Saginato Cani occurrit Lupus macilentus, miratus quomodo ille, qui intra parietes privatos clauderetur, tam pinguis evaderet, et ipse tam macilentus foret, qui tot nemora, colles, et pascua de iure suo possideret, ex quibus victum sibi compararet. Respondit Canis se indulgentissimum habuisse herum, qui cibos illi quotidie de mensa sua porrigebat. Attonitus stetit paulisper Lupus sed, propius cicatrices et collum saucium perspiciens, percontatus est unde haec cruditas acciderit. Respondit Canis haec tantummodo esse catenae indicia, qua interdum perstringebatur. Cui Lupus: “Ne! Tuae non invideo fortunae, nec meae paeniteo. Malim enim, ieiunus et impastus, praesenti frui libertate, quam satur catenis perstringi et fustibus contundi.”Saginato Cani
= In the opening words we meet our first main character: the fat dog.
occurrit Lupus macilentus,
= And here is the second character: the emaciated wolf. The verb occurrit (“run into to”) takes a dative complement.
miratus
= This participle introduces an indirect question: the wolf wonders...
quomodo ille,
= The pronoun refers to the dog, ille (canis), and quomodo introduces an indirect question which will take the subjunctive.
qui intra parietes privatos clauderetur,
= The subjunctive provides causal background information; according to the wolf, this is why it is so surprising that the dog is fat (since the dog is locked up, he wouldn't be able to roam and hunt to find his food).
tam pinguis evaderet,
= The subjunctive is in an indirect question, introduced by quomodo, while pinguis is a predicate adjective, agreeing with the subject, ille (canis).
et ipse tam macilentus foret,
= The pronoun refers to the wolf, ipse (lupus), with foret as an alternative subjunctive form of esset, continuing the indirect question introduced by quomodo, with the predicate tam macilentus parallel to tam pinguis (just as the wolf wonders how the dog got to be so fat, he wonders how he got to be so skinny!).
qui
= The referent of the relative pronoun is ipse, the wolf.
tot nemora, colles, et pascua
= The word tot is undeclinable.
de iure suo possideret,
= The subjunctive provides causal background information; according to the wolf, this is why it is so surprising that he, the wolf, is thin - since he does believe himself to have so much territory under his control!
ex quibus
= The woods, hills and meadows provide the referent of the relative pronoun.
victum sibi compararet.
= The subjunctive continues the explanation of the wolf's thoughts, and his surprise at the fact that he is so thin, since he has all this territory in which to hunt his food.
Respondit Canis
= Presumably the wolf expressed his amazement out loud, since the dog answered him in reply!
se indulgentissimum habuisse herum,
= Accusative plus infinitive construction in indirect statement, with se as the accusative subject, and herum as the object. The noun phrase, indulgentissimum herum, wraps around the infinitive, with the superlative expressing an extreme degree of something ("an extremely kind master"). You might expect the infinitive habere here; the perfect habuisse suggests the sense that the dog had gotten himself a master (an opportunity the wolf will decline!)
qui
= The referent of the relative pronoun is the herum.
cibos illi quotidie de mensa sua porrigebat.
= The referent of the pronoun illi is the dog: illi (cani).
Attonitus stetit paulisper Lupus
= The literal meaning of the word attonitus is thunder-struck, as in the word tonitrus, "thunder," which comes from the same root.
sed, propius cicatrices et collum saucium perspiciens,
= The word propius is a comparative adverb, from prope.
percontatus est
= This verb introduces an indirect question.
unde haec cruditas acciderit.
= The word unde introduces an indirect question with the subjunctive.
Respondit Canis
= Again, the dog replied to the wolf's question.
haec tantummodo esse catenae indicia,
= Accusative plus infinitive construction in indirect statement; haec is the accusative subject (neuter plural), and indicia is the predicate noun (neuter plural).
qua interdum perstringebatur.
= The referent of the relative pronoun is catenae.
Cui Lupus:
= The referent of the relative pronoun is canis in the previous sentence, with an implied verb of speaking: cui (cani) lupus (inquit).
“Ne!
= This is the interjection ne - not to be confused with the negating conjunction ne. The interjection means something like "for sure!' or "indeed!"
Tuae non invideo fortunae,
= The phrase tuae fortunae wraps around the verb, non invideo, which takes a dative complement.
nec meae paeniteo.
= The verb paeniteo takes a genitive complement, and you can replace the word nec with the words et non to make the phrase easier to sort out: et meae (fortunae) non paeniteo.
Malim enim,
= The subjunctive malim is part of an implied hypothetical statement: “I would prefer (if I had a choice)." Note also the postpositive particle in second position, as you would expect.
ieiunus et impastus,
= The adjectives ieiunus and impastus agree with the subject of the verb.
praesenti frui libertate,
= The noun phrase praesenti libertate wraps around the infinitive frui, which takes an ablative complement. (The infinitive frui is itself a complement to malim).
quam satur
= The word quam coordinates a comparison introduced by malim (= magis + velim, where the comparison is expressed in the verb itself). Like ieiunus and impastus, the adjective satur agrees with the subject of malim.
catenis perstringi et fustibus contundi.”
= The infinitives perstringi and contundi are also complements to malim, and express just what is being compared: enjoying freedom on the one hand, as opposed to being tied up and beaten.
Here is the illustration of the fable by Francis Barlow:
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