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Barlow 107. DE CERVO IN BOVIUM STABULO

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Persecutus a Canibus, Cervus ad stabulum Bovium confugiebat et ibi totum corpus, praeterquam cornua, abscondebat. Adibat stabulum Servus et ille, oscitanter et negligenter huc et illuc oculos circumferens, mox decessit. Fortunae suae nimis applausit laetabundus Cervus et sese tutissimum autumabat. Sed statim, ipso Hero ingrediente locum, et rebus curiosius perlustratis, cornua Cervi detexit et fustibus cum Vicinis adoriebatur.

Translation: Chased by dogs, a stag fled into a stable of oxen, and there he hid his entire body, except for his horns. A servant entered the stable but he soon went out, having sleepily and carelessly cast his eyes here and there. The stag rejoiced and applauded overmuch his good luck, and reckoned he was completely safe. But soon the master himself entered the place, and giving things a more careful looking over, he uncovered the horns of the stag, and then with his neighbors he attacked the stag with cudgels.

[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:

Notat quod

abundans cautela non noceat,

et quod

plures

per nimiam sui perduntur fiduciam

quam

per tela

et hostium arma circumsonantium.

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