HOME | Barlow's Aesop: Previous Page - Next Page

 

DE VULPE ET PARDO

 

  Visit the Fable Discussion Page to leave your comments and get answers to your questions.

 

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

 

Information: You may be familiar with the Biblical saying, "The leopard cannot change its spots," meaning that people cannot change their fundamental nature. In this fable, the leopard does not want to change his spots; instead, he is extremely proud of his beautiful coat. The fox, however, is not impressed, and insists that the beauty of the mind or soul, Latin animus, far exceeds the beauty of the physical body, Latin corpus. For another fable in which the fox boasts about her qualities, see the story of the fox and the cat. For another story about looking beyond appearances, see the story of the fox and the lioness.

 

Latin Text:

 

Vulpes et Pardus de pulchritudine concertabant et, Pardo suam pellem versicolorem extollente, Vulpes, cum suam praeponere non possit, dicebat Pardo, "At quanto ego sum speciosior, et quam longe formosior, quae non corpus, sed animum versicolorem et variis notis insignem sortita sum?"

 

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

 

Vulpes et Pardus

de pulchritudine concertabant

et, Pardo suam pellem versicolorem extollente,

Vulpes,

cum suam praeponere non possit,

dicebat Pardo,

"At quanto ego sum speciosior,

et quam longe formosior,

quae

non corpus,

sed animum versicolorem

et variis notis insignem

sortita sum?"

 

Translation: A fox and a leopard were disputing about their beauty, with the leopard praising his multi-colored pelt, and when the fox was not able to put her pelt ahead of the leopard's, she said to him, "But how much more lovely am I, and how much more beautiful by far, since I have been allotted not a multi-colored pelt, but an intelligence that is multi-colored and distinguished for its various qualities?"

 

[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 12.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 Create your own educational wiki!Support CommunityPublic, not yet premium Privacy Policy RSS