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DE IUVENE SENIS CURVITATEM IRRIDENTE

Source: Abstemius 24 (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:

Iuvenis quidam conspicatus senem in arcus tensi similitudinem curvum, interrogavit an sibi arcum vellet vendere. Cui ille, "Ecquid est tibi opus pecuniam amittere? Si enim ad meam perveneris aetatem, absque pecunia arcum tibi natura concedet." Haec fabula indicat minime irridenda vitia senilis aetatis, quam nemo vivendo effugere potest.

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

Iuvenis quidam

conspicatus senem

in arcus tensi similitudinem curvum,

interrogavit

an sibi arcum vellet vendere.

Cui ille,

"Ecquid est tibi opus

pecuniam amittere?

Si enim

ad meam perveneris aetatem,

absque pecunia

arcum tibi natura concedet."

Haec fabula indicat

minime irridenda

vitia senilis aetatis,

quam

nemo vivendo effugere potest.

Translation: A certain young man, have seen an old man who was bent like a drawn bow, asked the old man whether he would sell him that bow. The old man said to him, "Is there any need for you to waste your money? The fact is, if you reach my age, nature will give you a bow for free." This fable shows that you should never make fun of the feelings of old age, which is something that no one can escape if they go on living.

[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: