LatinViaFables.com

Relocated to Blogger!

Laura Gibbs — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:25:00 +0000

Hello everybody, after several months at the great eClassics.ning.com site, LatinViaFables.com is back in action at Blogger! I'll be doing Greek materials over at eClassics, while you can find more Latin fables for your delectation here at LatinViaFables.com.

If you had bookmarked the old address, please make sure you update it to this new one:

http://LatinViaFables.blogspot.com

The LatinViaFables.com domain will be redirecting there now.

Happy fable-ing!

Relocated to eLatin eGreek eLearn

Laura Gibbs — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 04:34:00 +0000

Hello everybody, and my apologies for having forgotten to post something here sooner! Andrew Reinhard has set up a delightful ning community, eLatin eGreek eLearn, where you can create blogs, forums, all kinds of wonderful stuff.

So, I'm posting my Latin Via Fables materials at this new address:

http://eclassics.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?user=lauragibbs

I hope to "see" you there!

De Columba et Pica

Laura Gibbs — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:53:00 +0000

Title: De Columba et Pica: Dove and Magpie

Source: Abstemius 6 (You can see a 1499 edition of Abstemius online, but I am doing my transcription from the 1568 edition of Aesopi fabulae in the EEBO catalog.)

Parallels: The Abstemius fables are "original," without a source in the classical fable tradition.

Latin Text:

Columba interrogata a pica, quid eam induceret ut in eodem semper loco nidificaret, cum eius pulli inde semper surriperentur. Simplicitas, respondit. Haec indicat fabula facile esse viros probos saepe decipi.

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

Columba
interrogata a pica,
quid eam induceret
ut in eodem semper loco nidificaret,
cum eius pulli inde semper surriperentur.
Simplicitas, respondit.
Haec indicat fabula
facile esse
viros probos saepe decipi.

Translation:

A dove was asked by a mappie what led her to always make her nest in the same place, when her chicks were always snatched away from her there. My simplicity leads me to do this, replied the dove. This fable shows that it is an easy thing for honest people to be duped.

[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.]

Sir Roger L'Estrange included the fables of Abstemius in his amazing 17th-century edition of Aesop's fables. here is L'Estrange's translation:

A Pye was Wond'ring once to a Pigeon, why she would Breed still in the same Hole, when her Young Ones were constantly taken away from her before they were able to fly. Why That's my Simplicity, says the Pigeon. I mean no Harm, and I suspect none.
Do as you would be done by, it is a Better Rule in the Doctrine than in the Practice: For Trust as you would be Trusted, will not hold betwixt a Knave and an Honest Man. There's no Dealing with a Sharper but at his Own Play.

Illustration: I don't know of an illustrated edition of Abstemius's fables, alas.