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Barlow 110. DE AQUILA ET TESTUDINE

 

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Introduction, Grammar Notes and Glossary: See the printed book.

 

Quizzes and Activities: See the del.icio.us catalog for the supplementary materials.

 

Parallels: For parallel versions, see Eagle Races Tortoise

 

Latin Text:

 

Certamen inire voluit Testudo reptilis cum Aquila velocissima. Locus designatus est et, qui spatio trium dierum ad propositum locum prius venerat, victor salutaretur. Aquila tardigradam contempsit Testudinem, autumans se alarum impetu posse brevissime ad locum avolare. Negligens igitur secessit, aliis intenta, sed Testudo indefatigabili labore et sollertia infra tempus et ante Aquilam arrepsit ad locum et omnium calculis victor evasit.

 

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

 

Certamen inire

voluit Testudo reptilis

cum Aquila velocissima.

Locus designatus est

et qui

spatio trium dierum

ad propositum locum prius venerat,

victor salutaretur.

Aquila

tardigradam contempsit Testudinem,

autumans

se

alarum impetu posse

brevissime ad locum avolasse.

Negligens igitur secessit,

aliis intenta,

sed Testudo

indefatigabili labore et sollertia

infra tempus et ante Aquilam

arrepsit ad locum

et omnium calculis victor evasit.

 

Translation: The creeping turtle wanted to enter into a contest with the incredibly fast eagle. A place was chosen and the one who first arrived at the proposed place during the three-day race, would be saluted as the winner. The eagle scorned the slow-paced turtle, asserting that she would be able to fly to the place very quickly using the force of her wings. Taking this casual attitude, she therefore went away, engaged in other things, but the turtle by means of untiring effort and craftiness crept to the place in advance of the deadline and before the eagle, and, according to everyone's reckoning, the turtle turned out to be the winner.

 

[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.]

 

Illustration: The illustration in this edition does not match the story; instead, it matches the English poem. The illustration is by the renowned artist Francis Barlow; click on the image for a larger view.

 

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