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

Barlow 90. DE AUCUPE ET PERDICE

ONLINE FORUM: At the Aesopus Ning Forum, you can ask questions about this fable. You will also  find links there to additional learning materials to help you in reading the Latin (vocabulary, grammar commentary, simplified version, quizzes, macrons, etc.).

Auceps, retibus extensis, captabat Perdicem. Volucris illa captata supplicabunde illum rogabat ut se demitteret, promittens se in retia plurimas Aves allecturam. Cui Auceps: “Nequaquam hoc faciam, nam procul dubio me decipies, quae sodales tuos proditura es.”

Translation: A bird-catcher laid his nets and caught a partridge. That bird, seeing as she was captured, pleaded and asked him to let her go, promising that she would lure many more birds into the nets. The bird-catcher said to her: I will most certainly not do that, because without a doubt you will deceive me, since you are ready to betray your companions. 

[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.]

The Moral of the Story:

Docet

nunquam fidem

illis adhibituram,

qui

alios semel fefellerunt.

Illustration: Here is an illustration from this edition, by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view.