Fable 54: Equus et Leo

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 54 in the book: De Equo et Leone. For more information Fable about this fable, see the Discussion Forum for this fable at the Aesopus Ning.

Venit ad Equum comedendum Leo. Carens autem prae senecta viribus, meditari coepit artem, medicumque se esse profitetur verborumque ambagibus Equum moratur. Equus dolo dolum, artem opponit arti; fingit se dudum in loco spinoso pupugisse pedem oratque ut inspiciens sentem medicus educat. Paret Leo, at Equus multa vi calcem Leoni impingit, et se continuo conicit in pedes. Leo, vix tandem ad se rediens, ictu enim prope exanimatus fuerat: “Pretium (inquit) fero ob stultitiam, et is iure effugit. Dolum enim dolo ultus est.”

Venit ad Equum comedendum Leo.
= In the opening sentence, we meet both of the characters in the fable: the horse and the lion. The gerundive phrase with ad expresses purpose, and the lion's purpose is to eat that horse.

Carens autem prae senecta viribus,
= The participle carens (“lacking in”) takes an ablative complement. The postpositive particle is in second position, as you would expect.

meditari coepit artem,
= The deponent infinitive meditari is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative.

medicumque se esse
= Accusative plus infinitive construction in indirect statement, with se as the accusative subject and medicum as a predicate noun.

profitetur
= This is the verb which introduces the indirect statement.

verborumque ambagibus Equum moratur.
= The deponent verb moratur is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative.

Equus
= So far, the lion has been the subject of all the verbs, but now we will see the horse start to come into his own!

dolo dolum, artem opponit arti;
= The word ars has the sense of a trick or a stratagem (compare the English word "artifice").

fingit
= This is an appropriate verb for launching a trick: the horse is going to pretend something, and just what the horse pretends will be expressed as indirect statement.

se dudum in loco spinoso pupugisse pedem
= Accusative plus infinitive construction, with se as the accusative subject and pedem as the object. The reflexive pronoun refers back to the subjecdt of the main verb, the horse.

oratque
= Now, after having set up the trick, the horse has a request to make of the lion.

ut inspiciens sentem medicus educat.
= The ut clause expresses the purpose the horse has in mind for the lion, referred to as the medicus here.

Paret Leo,
= That is to say, the lion does what the horse requests: he inspects the horse's hoof where there is supposedly a thorn.

at Equus multa vi calcem Leoni impingit,
= The verb takes a direct object in the accusative (“the horse banged his hoof, struck with his hoof”) along with an indirect object in the dative (“at the lion”).

et se continuo conicit in pedes.
= The reflexive pronoun refers to the subject of the noun, the horse. The Latin idiom conicere in pedes is equivalent to the English idiom "to leap to one's feet" or "take to one's heels."

Leo, vix tandem ad se rediens,
= The Latin idiom ad se redire is something like the English "to return to one's senses, to regain consciousness."

ictu enim prope exanimatus fuerat:
= Note the postpositive particle in second position, as you would expect.

“Pretium (inquit) fero ob stultitiam,
= The verb inquit is used as a postpositive particle here, indicating a direct quotation.

et is iure effugit.
= The pronoun refers to the horse: is (equus) iure effugit.

Dolum enim dolo ultus est.”
= The deponent verb ultus est is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative; the implied subject is the horse: dolum ultus est (equus).

Here is the illustration of the fable by Francis Barlow:

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