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DE EQUO ET LEONE

 

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

 

Introduction: This is a fable about "the trickster tricked." In this case, the lion is the one who thinks he will play a trick on the horse, but instead the horse fools the lion and manages to get away. In some versions of the story, the predatory animal is a wolf instead of a lion, but in either case, the result is the same: because the predator acts against his own nature, he fails to get his prey. In Caxton's 15th-century version of the fable, the moral given as: "Every body oughte to shewe hym self suche as he is;" in other words, "Everybody ought to show himself as he is." What do you think the moral of this fable should be? For another fable about an animal playing doctor, see the story of the frog and the fox. For a fable about an animal who really is ailing, see the story of the sick kite and his mother.

 

Latin Text:

 

Venit ad Equum comedendum Leo. Carens autem prae senecta viribus, meditari coepit artem, medicumque se esse profitetur verborumque ambagibus Equum moratur. Equus dolo dolum, artem opponit arti; fingit se dudum in loco spinoso pupugisse pedem oratque ut inspiciens sentem medicus educat. Paret Leo, at Equus multa vi calcem Leoni impingit, et se continuo conicit in pedes. Leo, vix tandem ad se rediens, ictu enim prope exanimatus fuerat: "Pretium (inquit) fero ob stultitiam, et is iure effugit. Dolum enim dolo ultus est."

 

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

 

Venit

ad Equum comedendum

Leo.

Carens autem prae senecta viribus,

meditari coepit artem,

medicumque

se esse

profitetur

verborumque ambagibus

Equum moratur.

Equus

dolo dolum,

artem opponit arti;

fingit

se dudum

in loco spinoso pupugisse pedem

oratque

ut inspiciens sentem medicus educat.

Paret Leo,

at Equus

multa vi

calcem Leoni impingit,

et se continuo conicit in pedes.

Leo,

vix tandem ad se rediens,

ictu enim prope exanimatus fuerat:

"Pretium (inquit) fero

ob stultitiam,

et is iure effugit.

Dolum enim dolo ultus est."

 

Translation: A lion came to a horse, intending to eat him. Because he was old, however, he was lacking in strength, so he began to craft a technique, claiming that he was a doctor and with long-winded speech he detained the horse. The horse countered trick for trick, technique for technique and pretended that he had some time ago pierced his foot in a thorny patch and he begged that the doctor take a look at the thorn and pull it out. The lion obeyed and the horse with great force struck the lion with his hoof and immediately leaped to his feet. At last, the lion regained consciousness, just barely, as he had been almost killed. He said, "I pay the price for my stupidity, and he rightly runs away, for a trick has been avenged by a trick."

 

[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 187.

 

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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