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DE COLUMBIS ET ACCIPITRE

 

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Source: Aesop's Fables, 1687 (illustrated by Francis Barlow).

 

Introduction: This is one of those "from bad to worse" fables, where the peaceable doves trade in one disaster for an even worse situation. G.F. Townsend applies this English proverb to the story as a moral: "Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease." The poet Christopher Smart, translating Phaedrus's ancient Roman version of the story, applies this rhyming couplet as the moral to the story: "He that would have the wicked reign / instead of help will find his bane." How do you think the moral would go if it were spoken by the doves at the end of this story? What if "King Hawk" were the character who pronounced the moral at the end of the fable; what do you think he might say was the lesson to be learned? For another fable about a hawk and a dove, see the story of the peasant who caught a hawk. For another story about foolishly submitting to the rule of a king, see the story of Jupiter and the frogs.

 

Latin Text:

 

Columbae olim cum Milvo haud incruentum gerebant bellum et, ut Milvum penitus expugnarent, delegerunt sibi regem Accipitrem. Qui rex factus, hostem agit, non regem. Nam, non segnius ac Milvus, Columbas rapit laniatque. Paenitebat igitur Columbas incepti, satius fuisse putantes bella pati Milvi quam Accipitris subire tyrannidem.

 

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

 

Columbae olim

cum Milvo

haud incruentum gerebant bellum

et,

ut Milvum penitus expugnarent,

delegerunt sibi regem

Accipitrem.

Qui

rex factus,

hostem agit,

non regem.

Nam,

non segnius ac Milvus,

Columbas

rapit laniatque.

Paenitebat igitur Columbas incepti,

satius fuisse

putantes

bella pati Milvi

quam Accipitris subire tyrannidem. 

 

Translation: Once upon a time, the doves were waging a war with the Kite, not lacking in bloodshed, and in order to finally defeat the Kite they chose as their king the Hawk. When the Hawk was made king, he played the role of enemy, not king. For with no less zeal than the Kite, the Hawk seized the Doves and butchered them. As a result, the Doves regretted what they had begun, thinking that it had been more than enough to suffer the Kite's wars rather than to submit to the Hawk's tyranny.

 

[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.]

 

Parallels: For parallel versions, see Perry 486.

 

Related Links: Crossword Puzzle

 

Illustration: Here is an illustration for the fable of the doves, from an early edition of Steinhowel's Aesop.

 

 

Here is an illustration for the peacock fable, from this edition by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view. Note that it does not match the Latin fable that appears on this page.

 

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