Irenaeus Fabula 39. De Asino et Lupis

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 Asino et Lupis, the story of the wolves who were solicitous of an ailing donkey's health. The fable is not included in Perry, but you can find it in Abstemius.

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

Lecto decumbebat Asinus ex diuturna infirmitate; divulgatur rumor eum brevi moriturum. Ad eum visendum turba luporum concurrit, suis carnibus inhiantium. Filiolum e fenestra prospectantem interrogant quomodo pater eius se haberet. "Melius (inquit) quam optaretis; alios potestis, si lubet invisere; non est quod moremini: Pater tot Medicis non eget."

Lecto decumbebat Asinus
ex diuturna infirmitate;
divulgatur rumor
eum brevi moriturum.
Ad eum visendum
turba luporum concurrit,
suis carnibus inhiantium.
Filiolum
e fenestra prospectantem
interrogant
quomodo pater eius
se haberet.
"Melius (inquit)
quam optaretis;
alios potestis,
si lubet invisere;
non est quod moremini:
Pater
tot Medicis non eget."

Here's an illustration for the fable (image source), showing those worried wolves:

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