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DE CYGNO IN MORTE CANENTE REPREHENSO A CICONIA

Source: Abstemius 13 (You can see a 1499 edition of Abstemius online, but I am doing my transcription from the 1568 edition of Aesopi fabulae in the EEBO catalog.)

Latin Text:

Cygnus moriens interrogabatur a ciconia, cur in morte, quam cetera animalia adeo exhorrent, multo suaviores quam in omni vita emitteret sonos, cum penitus maestus esse deberet. Cui cygnus: "Quia (inquit) neque cibi quaerendi cura amplius excurciabor, neque aucupum laqueos extimescam." Haec fabula nos admonet ne mortem formidemus, qua omnes vitae miseriae praeciduntur.

Here is a segmented version to help you see the grammatical patterns:

Cygnus moriens

interrogabatur a ciconia,

cur in morte,

quam

cetera animalia adeo exhorrent,

multo suaviores

quam in omni vita

emitteret sonos,

cum penitus maestus esse deberet.

Cui cygnus:

"Quia (inquit)

neque cibi quaerendi cura

amplius excurciabor,

neque aucupum laqueos

extimescam."

Haec fabula nos admonet

ne mortem formidemus,

qua

omnes vitae miseriae praeciduntur.

Translation: A swan, as it was dying, was asked by a stork why, in death, which other animals feared so much, the swan produced sounds sweeter by far than in its whole life before now, when it ought to be thoroughly sad. The swan said to the stork, "It is because I will no longer be tortured by worrying about finding food and I will no longer fear the snares of the bird-catchers." This fable warns us not to fear death; in death, all life's miseries are cut short.

[This translation is meant as a help in understanding the story, not as a "crib" for the Latin. I have not hesitated to change the syntax to make it flow more smoothly in English, altering the verb tense consistently to narrative past tense, etc.]

Sir Roger L'Estrange

Sir Roger L'Estrange included the fables of Abstemius in his amazing 17th-century edition of Aesop's fables. Here is L'Estrange's translation: :