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DE LEONE ET MURE

 

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

 

Introduction: In this Renaissance fable by the Latin author Abstemius, there are two stories combined into one. The first story is a famous fable that goes back to ancient Rome: the story of how the mouse rescued the lion from a trap. The second story, invented by Abstemius, is about what happened next: the story of how the mouse married the lion's daughter. Unfortunately for the mouse, this marriage does not turn out at all as he planned! If the mouse could manage to speak a few words at the end of this fable, what do you think he would say is the moral of the story? This fable is a variation on the traditional story of the mouse who rescued the lion in a trap. For another story of mismatched love, see what happened when a man fell in love with a cat.

 

Latin Text:

 

Leo, laqueo captus, cum ita se irretitum videret ut nullis viribus sese explicare posset, Murem rogavit, ut, abroso laqueo, eum liberaret, promittens tanti beneficii se non futurum immemorem. Quod cum Mus prompte fecisset, Leonem rogavit ut filiam eius sibi traderet in uxorem. Nec abnuit Leo ut benefactori suo rem gratam faceret. Nova autem nupta, ad virum veniens, cum eum non videret, casu illum pede pressit et contrivit.

 

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

 

Leo,

laqueo captus,

cum ita se irretitum videret

ut nullis viribus sese explicare posset,

Murem rogavit,

ut,

abroso laqueo,

eum liberaret,

promittens

tanti beneficii

se non futurum immemorem.

Quod cum Mus prompte fecisset,

Leonem rogavit

ut filiam eius

sibi traderet in uxorem.

Nec abnuit Leo

ut benefactori suo rem gratam faceret.

Nova autem nupta,

ad virum veniens,

cum eum non videret,

casu

illum pede pressit et contrivit.

 

Translation: A lion had been caught in a net. When he saw that he was thus entrapped, such that he could not free himself with all his strength, he asked a mouse to gnaw through the net and set him free, promising that he would not be unmindful of such a great favor. When the mouse readily did this thing, he asked the lion to let him marry the lion's daughter. The lion did not refuse to do this welcome deed for his benefactor. But when the new bride came to her husband, she did not see him and accidentally stepped on him with her paw and squashed him.

 

[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 150 (although the traditional versions do not feature the fatal wedding!).

 

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Illustration: Here is an illustration from this edition, by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view. Yes, if you look beneath the paw of the lioness, you will indeed find the mouse there. Meanwhile, the mouse's patron, the father of the bride, is looking on so sadly, while the bride herself does not seem to have realized yet just what she has done! There is also another lion somewhat in the background, perhaps the mother of the bride?

 

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