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Barlow 24. DE LEONE ET MURE

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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 kind deed for his benefactor. But when the new bride came to her husband, since she did not see him, she 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.]

The Moral of the Story:

Innuit fabula,

matrimonia et cetera consortia

esse improbanda,

quae ab imparibus contrahuntur. Moderanda sunt vota,

nam

qui plura quam decet quaerit,

interdum etiam

et mortem festinat suam.

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?