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Lepores et Ranae

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

The story of The Rabbits and The Frogs is a poem from a medieval Romulus (rhymed). It is written in the Goliardic meter. You can find this poem, Romulus 2.7, along with other fables from the Romulus collections, at the aesopica.net website. The Perry number for this fable is Perry 138. There is a version of this story in prose form here: : Lepores et Ranae (prose). You can see a 1501 woodcut illustration for this fable at the University of Mannheim website. You can find a translation of a Greek version of this fable in Aesop's Fables, by Laura Gibbs (Oxford University Press, 2003).

   Use this Study Guide to organize your learning activities.

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

Nuper sunt ad synodum    Lepores vocati,
Inter se firmissima    fide coniurati,
Quod, si sint de cetero    quoquam perturbati,
Ad pelagi rupes fugerent mox praecipitati.

Mox, ut terror ingruit,    Lepores fugerunt
Ad flumen, quo turgidae    Ranae latuerunt.
Ranae fugientium    sonos audierunt,
Et se sub fluvio, cogente timore, tulerunt.

Submersas Lepusculi    Ranas ut videbant,
Nimio perterriti    stupore timebant.
Unius consilio    cuncti mox favebant,
Quo mox audito propriis repedare studebant.

En, inquit, ne cernitis    omne quod creatur
Sub timoris legibus     firme religatur?
Iam noster ad patriam     redditus ducatur,
Ut quisquis nostrum sua fata libens patiatur.

Moralitas.
Hic nos equanimiter    monet tollerare
Poenas et angustias,    quas mundus vult dare.
Nam firmo proposito    si stabiliare,
Nil puto perversum te firmum posse gravare.

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

Nuper Lepores vocati sunt ad synodum.	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.
Coniurati sunt inter se firmissima fide, quod, si perturbati sint de quoquam cetero, mox fugerent ad pelagi rupes, praecipitati.
Mox, ut terror ingruit, Lepores fugerunt ad flumen, quo turgidae Ranae latuerunt.
Ranae fugientium sonos audierunt, et se tulerunt sub fluvio, cogente timore.
Ut Lepusculi submersas Ranas videbant, perterriti timebant nimio stupore.
Mox cuncti favebant consilio unius, quo audito mox studebant repedare propriis.
En, inquit, ne cernitis omne quod creatur religatur firme sub timoris legibus?
Iam noster redditus ducatur ad patriam, ut quisquis nostrum patiatur sua fata libens.
Moralitas. Hic monet nos equanimiter tollerare poenas et angustias, quas mundus vult dare.
Nam si stabiliare firmo proposito, puto nil perversum posse gravare te firmum.