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DE VULPECULA ET CICONIA

 

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

 

Introduction: This fable might make you think of the English saying, "Turn-about is fair play." Joseph Jacobs appends this moral to the story: ""One bad turn deserves another" (the opposite of the usual saying that "One good turn deserves another"). The 15th-century author William Caxton remarks: "He that begyleth other is oftyme begyled hym self," which is to say, "He that beguiles another is often beguiled himself." What is the moral that you would give to this fable? For example, what do you think the stork might say to her guest, the fox, after she has finished eating her dinner? For another fable about the trickster tricked, see the story of the lion and the horse. For another story about the fox and her tricks, see the story of the fox who lost her tail in a trap.

 

Latin Text:

 

Vulpecula ad cenam invitavit Ciconiam, obsoniumque in mensam effundit et, cum liquidum esset, lingua lingebat, quod Ciconia frustra rostro tentavit. Abit elusa Avis, pudet pigetque iniuriae. Paucis diebus interlapsis, invitat ad cenam Vulpeculam. Vitreum vas situm erat, obsonii plenum. Quod cum esset arti gutturis, Vulpeculae licuit obsonium videre, gustare non licuit. Ciconia enim rostro facile exhausit.

 

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

 

Vulpecula

ad cenam

invitavit Ciconiam,

obsoniumque in mensam effundit

et,

cum liquidum esset,

lingua lingebat,

quod

Ciconia

frustra rostro tentavit.

Abit elusa Avis,

pudet pigetque iniuriae.

Paucis diebus interlapsis,

invitat ad cenam

Vulpeculam.

Vitreum vas

situm erat,

obsonii plenum.

Quod cum esset arti gutturis,

Vulpeculae licuit

obsonium videre,

gustare non licuit.

Ciconia enim

rostro

facile exhausit.

 

Translation: The fox invited the stork to dinner, and poured the food out onto the table. Since it was liquid, the fox licked it up with her tongue; the stork in vain tried to eat the food with her beak. Having been tricke,d the bird went away, ashamed and annoyed with the wrong that the fix had done her. After a few days had passed, she invited the fox to dinner. A glass vase was set out, full of food, which, since it had a narrow neck, allowed the fox to see the food, but not to taste it. The stork, in fact, drained the food easily with her beak. 

 

[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 426.

 

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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