Legenda: Haedus et Lupus

BESTIARIA LATINA BLOG - Latin Via Fables - Zoo - Legenda

Haedus et Lupus

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

The story of The Kid and The Wolf is a poem written by Walter of England. It is written in elegiac couplets.

You can find this poem, Walter 29, along with other poems by Walter, at the aesopica.net website. The Perry number for this fable is Perry 572.

In the English version by Sir Roger L'Estrange, the mother tells the kid not to let in anyone who doesn't have a beard, so the kid exposes the wolf by asking to see his beard! You can see a 1501 woodcut illustration for this fable at the University of Mannheim website.

You can find a translation of a Latin prose version of this story 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):

Capra, cibum quaerens, haedum commendat ovili;
Hunc illi solida servat ovile sera.
Natum cauta parens monitu praemunit amico,
Ut lateat, nec sit in sua damna vagus.
Hic latet; ecce lupus movet ostia, voce capellam
Exprimit, ut pateant ostia clausa petit.
"Sta procul," haedus ait, "Caprizas gutture falso;
Cum bene caprizes, te procul esse volo.
Quod mea sis mater, mentitur imago loquendi.
Rimula, qua video, te docet esse lupum."
Insita natorum cordi doctrina parentum
Cum pariat fructum, spreta nocere solet.

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

Capra, cibum quaerens, haedum commendat ovili;	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. ovili: the i is long, so penultimate stress
ovile, solida sera, hunc servat illi.	solida sera: ablative hunc = hunc haedem illi = illi matri
Parens, cauta, natum praemunit monitu amico, ut lateat, nec sit vagus in sua damna.
Hic latet; ecce lupus ostia movet, capellam exprimit voce, petit ut ostia clausa pateant.
"Sta procul," haedus ait, "Caprizas gutture falso;
cum bene caprizes, volo te procul esse.	caprizes: the i is long, so penultimate stress
Imago loquendi mentitur quod mea mater sis.	caprizes: the i is long, so penultimate stress
Rimula, qua video, docet te esse lupum."
Doctrina parentum, cum pariat fructum, insita natorum cordi spreta solet nocere.	nocere: the e is long, so penultimate stress