HOME | Abstemius: Previous Page - Next Page
DE MULIERE AMATORIS DISCESSUM FLENTE
Source: Abstemius 15 (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:
Mulier impudica amatorem suum abeuntem, quem omnibus fere rebus spoliaverat, multis lacrimis prosequebatur. Interrogante autem eam vicina, cur ita inconsolabiliter fleret: "Non discessum eius (inquit), sed pallium, quod ei reliqui, fleo." Fabula indicat non amatores, sed eorum bona, a meretricibus amari.
Here is a segmented version to help you see the grammatical patterns:
Mulier impudica
amatorem suum abeuntem,
quem
omnibus fere rebus
spoliaverat,
multis lacrimis prosequebatur.
Interrogante autem eam vicina,
cur ita inconsolabiliter fleret:
"Non discessum eius (inquit),
sed pallium,
quod ei reliqui,
fleo."
Fabula indicat
non amatores,
sed eorum bona,
a meretricibus amari.
Translation: A shameless woman, pursued her departing lover with many tears, a lover whom she had stripped of practically all his goods. When, however, a neighbor woman asked her why she was weeping so inconsolably, the woman said: "It is not his departure that I am bewailing, but his cloak. which I had left him with." This fable shows that it is not the lovers, but their possessions, which are loved by the prostitutes.
[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: :
A Common Wench was wringing her Hands, and crying herself to Death almost; and what was the Business forsooth, but she had newly parted with her Sweet-Heart. Away, ye Fool you (says one of her Neighbours) to torment yourself out of your Life for such a Fellow as this! Nay, says the Lass, I am not so much troubled at parting with the Man; but he has carry'd away his Coat too; and truly, when he had given me all he had in the World beside, methinks I have e'en might had that too as well as all the rest. Here's a Mercenary Prostitute drawn to the very quick, that lays her Profit more to Heart than her Love.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.