Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Fable 49: Alauda et Pulli Eius

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 49 in the book: De Alauda et Pullis Eius. For more information Fable about this fable, see the Discussion Forum for this fable at the Aesopus Ning.
Alauda positos in segete Pullos monet ut, dum ipsa abest, diligenter attendant praetereuntium sermones de messe. Redit a pastu Mater. Pulli anxii narrant Dominum agri operam illam mandasse vicinis. Respondet nihil esse periculi. Item, alio die, trepidi aiunt rogatos ad metendum esse amicos. Iubet iterum illa ut sint securi. Tertio, ut audivit ipsum Dominum cum filio statuisse postremo mane cum falce messem intrare, “Iam (inquit) est tempus ut fugiamus. Dominum enim agri timeo, quia probe scio quod illi res cordi est.”
Alauda
= Here we meet one of the main characters of the fable, the lark.

positos in segete Pullos monet
= Here we meet some of the other main characters: her chicks.

ut, dum ipsa abest, diligenter attendant
= As often, the English equivalent of the Latin ut clause is an infinitive construction: she warns the chicks to pay attention.

praetereuntium sermones de messe.
= The accusative noun sermones should be the object of the chicks' attention.

Redit a pastu Mater.
= Remember that the mother had told the chicks what to do while she was gone? Well, now she is back!

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

Dominum agri
= Here we have an accusative noun; given that narrant can introduce indirect statement, we can expect an infinitive of which this noun is the accusative subject.

operam illam mandasse vicinis.
= Here is the infinitive of which the farmer is the subject, with operam as the object of the infinitive. The infinitive mandasse is an alternative form of mandavisse.

Respondet
= The implied subject of this verb is the mother bird, who is answering her chicks.

nihil esse periculi.
= Accusative plus infinitive construction in indirect statement, with the partitive genitive phrase wrapped around the infinitive: nihil (nothing) periculi (of danger) = “there is no danger.”

Item, alio die, trepidi aiunt
= The implied subject of the plural verb is the chicks: trepidi (pulli) aiunt.

rogatos ad metendum esse amicos.
= Accusative plus infinitive construction in indirect statement, with the infinitive wrapped around the gerund phrase, ad metendum, expressing purpose.

Iubet iterum illa
= The pronoun illa refers to the mother bird, illa (alauda).

ut sint securi.
= Again, the Latin ut clause is equivalent to an English infinitive: she orders them to be calm.

Tertio, ut audivit
= This is a temporal use of ut, meaning “as, as soon as.”

ipsum Dominum cum filio statuisse
= Accusative plus infinitive construction in indirect statement, with dominum as the accusative subject and statuisse as the infinitive.

postremo mane cum falce messem intrare,
= The infinitive intrare is a complementary infinitive (introduced by statuisse) and the object of the infinitive is messem.

“Iam (inquit) est tempus
= As often, the verb inquit is used postpositively as a particle indicating quoted speech.

ut fugiamus.
= This expresses what needs to happen at this time. As often, the English equivalent to this ut clause is an infinitive: "time to run away."

Dominum enim agri timeo,
= Note the postpositive particle in second position, as you would expect.

quia probe scio
= The word quod is used here to introduce an indirect statement, “Because I know full well that . . .”

quod illi res cordi est.”
= The pronoun refers to the master, with the dative in the predicate indicating the purpose or meaning of something: illi (domino) res cordi est, "it is a thing of personal concern to him" (something that is on his mind, something he feels in his heart).

Here is the illustration of the fable by Francis Barlow:




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