Legenda: Vulpes et Aquila

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Vulpes et Aquila

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The story of The Fox and the Eagle is adapted from the Romulus Anglicus.

You can find this poem, Romulus Anglicus 12, along with other fables from the Romulus collections, at the aesopica.net website. The Perry number for this fable is Perry 1.

There is another example of this story in verse form, from the metrical Romulus collection (written in dactylic hexameter).

You can see a 1501 woodcut illustration for this fable at the University of Mannheim website.

You can find translations of two different versions of this fable in Aesop's Fables, by Laura Gibbs (Oxford University Press, 2003).

Use this Study Guide to organize your learning activities.

Vulpes erat in caverna sua et parvuli sui foris discurrebant.
Quos cum videret Aquila, diligenter eos observavit, donec unum apprehenderet.	quos: relative pronoun, antecedent is parvuli apprehenderet: subjunctive with donec
Quem tandem apprehensum cum Aquila ungulis male premeret, ad clamorem mater eius egressa est, et pro eo, ut dimitteret, Aquilam rogavit.	quem: relative pronoun, antecedent is unum premeret: subjunctive with cum dimitteret: subjunctive with ut
Sed illa respondit, dicens hoc nequaquam posse fieri, quia pullos in nido multum esurientes haberet, quibus ille necessarius foret.	posse: infinitive in indirect statement introduced by dicens (accusative subject is hoc) fieri: complementary infinitive with posse quibus: relative pronoun, antecedent is pullos haberet...foret: subjunctives for attributed thought
Et hoc dicto nidum petiit Aquila, Vulpecula post eam clamante sed frustra, et usque ad nidum parvulum suum prosequente.	hoc dicto: ablative absolute vulpecula...clamante...prosequente: ablative absolute
Cum ergo videret illa quod precibus nil faceret et clamoribus, ad solitas se vertit artes.	ergo: postpositive videret: subjunctive with cum faceret: subjunctive with attributed thought ad solitas...artes: split phrase
Arripit igitur ignitam faculam, et aridis lignis collectis arborem, in qua sedit Aquila cum pullis, circumdedit igni subposito.	igitur: postpositive aridis lignis collectis: ablative absolute qua: relative pronoun, antecedent is arborem
Ad Aquilam dixit: Fac modo vale pullis tuis, et ipsam te salvans, si potes, meis ignibus eos committe, quia matris in eos redundabit iniquitas	fac...vale: "say goodbye" salvans...committe: participle plus verb (save yourself... and consign them) matris...iniquitas: split phrase
His ergo auditis, materna pietate super pullos mota, pro eis Vulpem rogat ut ignibus parcere velit et arborem non conburant, sed suum vulpeolum sanum recipiat.	ergo: postpositive his... auditis : ablative absolute mota...pietate: split phrase velit...conburant...recipiat: subjunctives with ut parcere: complementary infinitive with velit
Moralitas. Aquilae figuram tenent divites elati et contumaces, quia inferiores premunt et spoliant, nec eos ad se clamantes exaudiunt.
Sed, cum venerit ignis in ultionem, velent utique Vulpi parvulum suum redidisse.	venerit: subjunctive with cum velent: potential subjunctive redidisse: complementary infinitive with velent