fable by Francis Barlow:

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