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Vulpes et Hircus

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Scroll down to find: Overview, Study Guide, Verse, Audio, and Segmented Prose Text

The story of The Fox and The Goat is a poem by Phaedrus. It is written in iambic trimeter. You can find this poem, Phaedrus 4.9, along with other poems by Phaedrus, at the aesopica.net website. The Perry number for this fable is Perry 9. You can see a 1501 woodcut illustration for this fable at the University of Mannheim website. You can find a translation of this poem by Phaedrus in Aesop's Fables, by Laura Gibbs (Oxford University Press, 2003). There is also a translation of this poem into English verse by Christopher Smart which you can also read at the aesopica.net website.

   Use this Study Guide to organize your learning activities.

Here is the poem (click "play" icon for brief audio sample):

Homo in periclum simul ac venit callidus,
reperire effugium quaerit alterius malo.
Cum decidisset vulpes in puteum inscia
et altiore clauderetur margine,
devenit hircus sitiens in eundem locum.
Simul rogavit, esset an dulcis liquor
et copiosus, illa fraudem moliens:
"Descende, amice; tanta bonitas est aquae,
voluptas ut satiari non possit mea."
Immisit se barbatus. Tum vulpecula
evasit puteo, nixa celsis cornibus,
hircumque clauso liquit haerentem vado.

The following version puts the words in a more prose-like order so that it will be easier for you to read:

Homo callidus, simul ac venit in periclum, quaerit effugium reperire alterius malo.	Additional grammar commentary to be added... meanwhile, if you have questions, use the Comments? Questions? Suggestions? link at the top or bottom of this page if you have a query. You might also want to look at these Tips on Using Segmented Texts.
Cum vulpes inscia decidisset in puteum et clauderetur altiore margine, devenit hircus in eundem locum, sitiens.
Simul rogavit, an liquor esset dulcis et copiosus,
illa, fraudem moliens:
"Descende, amice; tanta bonitas est aquae, ut voluptas mea non possit satiari."
Barbatus se immisit.
Tum vulpecula evasit puteo, nixa celsis cornibus, et liquit hircum haerentem clauso vado.