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Barlow 49. DE CICADA ET FORMICA

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Dum per aestatem Cicada cantat, Formica suam exercet messem, trahendo in antra grana et in hiemem reponendo. Saeviente autem bruma, famelica Cicada venit ad Formicam et mendicat victum; renuebat autem Formica, dictitans sese laborasse, dum illa cantabat.

Translation: The grasshopper sang throughout the summer. Meanwhile, the ant worked on the harvest, dragging the grains into holes and storing them away for the winter. Then, when the winter's cold was raging, the hungry grasshopper came to the ant and begged for food. The ant, however, refused, saying that she had worked, while the grasshopper sang.

[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:

Multi ita capti sunt

libidine gloriae,

ut

omnibus

sese et praedicent et iactant.

Monet praeterea

haec fabula

quod

qui segnes sunt in iuventute,

egebunt in senecta,

et qui hodie non parcunt,

olim mendicabunt.

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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