Saturday, August 22, 2009

101. De Adolescente et Hirundine (Irenaeus)

I've embarked 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 Adolescente et Hirundine, the story of a young man who did not realize that "one swallow does not a summer make." In Perry's indexing system, this is Perry 169.

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

Effrenus quidam ac dissolutus Iuvenis, cum inter ganeonum greges bona sua in popinis et luxuriis abligurisset, ut nil reliqui praeter vestem haberet, visa Hirundine, existimavit actum esse de hieme, ver adventasse; confestimque vestem vendidit, et pretium eius ludis et solitis compotationibus impendit; sed cum paulo post, recrudescente frigore, dirissime algeret, visa alia Hirundine, et ipsa paene frigore enecta, O pessima avicula, dixit, quam male auguraris! Decepisti me, et simul decepta es. Ostendit inconsideratae iuventutis indolem temere et sine consilio se in errores praeceipitem agentem.

Effrenus quidam
ac dissolutus Iuvenis,
cum
inter ganeonum greges
bona sua
in popinis et luxuriis
abligurisset,
ut nil reliqui
praeter vestem haberet,
visa Hirundine,
existimavit
actum esse de hieme,
ver adventasse;
confestimque
vestem vendidit,
et pretium eius
ludis et solitis compotationibus
impendit;
sed
cum
paulo post,
recrudescente frigore,
dirissime algeret,
visa alia Hirundine,
et ipsa paene frigore enecta,
O pessima avicula, dixit,
quam male auguraris!
Decepisti me,
et simul decepta es.
Ostendit
inconsideratae iuventutis indolem temere et sine consilio
se
in errores
praeceipitem agentem.

Here's an illustration for the fable (image source):




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

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