Fable 61: Canis Vetulus et Magister

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 61 in the book: De Cane Vetulo et Magistro. For more information Fable about this fable, see the Discussion Forum for this fable at the Aesopus Ning.

Canis venaticus, qui quondam velocitate ceteris praecelluit et magno erat olim usui et emolumento Hero, iam longaevus et imbellis, fortuito cervum persequebatur et apprehensum (dentibus privatus) mox demisit. Quem iratus Herus verbis et verberibus increpabat. Cui Canis: “O dure et severe mihi Magister, qui multifaria mea merita tam male pensitaveris!”

Canis venaticus,
= As usual, we meet a main character of the fable in the opening words of the story: a hunting dog.

qui quondam velocitate ceteris praecelluit
= The verb praecelluit takes a dative complement, and the ablative velocitate explains in what way the dog had been better than all the rest.

et magno erat olim usui et emolumento Hero,
= The predicate datives usui and emolumento express the dog’s purpose for his master, hero: “once upon a time he had been very useful and profitable for his master.”

iam longaevus et imbellis,
= The contrast is between the once-upon-a-time dog in his youthful days, olim, and the dog as he is now, iam.

fortuito cervum persequebatur
= The deponent verb persequebatur is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative.

et apprehensum (dentibus privatus) mox demisit.
= You might translate the passive participle with an active verb (see Fable 5): the dog caught the deer (apprehensum) and then let it go (demisit). The participle privatus (“deprived of”) takes an ablative complement.

Quem
= The referent of the relative pronoun quem is canis in the previous sentence.

iratus Herus verbis et verberibus increpabat.
= There is nice play on words in the Latin phrase verbis et verberibus.

Cui Canis:
= The referent of the relative pronoun cui is herus in the previous sentence, with an implied verb of speaking: cui (hero) canis (inquit).

“O dure et severe mihi Magister,
= Note the vocative case indicated by the adjectives dure et severe, even though the second declension noun, magister, ending in -r, does not have a distinct vocative form.

qui
= The referent of the relative pronoun is magister, whom the dog is addressing directly in second person: "Master, (you) who..."

multifaria mea merita tam male pensitaveris!”
= The subjunctive provides causal background information; according to the dog, this is why his master can be considered durus et severus.

Here is the illustration of the fable by Francis Barlow:

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