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DE CATO ET GALLO

 

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

 

Latin Text:

 

Catus cum Gallum cepisset, criminare coepit quod esset animal turbulentum, qui noctu clamitando non permitteret homines quiescere. Gallus se excusabat, quod id ageret ad eorum voluptatem, cum ad opera facienda illos excitaret. Rursum Catus ait, Impius es qui nec a matre nec a sororibus te abstineas, sed per incontinentiam illis te commisceas. Gallus se defendebat dixitque quod ex huiusmodi coitu, Gallinae pariunt ova. Tunc inquit Catus, Quamvis excusationibus abundes, ego tamen te missum facere non intendo.

 

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

 

Catus

cum Gallum cepisset,

criminare coepit

quod esset animal turbulentum,

qui noctu

clamitando

non permitteret

homines quiescere.

Gallus se excusabat,

quod id ageret

ad eorum voluptatem,

cum ad opera facienda

illos excitaret.

Rursum Catus ait,

Impius es

qui

nec a matre

nec a sororibus

te abstineas,

sed per incontinentiam

illis te commisceas.

Gallus se defendebat

dixitque

quod

ex huiusmodi coitu,

Gallinae

pariunt ova.

Tunc inquit Catus,

Quamvis excusationibus abundes,

ego tamen

te missum

facere non intendo.

 

Translation:

 

When the cat had caught the rooster, he started to charge him with being a trouble-making animal who did not allow people to sleep at night because of his crowing. The rooster denied the charge, saying that he did this because it was the people's wish for him to rouse them to the chores they had to do. Then the cat said, "You are a wicked creature who can't even leave his mother or his sisters alone, but without restraint you consort with them." The rooster defended himself and said that because of his sleeping with them this way, the chickens laid eggs. Then the cat said, "However many excuses you can come up with, nevertheless I do not plan to let you go free."

 

[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 16.

 

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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