THE way of writing Esop chose,Sound doctrine by example shows;For nothing by these tales is meantSo much as that the bad repent;And by the pattern that is set,Due diligence itself should whet.Wherefore, whatever arch conceitYou in our narratives shall meet(If with the critic's ear it take,And for some special purpose make),Aspires by real use to fame,Rather than from an author's name.In fact, with all the care I can,I shall abide my Esop's plan:But if at times I intersperseMy own materials in the verse,That sweet variety may pleaseThe fancy, and attention ease;Receive it in a friendly way;Which grace I purpose to repayBy this consciousness of my song;Whose praises, lest they be too long,Attend, why you should stint the sneak,But give the modest, ere they seek.
Exemplis continetur Aesopi genus;Nec aliud quicquam per fabellas quaeriturQuam corrigatur error ut mortaliumAcuatque sese diligens industria.Quicumque fuerit ergo narrandi iocus,Dum capiat aurem et servet propositum suum,Re commendatur, non auctoris nomine.Equidem omni cura morem servabo senis;Sed si libuerit aliquid interponere,Dictorum sensus ut delectet varietas,Bonas in partes, lector, accipias velim,Ita si rependet illi brevitas gratiam.Cuius verbosa ne sit commendatio,Attende, cur negare cupidis debeas,Modestis etiam offerre quod non petierint.
A Lion on the carcass stoodOf a young heifer in the wood;A robber that was passing there,Came up, and ask'd him for a share."A share," says he, "you should receive,But that you seldom ask our leaveFor things so handily removed."At which the ruffian was reproved.It happen'd that the selfsame dayA modest pilgrim came that way,And when he saw the Lion, fled:Says he, " There is no cause of dread,In gentle tone-take you the chine,Which to your merit I assign."-Then having parted what he slew,To favour his approach withdrew.A great example, worthy praise,But not much copied now-a-days!For churls have coffers that o'erflow,And sheepish worth is poor and low.
Super iuvencum stabat deiectum leo.Praedator intervenit partem postulans.Darem inquit nisi soleres per te sumere:Et improbum reiecit. Forte innoxiusViator est deductus in eundem locumFeroque viso rettulit retro pedem.Cui placidus ille: Non est quod timeas ait;Et, quae debetur pars tuae modestiae,Audacter tolle. Tunc diviso tergoreSilvas petivit, homini ut accessum daret.Exemplum egregium prorsus et laudabile;Verum est aviditas dives et pauper pudor.
Fondling or fondled-any how-(Examples of all times allow)That men by women must be fleeced.A dame, whose years were well increased,But skill'd t' affect a youthful mien,Was a staid husband's empress queen;Who yet sequestered halt his heartFor a young damsel, brisk and smart.They, while each wanted to attachThemselves to him, and seem his match,Began to tamper with his hair.He, pleased with their officious care,Was on a sudden made a coot;For the young strumpet, branch and root,Stripp'd of the hoary hairs his crown,E'en as th' old cat grubb'd up the brown.
A feminis utcumque spoliari viros,Ament, amentur, nempe exemplis discimus.Aetatis mediae quendam mulier non rudisTenebat annos celans elegantia,Animosque eiusdem pulchra iuvenis ceperat.Ambae, videri dum volunt illi pares,Capillos homini legere coepere invicem.Qui se putaret fingi cura mulierum,Calvus repente factus est; nam funditusCanos puella, nigros anus evellerat.
Torn by a Cur, a man was ledTo throw the snappish thief some breadDipt in the blood, which, he was told,Had been a remedy of old.Then Esop thus: - "Forbear to showA pack of dogs the thing you do,Lest they should soon devour us quite,When thus rewarded as they bite."One wicked miscreant's successMakes many more the trade profess.
Laceratus quidam morsu vehementis canisTinctum cruore panem misit malefico,Audierat esse quod remedium vulneris.Tunc sic Aesopus: Noli coram pluribusHoc facere canibus, ne nos vivos devorent,Cum scierint esse tale culpae praemium.Successus improborum plures allicit.
An Eagle built upon an oakA Cat and kittens had bespokeA hole about the middle bough;And underneath a woodland SowHad placed her pigs upon the ground.Then treacherous Puss a method foundTo overthrow, for her own good,The peace of this chance neighbourhoodFirst to the Eagle she ascends-" Perdition on your head impends,And, far too probable, on mine;For you observe that grubbing SwineStill works the tree to overset,Us and our young with ease to get."Thus having filled the Eagle's pateWith consternation very great,Down creeps she to the Sow below;" The Eagle is your deadly foe,And is determined not to spareYour pigs, when you shall take the air.Here too a terror being spread,By what this tattling gossip said,She slily to her kittens stole,And rested snug within her hole.Sneaking from thence with silent treaiBy night her family she fed,But look'd out sharply all the day,Affecting terror and dismay.The Eagle lest the tree should fall,Keeps to the boughs, nor stirs at all;And anxious for her grunting race,The Sow is loth to quit her place.In short, they and their young ones starveAnd leave a prey for Puss to carve.Hence warn'd ye credulous and young,Be cautious of a double tongue.
Aquila in sublimi quercu nidum fecerat;Feles cavernam nancta in media pepererat;Sus nemoris cultrix fetum ad imam posuerat.Tum fortuitum feles contuberniumFraude et scelesta sic evertit malitia.Ad nidum scandit volucris: Pernicies aitTibi paratur, forsan et miserae mihi;Nam fodere terram quod vides cotidieAprum insidiosum, quercum vult evertere,Ut nostram in plano facile progeniem opprimat.Terrore offuso et perturbatis sensibusDerepit ad cubile setosae suis:Magno inquit in periclo sunt nati tui;Nam, simul exieris pastum cum tenero grege,Aquila est parata rapere porcellos tibi.Hunc quoque timore postquam complevit locum,Dolosa tuto condidit sese cavo.Inde evagata noctu suspenso pede,Ubi esca se replevit et prolem suam,Pavorem simulans prospicit toto die.Ruinam metuens aquila ramis desidet;Aper rapinam vitans non prodit foras.Quid multa? Inedia sunt consumpti cum suisFelisque catulis largam praebuerunt dapem.Quantum homo bilinguis saepe concinnet mali,Documentum habere stulta credulitas potest.
There is in town a certain setOf mortals, ever in a sweat,Who idly bustling here and there,Have never any time to spare,While upon nothing they discussWith heat, and most outrageous fuss,Plague to themselves, and to the restA most intolerable pest.I will correct this stupid clanOf busy-bodies, if I can,By a true story; lend an ear,'Tis worth a trifler's time to hear.Tiberius Caesar, in his wayTo Naples, on a certain dayCame to his own Misenian seat,(Of old Lucullus's retreat,)Which from the mountain top surveysTwo seas, by looking different ways.Here a shrewd slave began to cringeWith dapper coat and sash of fringe,And, as his master walk'd betweenThe trees upon the tufted green,Finding the weather very hot,Officiates with his wat'ring-pot;And still attending through the glade,Is ostentatious of his aid.Caesar turns to another row,Where neither sun nor rain could go;He, for the nearest cut he knows,Is still before with pot and rose.Caesar observes him twist and shift,And understands the fellow's drift;" Here, you sir," says th' imperial lordThe bustler, hoping a reward,Runs skipping up. The chief in jestThus the poor jackanapes address'd"As here is no great matter done,Small is the premium you have won:The cuffs that make a servant free,Are for a better man than thee."
Est ardalionum quaedam Romae natio,Trepide concursans, occupata in otio,Gratis anhelans, multa agendo nihil agens,Sibi molesta et aliis odiosissima.Hanc emendare, si tamen possum, voloVera fabella: pretium est operae attendere.Caesar Tiberius cum petens NeapolimIn Misenensem villam venisset suam,Quae monte summo posita Luculli manuProspectat Siculum et perspicit Tuscum mare:Ex alticinctis unus atriensibus,Cui tunica ab umeris linteo PelusioErat destricta, cirris dependentibus,Perambulante laeta domino viridia,Alveolo coepit ligneo conspargereHumum aestuantem, come officium iactitans,Sed deridetur. Inde notis flexibusPraecurrit alium in xystum, sedans pulverem.Agnoscit hominem Caesar remque intellegit.Id ut putavit esse nescio quid boni:Heus! inquit dominus. Ille enimvero assilit,Donationis alacer certae gaudio.Tum sic iocata est tanta maiestas ducis:Non multum egisti et opera nequiquam perit:Multo maioris alapae mecum veneunt.
No soul can warrant life or right,Secure from men of lawless might;But if a knave's advice assist,'Gainst fraud and force what can exist?An Eagle on a Tortoise fell,And mounting bore him by the shell:She with her house her body screens,Nor can be hurt by any means.A Carrion Crow came by that way," You've got," says she, " a luscious prey;But soon its weight will make you rue,Unless I show you what to do."The captor promising a share,She bids her from the upper airTo dash the shell against a rock,Which would be sever'd by the shock.The Eagle follows her behest,Then feasts on turtle with his guest.Thus she, whom Nature made so strong,And safe against external wrong,No match for force, and its allies,To cruel death a victim dies.
Contra potentes nemo est munitus satis;Si vero accessit consiliator maleficus,Vis et nequitia quicquid oppugnant, ruit.Aquila in sublime sustulit testudinem.Quae cum abdidisset cornea corpus domoNec ullo pacto laedi posset condita,Venit per auras cornix et propter volans:Opimam sane praedam rapuisti unguibus;Sed nisi monstraro quid sit faciendum tibi,Gravi nequiquam te lassabit pondere.Promissa parte suadet, ut scopulum superAltis ab astris duram illidat corticem,Qua comminuta facile vescatur cibo.Inducta verbis aquila, monitis paruit,Simul et magistrae large divisit dapem.Sic tuta quae naturae fuerat munere,Impar duabus occidit tristi nece.
Two laden Mules were on the road-A charge of money was bestowedUpon the one, the other boreSome sacks of barley. He before.Proud of his freight, begun to swell,Stretch'd out his neck, and shook his bellThe poor one, with an easy pace,Came on behind a little space,When on a sudden, from the woodA gang of thieves before them stood;And, while the muleteers engage,Wound the poor creature in their rageEager they seize the golden prize,But the vile barley-bags despise.The plunder'd mule was all forlorn,The other thank'd them for their scorn:" 'Tis now my turn the head to toss,Sustaining neither wound nor loss."The low estate's from peril clear,But wealthy men have much to fear.
Muli gravati sarcinis ibant duo:Unus ferebat fiscos cum pecunia,Alter tumentes multo saccos hordeo.Ille onere dives celsa cervice eminensClarumque collo iactans tintinnabulum,Comes quieto sequitur et placido gradu.Subito latrones ex insidiis advolantInterque caedem ferro mulum sauciant,Diripiunt nummos, neglegunt vile hordeum.Spoliatus igitur casus cum fleret suos:Equidem inquit alter me contemptum gaudeo;Nam nil amisi nec sum laesus vulnere.Hoc argumento tuta est hominum tenuitas;Magnae periclo sunt opes obnoxiae.
A Stag unharbour'd by the houndsForth from his woodland covert bounds,And blind with terror, at th' alarmOf death, makes to a neighboring farm;There snug conceals him in some straw,Which in an ox's stall he saw."Wretch that thou art!" a bullock cried,"That com'st within this place to hide;By trusting man you are undone,And into sure destruction run."But he with suppliant voice replies:" Do you but wink with both your eyes,I soon shall my occasions shape,To make from hence a fair escape."The day is spent, the night succeeds,The herdsman comes, the cattle feeds,But nothing sees-then to and froTime after time the servants go;Yet not a soul perceives the case.The steward passes by the place,Himself no wiser than the rest.The joyful Stag his thanks addressedTo all the Oxen, that he thereHad found a refuge in despair."We wish you well," an Ox returned,"But for your life are still concern'd,For if old Argus come, no doubt,His hundred eyes will find you out."Scarce had the speaker made an end,When from the supper of a friendThe master enters at the door,And, seeing that the steers were poorOf late, advances to the rack."Why were the fellow's hands so slack?Here's hardly any straw at all,Brush down those cobwebs from the wallPray how much labour would it ask?"While thus he undertakes the task,To dust, and rummage by degrees,The Stag's exalted horns he sees:Then calling all his folks around,He lays him breathless on the ground.The master, as the tale declares,Looks sharpest to his own affairsA STATUE of great cost and fameTh' Athenians raised to Esop's name,Him setting on th' the eternal base,Whom servile rank could not disgrace;That they might teach to all makindThe way to honor's unconfined,That glory's due to rising worth,And not alone to pomp and birth.Since then another seized the postLest I priority should boast,This pow'r and praise was yet my own,That he should not excel alone:Nor is this Envy's jealous ire,But Emulation's genuine fire.And if Rome should approve my piece,She'll soon have more to rival Greece.But should th' invidious town declareAgainst my plodding over-care,They cannot take away, nor hurtTh' internal conscience of desert.If these my studies reach their aim,And, reader, your attention claim,If your perception fully weighsThe drift of these my labour'd lays;Then such success precludes complaint.But if the Picture which I paintShould happen to attract their sight,Whom luckless Nature brought to light,Who scorn the labours of a man,And when they carp do all they can;Yet must this fatal cause to mournWith all its bitterness be borne,Till fortune be ashamed of days,When genius fails, and int'rest sways.
Cervus nemorosis excitatus latibulis,Ut venatorum effugeret instantem necem,Caeco timore proximam villam petitEt opportuno se bovili condidit.Hic bos latenti: Quidnam voluisti tibi,Infelix, ultro qui ad necem cucurrerisHominumque tecto spiritum commiseris?At ille supplex: Vos modo inquit parcite;Occasione rursus erumpam data.Spatium diei noctis excipiunt vices.Frondem bubulcus affert, nil ideo videt.Eunt subinde et redeunt omnes rustici,Nemo animadvertit: transit etiam vilicus,Nec ille quicquam sentit. Tum gaudens ferusBubus quietis agere coepit gratias,Hospitium adverso quod praestiterint tempore.Respondit unus: Salvum te cupimus quidem;Sed ille, qui oculos centum habet, si venerit,Magno in periclo vita vertetur tua.Haec inter ipse dominus a cena reditEt quia corruptos viderat nuper boves,Accedit ad praesepe: Cur frondis parum est,Stramenta desunt? Tollere haec araneaQuantum est laboris? Dum scrutatur singula,Cervi quoque alta conspicatur cornua;Quem convocata iubet occidi familiaPraedamque tollit. Haec significat fabulaDominum videre plurimum in rebus suis.Aesopi ingenio statuam posuere AtticiServumque collocarunt aeterna in basi,Patere honoris scirent ut cuncti viamNec generi tribui, sed virtuti gloriam.Quoniam occuparat alter ne primus foret,Ne solus esset studui; quod superfuit:Nec haec invidia, verum est aemulatio.Quod si labori faverit Latium meo,Plures habebit, quos opponat Graeciae.Si livor obtrectare curam voluerit,Non tamen eripiet laudis conscientiam.Si nostrum studium ad aures pervenit tuasEt arte fictas animus sentit fabulas,Omnem querelam submovet felicitas.Sin autem doctus illis occurrit labor,Sinistra quos in lucem natura extulitNec quicquam possunt nisi meliores carpere,Fatale exitium corde durato feram,Donec fortunam criminis pudeat sui.