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DE SUE ET CANE

Source: Abstemius 41 (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:

Sus irridebat canem odorisequum, qui domino murmure et cauda adularetur, a quo ad artem aucupatoriam multis verberibus auriumque vellicationibus fuerat instructus. Cui canis: "Nescis (inquit) insane, nescis quae ex verberibus illis sim consecutus, per ea enim sauvissimis perdicum coturnicumque carnibus vescor." Haec fabula nos monet ne iniquo animo feramus praeceptorum verba, quae multorum bonorum causa esse consuevere.

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

Sus

irridebat canem odorisequum,

qui

domino

murmure et cauda adularetur,

a quo

ad artem aucupatoriam

multis verberibus

auriumque vellicationibus

fuerat instructus.

Cui canis:

"Nescis (inquit) insane,

nescis

quae

ex verberibus illis sim consecutus,

per ea enim

sauvissimis perdicum coturnicumque carnibus

vescor."

Haec fabula nos monet

ne iniquo animo feramus

praeceptorum verba,

quae

multorum bonorum

causa esse consuevere.

Translation: A pig laughed at a hunting dog who fawned on his master with whimpers and wagging his tail when the master had used many whippings and ear-tuggings to instruct him in the art of bird-hunting. The dog replied to the pig: You are completely clueless! You don't understand what I obtain as a result of these whippings. The fact is that by means of those whippings, I am able to feed on the incredible sweet meat of partridges and quail." This fable warns us that we should not be upset by the words of our teachers, since those words are usually the cause of many good things.

[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:

I wonder (says a Sow to a Spaniel) how you can Fawn thus upon a Master that gives you so many Blows, and Twinges by the Ears. Well (says the Dog), but then set the good Bits, and the good Words he gives me, against those Blows and Twinges, and I'm the Gainer by the Bargain. He that will live Happily in This World, must resolve to take the Good and the Bad thankfully and contentedly one with an other.

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