Lectitō › Phaedrus › Fables, Book 1
Phaedrus 1.26
The fox and the stork
Phaedrus, Fabulae I. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in LectitōPhaedr. 1.26.1Nūllī nocendum: sī quis vērō laeserit,
multandum similī iūre fābella admonet.
One should do harm to no one; but if anyone does harm, the fable warns that he must be punished in the same way.
Note. Nūllī nocendum (esse): impersonal gerundive, 'one should harm no one'. multandum (esse) similī iūre: 'he must be punished in the same way'.
Phaedr. 1.26.3Vulpēs ad cēnam dīcitur cicōniam
prior invītāsse et illī in patinā liquidam
5posuisse sorbitiōnem, quam nūllō modō
gustāre ēsuriēns potuerit cicōnia.
A fox is said to have been the first to invite a stork to dinner, and to have set before her thin soup on a flat dish, which the hungry stork could not taste at all.
Note. dīcitur … invītāsse … et … posuisse: 'is said to have invited … and set'. sorbitiōnem: 'soup'. quam … potuerit: 'which she could not taste'.
Phaedr. 1.26.7Quae vulpem cum revocāsset, intrītō cibō
plēnam lagōnam posuit: huic rōstrum īnserēns
satiātur ipsa et torquet convīvam fame.
When the stork invited the fox back, she set out a flask full of mashed food; pushing her beak into it, she ate her fill herself and tortured her guest with hunger.
Note. revocāsset: 'had invited back'. intrītō cibō plēnam lagōnam: 'a flask full of mashed food'. torquet convīvam fame: 'tortures her guest with hunger'.
Phaedr. 1.26.10Quae cum lagōnae collum frūstrā lamberet,
peregrīnam sīc locūtam volucrem accēpimus:
sua quisque exempla dēbet aequō animō patī.
While the fox was vainly licking the neck of the flask, we are told that the foreign bird said this: 'Everyone ought to put up calmly with his own example.'
Note. peregrīnam … volucrem: 'the foreign bird', the stork (a migrant). sua quisque exempla: 'everyone his own examples', i.e. the treatment he gave others.
Vocabulary
| nūllus, -a, -um | not any, none, no |
| noceō, -ēre, nocuī, nocitum (+ dat.) | harm, hurt |
| sī, conj. | if |
| quis, qua, quid, indef. pron. | any one, anybody, anything, some one, somebody, something |
| vērō, adv. | in truth, indeed; however |
| laedō, -ere, laesī, laesus | hurt, injure; break (an oath) |
| multō, adv. | by much or far, much, far |
| similis, -e | like, similar (vērī similis: likely) |
| iūs, iūris, n. | right, justice, law; iūs dīcere, to pronounce judgment; iūs iūrandum, iūris iūrandī, oath |
| fābella, -ae f. | little story, fable |
| admoneō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | remind, warn, advise |
| vulpēs, -is f. | fox |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| cēna, -ae, f. | dinner |
| dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictus | say, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day |
| cicōnia, -ae f. | stork |
| prior, prius | earlier, former; in front (priōrēs: those in front) |
| invītō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | invite |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| patina, -ae f. | shallow dish, plate |
| liquidus, -a, -um | liquid, flowing; clear |
| pōnō, pōnere, posuī, positus | place, put; pōnī with in and abl., to be placed in, rest or depend on |
| sorbitiō, -ōnis f. | broth, soup |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| modus, -ī, m. | way, manner |
| gustō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | taste |
| ēsuriō, -īre, -īvī, -ītum | be hungry |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| revocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | call back, recall |
| interō, -terere, -trīvī, -trītus | crumble into, mince; intrītus cibus, food mashed up |
| cibus, -ī, m. | food |
| plēnus, -a, -um | full |
| lagōna (lagēna), -ae f. | flask, jar with a narrow neck |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| rōstrum, -ī, n. | beak |
| īnserō, -ere, -seruī, -sertum | put in, insert |
| satiō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | fill, satisfy; satiārī, eat one's fill |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| torqueō, torquēre, torsī, tortus | turn |
| convīva, -ae m. and f. | guest (at a meal) |
| famēs, -is, abl. famē, f. | hunger |
| collum, -ī, n. | neck |
| frūstrā, adv. | in vain |
| lambō, -ere, lambī | lick |
| peregrīnus, -ī, m. | stranger, foreigner |
| sīc, adv. | so, thus |
| loquor, loquī, locūtus | speak |
| volucris, -is, f. | bird |
| accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| quisque, quaeque, quidque, indef. pron. | each |
| exemplum, -ī n. | example, precedent |
| dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | owe; with infin., ought |
| aequus, -a, -um | level; equal; fair |
| animus, -ī, m. | mind; heart; spirit, courage |
| patior, patī, passus, bear | suffer, allow |