Fable of the Day: De Canibus Urbanis

[Laura Gibbs]

[Note: You can find more of these fables at the old blog address for Latin Via Fables.]

Title: De Canibus urbanis villaticum insequentibus: City Dogs Chasing a Country Dog, by Abstemius


Latin Text:



Canes complures urbani quendam villaticum praecipiti insequebantur cursu, quamdiu ille fugit nec repugnare ausus est. At ubi ad insequentes conversus subsistit et dentes ipse quoque ostendere coepit, omnes pariter substiterunt nec aliquis urbanorum illi appropinquare audebat. Tunc imperator exercitus, qui ibi forte aderat, ad suos conversus milites: "Commilitones! (inquit) hoc spectaculum nos admonet ne fugiamus, cum praesentiora fugientibus quam repugnantibus videamus imminere pericula.


Here is a segmented version to help you see the grammatical patterns:


Canes complures urbani
quendam villaticum
praecipiti insequebantur cursu,
quamdiu ille fugit
nec repugnare ausus est.
At ubi ad insequentes conversus
subsistit
et dentes
ipse quoque ostendere coepit,
omnes pariter substiterunt
nec aliquis urbanorum
illi appropinquare audebat.
Tunc imperator exercitus,
qui ibi forte aderat,
ad suos conversus milites:
"Commilitones! (inquit)
hoc spectaculum
nos admonet
ne fugiamus,
cum praesentiora
fugientibus quam repugnantibus
videamus
imminere pericula.

Crossword Puzzle: You can play a crossword puzzle based on the vocabulary in this fable.



Translation:



A large number of city-dogs were chasing a certain country dog at a headlong dash so long as he ran away and did not dare to fight back. But when he stopped and turned on his pursuers, and he also began to bare his teeth, all the dogs also stopped and not one of the city dogs dared to approach him. Then the commander of an army, who happened to be present, turned to his soldiers and said, "My fellow soldiers! This scene warns us not to run away, since we can see that dangers threaten more pressingly those who are running away than those who stand and fight back."



[This translation is meant as a help in understanding the story, not as a "crib" for the Latin. I have not hesitated to change the syntax to make it flow more smoothly in English, altering the verb tense consistently to narrative past tense, etc.]



Source: Abstemius 32 (You can see a 1499 edition of Abstemius online, but I am doing my transcription from the 1568 edition of Aesopi fabulae in the EEBO catalog.)



Another English translation. Sir Roger L'Estrange included the fables of Abstemius in his amazing 17th-century edition of Aesop's fables. So, here is L'Estrange's translation:



'Tis a common thing upon the passing of a strange Dog through a Town, to have a hundred Curs bawling at his Breech, and every Yap gets a Snap at him. There was one particular Dog, that when he saw there was no saving his Skin by running away, turn'd upon his Pursuers, and then found upon the Trial, that one Set of Teeth was worth two Pair of Heels; for upon that Revolution, they all fell off, and sneak'd their way. A Captain took Occasion to apply this Instance to his People. Fellow-Soldiers (says he) take this for a Rule, Those that run away, are in more Danger than the Others that stand the Shock.
The putting up of one Affront draws on another.

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