Irenaeus Fable 70. Puer et Fortuna.

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 Puero et Fortuna, the story of how Fortune rescued a foolish boy from drowning. In Perry's indexing system, this is Perry 174 .

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

Dormienti Puero super os putei fertur astitisse Fortunam eumque excitasse, dicendo, "Exsurge, O Iuvenis, et abi hinc ocius; novi enim genium hominum, et tuum: quod si in puteum labereris, non te, aut tuam secordiam, sed Fortunam incusabitis." Ita ab unis laudatur Fortuna, ab aliis vituperatur, tam immerita, quam non rea.

Dormienti Puero
super os putei
fertur
astitisse Fortunam
eumque excitasse,
dicendo,
"Exsurge, O Iuvenis,
et abi hinc ocius;
novi enim genium hominum,
et tuum:
quod si in puteum labereris,
non te, aut tuam secordiam,
sed Fortunam incusabitis."
Ita ab unis laudatur Fortuna,
ab aliis vituperatur,
tam immerita,
quam non rea.

Here's an illustration for the fable - just imagine that this woman is the goddess Fortune herself:

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