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DE LEONE ET QUIBUSDAM ALIIS QUADRUPEDIBUS

 

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

 

Introduction: This famous fable is the origin of the saying "the lion's share." Have you ever thought about just what that phrase means? The lion's share does not mean the biggest part - instead, as you will read in this fable, the lion's share means the WHOLE thing, because the lion is so absolutely greedy and so dangerously powerful that he takes whatever he wants. If the lion wants the whole thing, then that is what he gets. That is the "lion's share," even though the lion is not really "sharing" with anybody else at all, as the lion's partners discover to their loss. If the sheep were to pronounce the moral at the end of the story, what do you think she would say? Like the saying "lion' share," the saying "sour grapes" is also derived from an Aesop's fable, the story of the fox and the grapes. You can read more about the lion and his dangerous tricks in the story of the fox and the lion in the cave.

 

Latin Text:

 

Convenere Leo et Ovis et alii Quadrupedes, pepigerantque inter se venationem fore communem. Itur venatum; procumbit cervus; spolia dividunt, singulas singulis partes tollere incipientibus. Irrugiens surgit Leo: "Una (inquit) pars mea est, quia sum dignissimus. Altera item mea est, quia viribus sum praestantissimus. Porro, quia in capiendo cervo plus sudaverim, tertiam mihi partem vendico. Quartam denique partem, nisi concesseritis, actum est de amicitia; ilicet periistis!" Reliqui, hoc audito, discedunt, vacui et taciti, non ausi muttire contra Leonem.

 

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

 

Convenere

Leo et Ovis et alii Quadrupedes,

pepigerantque inter se

venationem

fore communem.

Itur venatum;

procumbit cervus;

spolia dividunt,

singulas singulis partes tollere incipientibus.

Irrugiens

surgit Leo:

"Una (inquit) pars

mea est,

quia sum dignissimus.

Altera item

mea est,

quia viribus sum praestantissimus.

Porro,

quia in capiendo cervo

plus sudaverim,

tertiam mihi partem vendico.

Quartam denique partem,

nisi concesseritis,

actum est de amicitia;

ilicet periistis!"

Reliqui,

hoc audito,

discedunt,

vacui et taciti,

non ausi muttire contra Leonem.

 

Translation: The lion, sheep and other four-footed animals got together and pledged amongst themselves that they would hunt as a group. They went hunting, a stag fell to them and they divided the spoils, each one starting to take a portion for himself when the lion roared and rose up, saying: One part is mine because I am the most worthy; the second part is likewise mine because I am the most superlative in strength; then, because I sweated the hardest in the catching of the stag, I claim the third part as mine; finally, as for the fourth part, unless you give it to me, that's the end of our friendship; you die forthwith." The rest of them, when they heard this, went away empty-handed and silent, not daring to mutter a word against the lion.

 

[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 339.

 

Related Links: Crossword Puzzle

 

Illustration: Here is an illustration from this edition, by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view.

 

 

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