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DE RANIS ET EARUM REGE

 

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

 

Introduction: The ancient Roman poet Phaedrus told this story about the frogs and their king as an example of what happened in the city of Athens during the middle of the 6th century B.C.E., when the democratic form of government was replaced by a dictatorship under the rule of the tyrant Pisistratus, who actually had a good deal of popular support among the people of Athens. According to Phaedrus, Aesop used this fable to show the Athenians how dangerous it was to give up their democracy and prefer the rule of a king instead: just look at what happened to the foolish frogs who did the same thing! For another fable about the animals choosing a king, see the story of the doves and the hawk. For another fable about a foolish frog, see the story of the frog and the ox.

 

Latin Text:

 

Gens Ranarum supplicabat sibi regem dari. Iupiter deiecit trabem, cuius moles cum ingenti fragore quassabat fluvium. Territae, silebant Ranae. Mox regem venerantur et tandem accedunt propius; omni metu abiecto, iners rex lusui et contemptui est. Lacessunt igitur Iovem rursus, orantes regem sibi dari qui strenuus sit. Iupiter dat Ciconiam, quae, perambulans paludem, quidquid Ranarum obviam fit vorabat. De cuius tyrannide questae sunt, sed frustra. Nam Iupiter non audit; decrevit enim ut, quae regem clementem sunt deprecatae, iam ferant inclementem.

 

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

 

Gens Ranarum

supplicabat

sibi regem dari.

Iupiter

deiecit trabem,

cuius moles

cum ingenti fragore

quassabat fluvium.

Territae,

silebant Ranae.

Mox regem venerantur

et tandem accedunt propius;

omni metu abiecto,

iners rex

lusui et contemptui est.

Lacessunt igitur Iovem rursus,

orantes

regem sibi dari

qui strenuus sit.

Iupiter

dat Ciconiam,

quae, perambulans paludem,

quidquid Ranarum obviam fit

vorabat.

De cuius tyrannide

questae sunt,

sed frustra.

Nam Iupiter

non audit;

decrevit enim

ut,

quae

regem clementem sunt deprecatae,

iam ferant inclementem.

 

Translation: The tribe of frogs begged that a king be given to them. Jupiter threw down a log, and when the mass of the log with a giant crash shook the stream, the terrified frogs were silent. They immediately showed reverence to the king, and finally they drew nearer, having put aside all fear, and the motionless king became an object of sport and contempt. Consequently they pester Jupiter once again, asking that a king be given to them who would be more dynamic. Jupiter gave them the stork, who walked around the swamp and gobbled up whatever frog she ran into. The frogs complained about this tyranny but in vain, for Jupiter did not listen, for he decreed that the frogs who had scorned their merciful king now had to put up with a merciless one.

 

[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 44.

 

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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