Lectitō › Phaedrus › Fables, Book 1
Phaedrus 1.17
The sheep, the dog and the wolf
Phaedrus, Fabulae I. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in LectitōPhaedr. 1.17.1Solent mendācēs luere poenās maleficī.
Liars usually pay the penalty for their misdeeds.
Note. mendācēs … maleficī: 'lying evil-doers'. luere poenās: 'to pay the penalty'.
Phaedr. 1.17.2Calumniātor ab ove cum peteret canis,
quem commendāsse pānem sē contenderet,
lupus citātus testis nōn ūnum modo
5dēbērī dīxit, vērum affirmāvit decem.
When a dog, a false accuser, was claiming from a sheep a loaf that he insisted he had lent her, a wolf was summoned as a witness and said that not just one was owed, but declared that ten were.
Note. Calumniātor … canis: 'a dog, a false accuser'. quem … pānem: 'a loaf which'. commendāsse = commendāvisse, 'had lent'. nōn ūnum modo … vērum … decem: 'not only one … but ten'.
Phaedr. 1.17.6Ovis damnāta falsō testimōniō
quod nōn dēbēbat solvit.
The sheep, condemned on false evidence, paid what she did not owe.
Note. damnāta falsō testimōniō: 'condemned by false evidence'. quod nōn dēbēbat: 'what she did not owe'.
Phaedr. 1.17.7Post paucōs diēs
bidēns iacentem in foveā cōnspexit lupum:
haec inquit mercēs fraudis ā superīs datur.
A few days later the sheep saw the wolf lying in a pit: 'This,' she said, 'is the reward for fraud that the gods above give.'
Note. bidēns: literally 'two-toothed', a sheep of sacrificial age. iacentem in foveā: the wolf has fallen into a trap-pit. ā superīs: 'from the gods above'.
Vocabulary
| soleō, -ēre, solitus sum | be accustomed, usually do |
| mendāx, -ācis | lying; (as noun) a liar |
| luō, -ere, luī | pay; atone for, expiate |
| poena, -ae, f. | penalty, punishment |
| maleficus, -a, -um | wicked, criminal; as a noun, evil-doer |
| calumniātor, -ōris m. | false accuser, one who brings a trumped-up charge |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| ovis, -is, f. | sheep |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| petō, -ere, -īvī or -iī, -ītus | seek, ask; attack |
| canis, -is, m. and f. | dog |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| commendō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | entrust, commit; recommend |
| pānis, -is m. | bread, loaf |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| contendō, -tendere, -tendī, -tentus | stretch, hasten |
| lupus, -ī m. | wolf |
| citō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | set in motion, urge on; citātus: swift, rushing |
| testis, -is m./f. | witness |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| modo, adv. | only |
| dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | owe; with infin., ought |
| dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus | say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day |
| vērum (conj.) | but, but in fact; nōn modo ... vērum etiam: not only ... but also |
| affirmō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | assert, declare firmly |
| decem, indecl. adj. | ten |
| damnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | condemn |
| falsus, -a, -um | feigned, pretended, false |
| testimōnium, -ī n. | evidence, proof |
| solvō, solvere, solvī, solūtus | loosen, unbind, release; pay; with or without nāvem, cast off, set sail, put to sea |
| post, adv. | after, later; prep. with acc., after, behind |
| paucī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | few |
| diēs, -ēī, m. and f. | day |
| bidēns, -entis f. | a sheep (for sacrifice, of the age to show two adult teeth) |
| iaceō, -ēre, -uī | lie, be prostrate |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| fovea, -ae f. | pit, pitfall |
| cōnspiciō, -spicere, -spēxī, -spectus | behold, perceive, see |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| inquam, inquis, inquit, defective verb | I say, you say, he says |
| mercēs, mercēdis, f. | pay, reward, wages |
| fraus, fraudis, f. | deception, fraud |
| superī, -ōrum m. pl. | the gods above |
| dō, dare, dedī, datus | give |