Fable of the Day: De Cane et Hero

[Laura Gibbs]

Title: De Cane et Hero: Dog and Master, by Abstemius


Latin Text:



Canem quidam habens quo magis ab illo diligeretur, semper eum suis pascebat manibus, ligatumque solvebat. Ligari autem et verberari iubebat a servo, ut beneficia a se, maleficia autem a servo in illum viderentur esse collata. Aegre autem ferens canis se assidue ligari verberarique aufugit et cum increparetur a domino ut ingratus et tantorum beneficiorum immemor, qui se fugisset, a quo semper dilectus pastusque fuisset, ligatus autem verberatusque nunquam, respondit quod "Servus tuo iussu facit; a te factum puto." Haec fabula indicat eos malefactores habendos qui maleficiorum causa fuere.


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


Canem quidam habens
quo magis
ab illo diligeretur,
semper eum suis pascebat manibus, ligatumque solvebat.
Ligari autem et verberari
iubebat
a servo,
ut beneficia a se,
maleficia autem a servo
in illum viderentur esse collata.
Aegre autem ferens canis
se assidue ligari verberarique
aufugit
et
cum increparetur a domino
ut ingratus
et tantorum beneficiorum immemor,
qui
se fugisset,
a quo
semper dilectus pastusque fuisset,
ligatus autem verberatusque
nunquam, respondit quod
"Servus
tuo iussu facit;
a te factum puto."
Haec fabula indicat
eos
malefactores habendos
qui
maleficiorum causa fuere.

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



Translation:



A certain man had a dog. In other that he be more loved by the dog, he always fed the dog with his own hands and released the dog from hsi chains himself, while he commanded that the dog be chained up and beaten instead by a servant, so that the the benefits would appear to be given to the dog by himself, the master, while punishments would appear to come from the servant. The dog was frustrated by the fact that he was regularly chained up and beaten, so he ran away, and when he was denounced by his master for being ungrateful and for being unmindful of so many favors, since he had run away from the man who had always cherished and fed him, and who had never chained him up or beaten him. The dog replied, "The servant goes by your command; I consider it done by you." This fable shows that those should be held as evil doers if they were the cause of evil doings.



[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 36 (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:



There was a Bob-tail'd Cur, cry'd in a Gazette, and one that found him out by his Marks, brought him home to his Master; who fell presently to reasoning the matter with him, how insensible and thankless a Wretch he was, to run away from one that was so extream kind to him. Did I ever give you a Blow in my Life, says he, or so much as one Angry Word, in all the time that ever you serv'd me? No, says the Dog, not with your own Hands, nor with your own Lips; but you have given me a Thousand and a Thousand by your Deputy; and when I am beaten by my Master's Order, 'tis my Master himself I reckon, that Beats me.
In Benefits as well as Injuries, 'tis the Principal that we are to consider, not the Instrument. That which a man does by Another, is in Truth and Equity by his own Act. [Note: You can find more of these fables at the old blog address for Latin Via Fables.]

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