Legenda: Homo et Unicornis

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Homo et Unicornis

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The story of The Man and The Unicorn is adapted from the Liber Kalilae et Dimnae, along with a version of the story in Odo of Cheriton.

You can find this fable, Odo 78, along with other fables by Odo, at the aesopica.net website.

You can read some background information about the origins of the Kalila-wa-Dimna tradition in this background page about the Hitopadesha (another book in the Kalila-wa-Dimna tradition). You might also want to look at the Kalilag and Damnag article at wikipedia.

Use this Study Guide to organize your learning activities.

Erat homo quidam qui prae magno timore unicornis fugiebat.	qui: relative pronoun, antecedent is homo
Et incidit in quendam lacum habentem arborem magnam factam in ripa, in qua se appendit, duos ramos ipsius tenens, et pedes posuit in alio ramo, sperans in eo firmari.	qua: relative pronoun, antecedent is arbor firmari: complementary infinitive with sperans
Erantque ibi quatuor serpentes circa lacum, producentes capita in altum nec quiescebant lacum circuire.	circuire: complementary infinitive with quiescebant
Respiciens ad fundum laci vidit draconem habentem os apertum.
Et iterum vidit duos mures, unum album et alterum nigrum, comedentes radices arboris super quam stabat.
Et de hiis stupefactus quaerebat qualiter de tantis malis liberari posset.	posset: subjunctive in indirect question, introduced by qualiter liberari: complementary infinitive with posset
Et aspiciens sursum vidit mel defluens a summitate arboris.	aspiciens...vidit: participle plus verb ("he looked... and saw...")
Et de eodem melle gustans et dulcedine eius dulcoratus oblitus est salutis suae	gustans...dulcoratus...oblitus est: participle plus verb ("he tasted... and enjoyed the sweetness... and forgot...")
et non est recordatus unicornis nec quatuor serpentum qui erant circa lacum nec duorum murium comedentium radices arboris	qui: relative pronoun, antecedent is serpentum
et quod, postquam comederint eas, cadet arbor et ipse cadet in gutture draconis,	quod: relative pronoun without stated antecedent (quod stands for the whole situation, "the fact that...")
sed perseverans in mellis dulcedine perditus fuit.	perseverans...perditus fuit: participle plus verb ("he persisted... and perished...")