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DE CATTA IN FEMINAM MUTATA

 

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

 

Introduction: When you read this fable, you might think about the English saying, "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy." Another English saying that relates to this fable is "Nature will out." The most pertinent English saying, though, is probably this fine saying about a pig: "You can put a tuxedo on a pig but it's still going to look for a mudhole." This story is not about a pig, but about a cat. What words would you use to express the lesson that we can learn from the story of this cat and her lover? For other fables of love gone wrong, see the story of the mouse who married a lion or the story of the lion in love.

 

Latin Text:

 

Catta quaedam delicium erat formosi cuiusdam Adolescentis Veneremque oravit ut in feminam mutaret. Dea, miserta cupiditatis Adolescentuli, convertit Cattam in puellam. Quam, cum longe speciosa esset, Amator domum abduxit. Venus, experiri cupiens si, mutata facie, mutasset et mores, in medium constituit Murem. Quem cum illa aspexit, oblita formae, Murem ut caperet persecuta est. Qua super re indignata, Venus denuo eam in priorem Cattae formam mutavit.

 

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

 

Catta quaedam

delicium erat

formosi cuiusdam Adolescentis

Veneremque oravit

ut in feminam mutaret.

Dea,

miserta cupiditatis Adolescentuli,

convertit Cattam in puellam.

Quam,

cum longe speciosa esset,

Amator

domum abduxit.

Venus,

experiri cupiens

si,

mutata facie,

mutasset et mores,

in medium

constituit Murem.

Quem cum illa aspexit,

oblita formae,

Murem ut caperet persecuta est.

Qua super re indignata,

Venus

denuo

eam

in priorem Cattae formam mutavit.

 

Translation: A certain cat was the delight of a certain handsome young man, and he prayed to Venus that she change the cat into a woman. The goddess pitied the young man's desire and changed the cat into a girl. As she was exceedingly beautiful, the lover took her home. Venus, wanted to test if her character had also been altered with the alteration of her appearance, set a mouse in their midst. When she saw that mouse, she forget about her form and chased that mouse in order to catch it. Venus, appalled by this behavior, changed her back into her earlier cat's form. The fable indicates that a good-for-nothing, even if he changes his outward form, nevertheless retains the same character.

 

[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 50.

 

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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