Irenaeus Fabula 25. De Simiis et Pardale

I'm embarking on a new Latin fable project here at the Latin Via Fables blog: digitizing the 300 fables in the Mithologica sacro-profana, seu florilegium fabularum by P. Irenaeus, published in 1666, which has recently become available at GoogleBooks. For a complete index of the fables in the book, with links to the fables I've digitized so far, check out the Aesopus wiki page at Aesopus.PBwiki.com.

Today's fable is De Simiis et Pardale, the story of the panther who tricked the monkeys by playing dead. This is not a fable that shows up in Perry, although it is strikingly similar to the bestiary tradition of the fox who plays dead in order to catch the foolish birds.

To make reading the fable easier, I've provided a segmented version of the story below.

Pardalis animal est Simiis infensissimum, sed viribus impar. Unde, cum aperta vi Simias non possit invadere, arte expugnat et vincit. Sternit se sub foliis et ramis supinum et, extensis in altum pedibus, fingit se mortuum. Hoc spectaculo gavisae Simiae, una post alteram ex arboribus descendunt; illudunt ficto mortuo et eius arte elusae audaciores ac deposito metu conscendunt, conculcant, tripudiant, donec Pardalis sentiens eas longo suo ludo defatigatas, aliam strangulat, aliam unguibus lacerat, aliam pedibus stringens dilaniat. Tam male se habet, hosti se inermem committeret.

Pardalis
animal est
Simiis infensissimum,
sed viribus impar.
Unde,
cum
aperta vi
Simias non possit invadere,
arte expugnat et vincit.
Sternit se
sub foliis et ramis supinum
et, extensis in altum pedibus,
fingit se mortuum.
Hoc spectaculo
gavisae Simiae,
una post alteram
ex arboribus descendunt;
illudunt ficto mortuo
et eius arte elusae
audaciores
ac deposito metu
conscendunt, conculcant, tripudiant,
donec Pardalis
sentiens
eas longo suo ludo defatigatas,
aliam strangulat,
aliam unguibus lacerat,
aliam pedibus stringens dilaniat.
Tam male se habet,
hosti
se inermem committeret.


Here's an illustration for the fable (image source), showing some monkeys:

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Aesop's Fables in Latin now available at Amazon.com.