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DE LEONE, URSO ET VULPE

 

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

 

Introduction: This fable is an illustration of the English saying, "Divide and conquer." A fox would not be able to defeat a bear in single combat, and the fox would also be no match for a lion. In this fable, however, the fox is able to defeat both the lion and the bear. Imagine that the fox shouts some final words at the lion and the bear, as she runs off carrying the prize: what do you think the fox would say to these mighty creatures? For another fable about where a third party intervenes during a battle, see the story of the frog and the mouse. For another fable about a bear, see the story of the bear and the bee-hive.

 

Latin Text:

 

Leo et Ursus, simul magnum adepti Hinnulum, de eo concertabant. Graviter autem a se ipsis affecti, ut ex multa pugna etiam vertigine corriperentur, defatigati iacebant. Vulpes interea, circumcirca eundo ubi prostratos eos vidit et Hinnulum in medio iacentem, hunc, per utrosque percurrendo, rapuit fugiensque abivit. At illi videbant quidem furacem Vulpem sed, quia non potuerunt surgere, "Eheu, nos miseros," dicebant, "quia Vulpi laboravimus."

 

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

 

Leo et Ursus,

simul

magnum adepti Hinnulum,

de eo concertabant.

Graviter autem a se ipsis affecti,

ut

ex multa pugna

etiam vertigine corriperentur,

defatigati iacebant.

Vulpes interea,

circumcirca eundo

ubi prostratos eos vidit

et Hinnulum in medio iacentem,

hunc,

per utrosque percurrendo,

rapuit

fugiensque abivit.

At illi videbant quidem

furacem Vulpem

sed,

quia non potuerunt surgere,

"Eheu, nos miseros,"

dicebant,

"quia Vulpi laboravimus."

 

Translation: The lion and the bear at the same time had seized a fawn and were struggling over it. They had seriously weakened one another, so that they even became dizzy from the prolonged battle, and were lying there, exhausted. Meanwhile, a fox, who was prowling about, saw them stretched out, with the fawn lying between them. The fox ran between the two of them and snatched the fawn. Fleeing, the fox ran off. But while they indeed could see the thieving fox, they were not able to get up, and so they said: "Alas, poor wretches are we, because we went to all this trouble for the fox's benefit."

 

[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 416.

 

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. If you look, you can see the fox waiting in the background, ready to make a dash and grab the dead deer. Meanwhile, the bear and the lion are both visibly panting, their tongues hanging out of their mouths.

 

 

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