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V.9. Taurus et Vitulus
Parallels: For parallel versions, see Perry 531.
Angusto in aditu taurus luctans cornibus
cum vix intrare posset ad praesepia,
monstrabat vitulus quo se pacto flecteret.
"Tace" inquit; "ante hoc novi quam tu natus es."
Qui doctiorem emendat sibi dici putet.
Here is the poem in a more prose-like word order for easy reading:
Cum taurus luctans cornibus in angusto aditu
vix posset intrare ad praesepia,
vitulus monstrabat
quo pacto flecteret se.
Inquit: "Tace! Novi hoc ante quam tu natus es."
Qui emendat doctiorem putet dici sibi.
Here is the poem with meter marks:
Angus~t(o) in ad'~tu tau~rus luc~tans cor~nibus
cum vix ~ intra~re pos~set ad ~ praese~pia,
monstra~bat vit'~lus quo ~ se pac~to flec~teret.
"Tac(e)" in~quit; "an~t(e h)oc no~vi quam ~ tu na~tus es."
Qui doc~tjor(em) e~mendat ~ sibi ~ dici ~ putet.
Translation:
When a bull was struggling to squeeze his horns through a narrow entryway, scarcely able to get inside his stable, a young calf showed the bull which way he should turn his head. The bull said: "Hush! I've known how to do this since before you were born!" The person who tries to correct his superior should recognize himself in this fable.
[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 Bull and the Calf (trans. C. Smart)
A Bull was struggling to secure
His passage at a narrow door,
And scarce could reach the rack of hay,
His horns so much were in his way.
A Calf officious, fain would show
How he might twist himself and go.
"Hold thou thy prate; all this," says he,
Ere thou wert calved was known to me."
He, that a wiser man by half
Would teach, may think himself this Calf.
Illustration:
Here is an illustration from an early printed edition; click on the image for a larger view (this is a picture of a bull from another fable, not this one).
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