THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY ULASSIGS ' FABLES OF BABRIUS. THE FABLES OF BABRIUS, IN TWO PARTS, . TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE FROM THE TEXT OF SIR G. C. LEWIS. BY THE REV. JAMES DAVIES, M.A. Sometime Scholar of Lincoln College , Oxford . LONDON : LOCKWOOD AND CO. STATIONERS’ HALL COURT. MDCCfcLX. LONDON R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL. -'*» * $ \\ \ % V3 i i . ^ ^ j *S cj^ Y\ & \ (i V. Cicx^xuc^ TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR GEORGE CORNEWALL LEWIS, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Honorary Student of Christ Church, Oxford, and Editor of the Fables of Babrius, THIS ATTEMPT TO RENDER INTO ENGLISH VERSE WHOM HIS LITERARY LABOURS HAVE EFFECTUALLY WITH RESPECT AND GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT WHO WOULD FAIN TAKE HIM AS A MODEL IN BLENDING CLASSICAL STUDY WITH THE SEVERER THE FABLES OF AN AUTHOR. RESCUED FROM OBLIVION. IS DEDICATED BY ONE DUTIES OF LIFE. Moor Court, Herefordshire, PREFACE. N° question is more often put to one who pro- fesses an acquaintance with the Fables of Babrius than, “Who was Babrius? when did he live?” and the querist is sceptical, when, in answer, he is bidden to discard, as erroneous, the notion that it is to ^Esop, and not to Babrius, that he owes the collection of Fables which charmed his youth. Yet so it is, and it is hoped that the version of Babrius into English, now put forth, may, with the aid of a prefatory state- ment, based on the researches of the learned, tend to place the matter in a true light. Those who have no knowledge of Classics will marvel to see how much is owed to a fabulist, whose work has been rescued from oblivion within the last twenty years. Not that no traces, indeed, of Babrius existed before that date. Bentley indicated remains of his Fables in Vlll Preface . a dissertation which gave rise to the famous dispute respecting the Epistles of Phalaris. These traces, Tyrwhitt, in 1776, followed up, collecting all the frag- ments of Babrius found in the Grammarians, with some new verses from a MS. of ^Esopian Fables in the Bodleian, and four entire fables (12, 58, 84, 129,) which had come down from one source or another. Later still, an Italian, Francesco de Furia, edited from MSS. in the Vatican library, several Fables before unpublished, which added greatly to the Babrian remains ; for though in the form of prose, they were found easily reducible into Choliambic verse, into which they had been turned by our author from the oral or traditional collections of ^Esopian Fables, and out of which (says Blomfield, Mus. Crit. 1. 410) they had been “transprosed ” by some monk. 1 1 There seems to have been no written collection of Esop ; for when he is cited by ancient authors, there occurs a diversity .which would have been prevented by a collected edition. See Smith’s Diet. G. R. B. vol. i. p. 47, b. The same dictionary, ibid, has the following account of the spurious prose collections bearing the name of iFsop, now extant. “ These are three. “One containing 136 Fables, published first A.D. 1610, from Preface . IX In 1844, M. Minoides Menas, a learned Greek, commissioned by M. Villemain, Minister of Public Instruction under Louis Philippe, found, amongst other literary treasures, in the Convent of St. Laura, on Mount Athos, a MS. of Babrius, lost in the middle ages. 1 It was much damaged, and the monks asked so high a price for it, that Menas declined to buy it, and could only convey a transcript of it to Paris, which M. Villemain placed in the hands of M. Bois- “ MSS. at Heidelberg. This is so clumsy a forgery that it men- “ tions the orator Demades, who lived 200 years after ^Esop, “ and contains a whole sentence from the Book of Job. Some “ of the passages Bentley has shown to be fragments ofCholiam- “ bic verses, and has made it tolerably certain that they were “ stolen from Babrius. The second collection was made by a “monk of Constantinople, Maximus Planudes, in the fourteenth “ century. These contain at least one Hebraism, and among “ them are words entirely modern, e.g. PovraXis, a bird, “ Povvevpov, a beast, and also traces of Babrius. The third col- “ lection was found in a MS. at Florence, and published in 1809. “ Its date is about a century before the time of Planudes, and it “contains the life which was prefixed to his collection, and “ commonly thought to be his own.” 1 This MS., with another on paper, a transcript of one found Q a few years ago on Mount Athos, and containing 95 Fables, which appear as Part II. of the present translation, the Trustees of the British Museum purchased of M. Menas in 1857. X Preface . sonade (see Class. Mus. IT. 413), by whom it was published in October, 1844. In this transcript and in the MS. the Fables are arranged alphabetically over eighty pages, according to the initial letter of each Fable, but the collection only reaches the letter O. The date of the MS. is supposed to be of the tenth century, from the peculiarities of writing observable in it. After several other continental editions 1 follow- ing closely on the Parisian, Sir G. C. Lewis, no new hand at Babrius even at that time (see a paper in Philol. Mus. I. p. 282), put forth the first edition of Babrius in England in 1846. This possesses among other advantages, that of entering the field late 1 Boissonade’s edition emends many blunders, which he as- cribes to the Poet’s being a Roman writing Greek, an idea which seems to be baseless. Many errors are probably referable to the transcriber. This first edition was followed very shortly by one from Berlin, by Lachmann and several distinguished coadjutors: an able work, enriched by a valuable appendix of Meineke on Choliambic metre, but unduly depreciatory of the previous labours of Boissonade. Soon after appeared an edition from the Zurich press, by Baiter and Orelli, printed in good type, and conveniently reserving for a subjoined “adnotatio critica ” most of their conjectural emendations. Prejctce . xi enough to have availed itself of whatever was valuable in the earlier editions. Its editor’s Latin notes, concise and to the point, strike the scholar as the model of what Latin notes should be ; and afford an argument in favour of a practice falling into disuse and largely superseded by pages of English annotation, long drawn out, the quality of which is generally less remarkable than the quantity. Sir Comewall’s preface is exhaustive ; and to it, as well as to his supplementary MSS. notes, which, with other information, the translator is anxious to ac- knowledge with gratitude, the present preface is chiefly indebted for its materials. The first important question suggested by Sir Comewall’s preface is as to the name and age of Babrius. He discards the notion of Boissonade that Babrius was a Roman , 1 one Valerius Babrius, observing that if he was, he was marvellously at 1 This conjecture is based on the word BaXefip'iovj in the MS. from Mount Athos, and on the title B aXepiov x (C P ta l UL ^ lK0L (ttlxoi prefixed to a fable “De Jove et Spe,” in the Harl. MS. Both are corruptions of B applov. Preface . xii home in Greek language and literature ; and at any rate was not desirous to pass for anything but a Greek. His knowledge of natural history, political institutions, mythology and geography, is all essen- tially Greek. He nowhere mentions Italy or Rome, or the lands to the west of the Mediterranean. Assuming then that he was a Greek, we have but scanty data for a decision as to the time when he flourished. The notion in Tyrwhitt’s day was that he lived at no long time prior to the Augustan age ; a view which Sir G. C. Lewis seems to have held when he wrote a paper in the Philological Museum (I. p. 282), but which later studies have induced him to alter. The Swiss editors, from supposed traces of the Alexandrine grammarians and poets in his verse and diction, are inclined to fix his date about the time of Bion and Moschus ; while Bergk, in a paper in the Class. Museum (III. 130), places it as far back as b.c. 250, a time at which Alexander, son of Craterus, was ruler over Euboea and Corinth. Lach- mann and Fixius each contend for other petty princes of a later date, in the Christian era. These Preface . xiii are but a few guesses out of a number sufficient to justify the adaptation of an old proverb, “ Quot critici, tot sententiae but Sir G. C. Lewis has relieved the question of a difficulty imported into it, by discredit- ing the hasty inference that the person addrest in Proem I , as <3 Bpa yyz tzkvov, is the same who in Proem II. is called a> irai fiaoikiioQ 'A\el;drcpov. At- tempts to fix what Alexander is meant, by connecting him with a son named Branchus, may well be deemed labour lost . 1 The natural inference is that in the First Proem, and elsewhere, Branchus, a son of the poet, is addressed, and that for his instruction the Fables were written ; but that the Second Proem of Part I. which was prefixed probably to a second edition, so to speak, of the whole Fables, was dedicated to a son of some prince or Emperor Alexander, to whom Babrius looked up as his patron. Sir G. C. Lewis favours the opinion of Boissonade i 1 See Proem I. v. i. Part ist ; Proem II. v. i. Part ist. And compare with these the Proem commencing the Second Part of the Fables, which begins fruovvov , c c ?ra t ; and also Fab. xxiv. v. 19. Part II. XIV Preface . that this Alexander was Alexander Severus (the date of whose death was a.d. 235), and as this is only conjecture, he brings in support of it several corrobo- rative circumstances, which tend greatly to establish a probability. In the first place, Babrius is cited by no earlier writer than Dositheus Magister, 1 a grammarian, who lived about 207 a.d., and in whose 'Epfirj rev para are two Fables of Babrius in Choliambic verse (F. 84, 129); which, if Dositheus himself introduced into his own work, will bring Babrius to a date not later than Sep- timius Severus, a.d. 207, or his son, Caracalla, to whom Alexander Severus claimed sonship. Again we may refer the words of Babrius in Proem II. Part I. (where the Poet traces the origin 1 Plutarch, Lucian, Athenaeus, are silent as to Babrius ; yet, had Babrius lived prior to the time of Augustus, some of his fables would probably have found their way into Plutarch : but when that writer does introduce fables of a common subject with t those of Babrius, he invariably follows another version. Phae- drus, too, boasting to be the first to transplant Greek fable into Latium, mentions ACsop alone, as furnishing his materials. It would follow that Babrius was unknown to Phaedrus, and Phae- drus probably lived in the time of Tiberius. Preface , xv of the “ Fable ” to Syria Antiqua, a view held by no other Greek writer), to a wish to flatter his assumed patron, Alexander Severus, who was born in Phoe- nicia. It is clear, too, that the Poet had some Asiatic connexion , 1 which might still farther account for his desire to please this prince, who was, moreover, an especial patron and student of Greek literature ; 2 nor need it be any stumbling-block that this Alexander is termed B cunXevg, seeing that Roman princes were so called by the Greeks. Those who are dissatisfied with this attempt to fix the date of Babrius, will find no traces of his Fables earlier than the Emperor Julian, a century or more later ; who, in his Epistle LIX, quotes a verse of the thirty-second Fable, v. i. without the author’s name. Tzetzes and Suidas, alone, the latest of the grammarians, quote much from Babrius, previous to the finding of the present MSS.; and all that we can 1 Thus he was familiar with the Arabs, Fab. 57, v. 12. The name, too, Branchus, indicates a connexion with Asia. So too, perhaps, does the dialect he uses, i.e . the Ionic. (See below.) 2 See Lamprid. vit. Alex. Sev. c. 27, 30. XVI Preface . arrive at, with any approximation to certainty, is, that Babrius lived between the close of the first century after Christ and the age of Julian. There was no Greek metrical version of the iEsopian Fables before that of Babrius. Socrates seems to have versified a Fable or two in elegiacs whilst in prison. Demetrius Phalereus published a collection, but that was in prose. When fables occur in Xenophon, Aristotle, Plutarch, and Lucian, they are narrated in the writer’s own words, not cited from any poet. Suidas gives fragments of fables in Elegiac or Heroic verse, but whence gathered is un- known. Callimachus would seem to have turned some ^Esopian Fables into Choliambics ; but Babrius claims the honour to himself, and says (Proem II. 9 — 12) that many imitators forthwith sprung up. His Fables were known in Greece before the age of Suidas and Tzetzes : and the prose collections of Maximus Planudes, and others in later days, have been mainly based on his version. Nor was it till after the revival of letters that the opinion obtained any credence, that the prose ^Esopian Fables were really those of Preface. XVII yEsop. Nothing could be more manifestly unsound. Even before Bentley, learned men pronounced them the offspring of later monks : not probably designed to be literary impostures, but rather entertaining paraphrases. In any wise the Fables of Babrius may claim to be the basis, or stock material, of all that comes down to our day under the name and credit of ^Esop. The nature of the present work, intended as it is for the general reader, precludes any extended re- marks upon the Choliambic Metre, in which the Fables of Babrius are written. Scholars will find the subject amply treated in the preface of Sir G. C. Lewis (pp. xv — xx). Suffice it here to say that a Choliambic (a lame, halt Iambic) differs from the Iambic Senarius in always having a spondee or trochee for its last foot : the fifth foot, to avoid slow- ness of metre, being generally an Iambic. Neither need more be said respecting the dialect of Babrius than that it is Ionic, but with great ap- proaches to the Attic dialect in later and more com- mon use. The Ionic was the dialect used by all b xviii Preface. Choliambic poets from the days of Hipponax and Ananius , 1 and it was therefore natural that Babrius should follow it, even if not, as seems possible, him- self connected with Ionia. A very interesting portion of Sir G. C. Lewis's preface is his analysis of the ^Lsopian Fable, with a view to establishing the indigenous Greek origin of this class of compositions from a consideration of its natural history. It seems to have been the peculiarity of the ^Esopian Fable to admit sometimes mere apologues (e.g. F. ii. xv.), sometimes conversations between gods and men (e.g. x. xx. xxx.) ; but chiefly to intro- duce brutes, or inanimate nature, as endowed with speech, for the inculcation of virtue, prudence, or political truth . 2 1 Hipponax was an Ionian, who flourished B.c. 540, and Ana- nius about the same period. See an account of them in Muller and Donaldson’s Hist. Gr. Lit. vol. i. pp. 188 — 91. 2 “In the yEsopean Fable the actions and business of men are the real and prominent object, while beasts are merely intro- duced as a veil or disguise. It is exclusively the invention of those who detected in the social habits of the lower animals points Preface . xix In Babrius, the chief interlocutors are the Lion and the Fox, especially the former, 1 who figures as the king of beasts with royal title and prero- gatives. And there is abundant proof that the lion was in the earliest ages a native of the Peloponese as well as of Northern Greece. The tiger never appears as a character in ^Esopian Fable, though incidentally mentioned once or twice by Babrius. (P. I. Fab. xcv. 17 — 19; cii. 7 — 9.) It was un- known in Greece until after the expedition of Alexander. The most ancient fable in which it is found bearing a part is that of Avianus (Fab. 17) in the fifth century. The spotted pard, which occurs once in Part II. lxxii. and incidentally in of resemblance with those of man ; and while they retained their real character in some respects, found means, by the introduction of reason and speech, to place them in the light required for their purpose. ” — Muller and Donaldson' s Gr. Lit. vol. i. 192. 1 A strong argument against the Roman origin of Babrius. There is no reason to believe that the lion ever existed in Italy, except when in the Imperial period he was imported from Africa for the combats of the Amphitheatre. See “Lion in Greece,” G. C. L. Notes and Queries, Vol. viii. p. 81, 2d Series. “Lion in Italy,’’ Ibid. p. 282. See also the Preface to Babrius, pp. xxii. xxiii. b 2 XX Preface . Part I. (Fab. cii. 8), is mentioned in Homer, and is a native of Arabia and Palestine. There seems to have been, even in later times, a constant con- fusion between the tiger and the leopard. Besides the domestic animals (the horse, ass, ox, goat, sheep, dog, and cat 1 ), we find the wolf and the stag, and occasionally the bear, introduced into these fables. The camel and the ape 2 appear more rarely, and the sow, as an unclean beast, more rarely stilL There are two instances of its introduction in the recently discovered portion of Babrius. (Cf. Part II. Fab. lxxiv. lxxv.) The elephant also only finds a place in Fable xli. of 1 The ancients did not distinguish accurately between aX\ovpos, “the cat,” and 7 aXri, “the weasel.” Cf. Fab. xvii. xxvii. xxxi. xxxii. cxxi. ; Part II. Fab. lxvii. The same confusion occurs in Latin between “mustela” and “feles.” Both annuals appear to have been kept by the ancients for the same object, to kill birds and mice. See Notes and Queries, 2d Series, Vol. viii. p. 261, &c. “Ancient Names of the Cat.” s The Camel, Part I. xL lxxx. ; Part II. lxxvii. The Ape, Part I. xxxv. lvi. ; Part II. xxiii. and lxxviii. In the second part we find the hedgehog, lxxiii., the flea in Fab. xcii. xciii. xdv., and even a more unpresentable insect is mentioned in Fab, lxxxvi Preface . xxi the second part. The cock, however, plays a very conspicuous part in the H^sopian Fahle. (Cf. v. xvii. cxxi. cxxiii. ; Part II. xvi.) This bird was a very early importation from Asia into Greece, though after the time of Homer. (Cf. Knight’s Proleg. to Horn. § 6.) On the whole, it may be affirmed that though Babrius occasionally mentions animals of foreign extraction, and known only to the later Greeks, yet he only or chiefly introduces those, as characters in his Fables, which are recognised by the earliest traditions of the uEsopian Fables : a strong argu- ment for the European origin of this class of fiction. The style of Babrius is justly described as easy, pure, and elegant. Neither, while it is far from being ornate, is it in any degree bald or meagre. He seems to have aimed at that simplicity and clearness which are most essential to the force and point of fable-literature. His plots are, generally, versified forms of the oral or traditional collections, purporting to be those of ^Esop. But he here and XXII Preface . there apparently introduces some of his own inven- tion, or some which are adapted from others. His epimyth, or moral, constantly differs from that of the parallel prose fable which has come down to us; a remark which suggests the question of the genuine- ness of these epimyths : into which, as regards Part I, Sir G. C. Lewis has carefully examined, in some MSS. notes, which he has kindly communicated to the translator — the results of which are subjoined. 1 It now remains that some notice should be taken of the second part of Babrius, edited in 1859 by Sir G. C. Lewis, from a transcript by M. Menas of a MS. on Mount Athos ; which, with the original of 1 He divides the epimyths of Part I. into three classes, the spurious, the doubtful, and the genuine, as follows : — Spurious . Fab. xiii. xxix. (v. 5) xxxiii. xxxviii. lii. lx. Ixxl lxxii. lxxxii. lxxxiv. lxxxv. (v. 20) xciv. (v. 10) xcvi. cvii. cxxix. Doubtful. Fab. xxi. xxiv. xxv. xliii. lvi. lxxxi. lxxxiii. Genuine. Fab. iv. v. ix. x. xi. xii. xiv. xviii. xxii. (v. 15) xxiii. xxix. (v. 6,) xxxi. xxxiv. xxxv. xxxvi. xl. xli. xliv. xlvii. 1. lix. lxiv. lxv. lxvi. lxvii. lxx. lxxiv. lxxxv. (v. 19) xciv. (v. 9) cxvi. In translation, these have generally been rendered, except in one or two instances, where it was difficult to make any sense of what was evidently spurious. It would not be difficult to arrange, under the three classes above, the epimyths of the second part. Preface. xxiii the copy from which the Parisian edition of 1844 was printed, was purchased by the Trustees of the British Museum, in 1857. It has come, to us in a very imperfect state, and far removed from its pris- tine form, both as to metre and diction. Yet ample marks and traces" of Babrius remain in both respects, traces which could not be the result of literary L fraud. It appears that at first there was consider- able suspicion of forgery with reference to this MS. But in the words of Sir G. C. Lewis, “the undesigned “ coincidences with the prose Fables are beyond the “ skill of any forger.” “ I have no doubt ” (he adds) “that the MS. of Menas was what it professed to “ be, namely, a copy from a genuine archetype.” Such is also the opinion of other scholars who at first doubted; and it is one which a comparison of the recovered Fables with the corresponding prose ver- sions will certainly strengthen and confirm. The second part of Babrius is edited by our English Editor, more briefly than the first. And there are very many sentences in its text, which critical skill can hardly remedy. To translate such XXIV Preface. is, perhaps, a matter of ingenuity, of which the translator trusts that he has not entirely fallen short ; though once or twice he has been obliged to omit a passage, of which he could make literally nothing. Jn both parts his great aim has been to produce a version which, while literal, should preserve, as far as lay in his power, the elegance and terse- ness of the original : a difficult task, in which he can at most hope to have achieved but partial success. It would be ungrateful, before committing the volume to the public, to omit testifying to the ready assistance and kindly encouragement to per- severe in a work, in some slight degree akin to his own, which he has received throughout from the distinguished scholar and statesman, who, among other titles, may claim that of being the English editor of Babrius. INDEX PART I. PAGE Proem 1 3 Proem II 4 I. The Archer and the Lion 5 II. The Husbandman who had lost his Mattock . . 6 III. The Goatherd and the She Goat 7 IV. The Fisherman and the Fish 8 V. The Young Cocks' 8 VI. The Fisherman and the Little Fish 9 VII. The Horse and the Ass 10 VIII. The Arab and the Camel 1 1 IX. The Fisherman Piping 12 X. The Female Slave and Venus 13 XI. The Man and the Fox 14 XII. The Nightingale and the Swallow ...... 15 XIII. The Husbandman and the Stork 16 XIV. The Bear and the Fox 17 XV. The Athenian and the Theban 18 XVI. The Wolf and the Nurse 19 XVII. The Cat and the Cock 20 XVIII. The North Wind and the Sun 20 XIX. The Fox and the Grapes 21 XX. The Carter and Hercules .22 XXVI Index . PAGE XXI. The Oxen and the Butchers 23 XXII. The Grizzled Man and his Two Sweethearts . 24 XXIII. The Drover that lost a Bull 25 XXIV. The Marriage of the Sun 26 XXV. The Hares and the Frogs 27 XXVI. The Farmer and the Cranes 2 8 XXVII. The Captured Weasel 29 XXVIII. The Ox and the Toad 29 XXIX. The Aged Horse 30 XXX. The Sculptor and Mercury 31 XXXI. The Cats and Mice 31 XXXII. The Cat and Venus 33 XXXIII. The Farmer and the Starlings 33 XXXIV. The Boy eating the Entrails ...... 3 5 XXXV. The Monkeys . 36 XXXVI. The Oak and the Reed 36 XXXVII. The Heifer and the Bull 37 XXXVIII. The Pine 38 XXXIX. The Dolphins and the Crab 39 XL. Omitted. XLI. The Lizard 39 XLII. The Dog and the Cook 40 XLIII. The Stag and the Hunters 40 XLIV. The Bulls and the Lion 42 XLV. The Goatherd and the Goats 42 XLVI. The Sick Stag 43 XL VII. The Old Farmer and his Sons 44 XLVIII. Omitted. XLIX. The Workman and Fortune * 45 L. The Fox and the Woodcutter 46 LI. The Widow and the Sheep 47 LIL The Driver and the Waggon 48 Index. xxvii PAGE LIII. The Wolf and the Fox 48 LIV. Omitted. LV. The Ox and the Ass 49 LVI. Jupiter and the Monkey 50 LVII. Mercury’s Wagon and the Arabs 51 LVIII. Jove’s Cask 52 LIX. Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva, and Momus . . . 52 LX. The Mouse that fell into the Pot 54 LXI. The Hunter and the Fisherman 54 LXII. The Mule 55 LXIII. The Hero (or Daemon) 56 LXIV. The Fir-tree and the Bramble 57 LXV. The Crane and the Peacock 58 LX VI. The M an with Two Wallets 58 LXVII. T.he Wild Ass and the Lion 59 LX VIII. Apollo and Jupiter 60 LXIX. The Hare and the Hound 61 LXX. The Marriages of the Gods 61 LXXI. The Husbandman and the Sea 62 LXXII. The Birds and the Jackdaw 63 LXXIII. The Kite 64 LXXIV. The Man, the Horse, the Ox, and the Dog . . 65 LXXV. The Unskilful Physician 66 LXXVI. The Knight and his Charger 67 LXXVII. The Fox and the Crow 68 LXXVIII. The Sick Crow 69 LXXIX. The Dog and the Shadow 70 LXXX. The Camel 70 LXXXI. The Fox and the Monkey 71 LXXXII. The Lion and the Fox 71 LXXXIII. The Horse and the Groom 72 LXXXI V. The Gnat and the Bull 73 xxviii Index . PAGE LXXXV. The Dogs and the Wolves 73 LXXXVI. The Swollen Fox 75 LXXXVII. The Dog and the Hare . , 76 LXXXVIII. The Lark and its Young 76 LXXXIX. The Wolf and the Lamb 78 XC. The Lion and the Fawn 79 XCI. The Bull and the Goat 79 XCII. The timid Hunter 80 XCIII. The Wolves and the Sheep 81 XCIV. The Wolf and the Heron 82 XCV. The Sick Lion 83 XCVI. The Wolf and the Young Ram 88 XCVII. The Lion and the Bull 88 XCVIII. The Lion Wooer 89 XCIX. The Wolf and the Dog ....... 90 C. The Lion and the Eagle 91 CI. The Wolf and the Fox 92 CII. The Lion ruling justly 92 CIII. The Sick Lion and the Wild Beasts . . . 93 CIV. The Dog bearing the Bell 95 CV. The Wolf and the Lion 95 CVI. The Gentle Lion 96 CVII. The Lion and the Mouse 98 CVIII. The Country Mouse and Town Mouse ... 99 CIX. The Crab and its Mother 101 CX. The Dog and his Master loi CXI. The Ass carrying Salt 102 CXII. The Mouse and the Bull . 103 CXIII. The Shepherd and the Dog 104 CXIV. The Lamp 104 CXV. The Tortoise and the Eagle 105 CXVI. The Husband and the Gallant . . . . .106 Index. xxix PAGE CXVII. The Man and Mercury 107 CXVIII. The Swallow that dwelt near the Judges . . 108 CXIX. The Image of Mercury 109 CXX. The Frog Physician no CXXI. The Hen and the Cat .110 CXXII. The Ass and the Wolf hi CXXJII. The Hen that laid Golden Eggs 112 CXXI V. The Traveller and Truth 113 CXXV. The Ass and the Lap-dog 114 CXXVI. The Playful Ass 116 CXX VII. The Fowler, Partridge, and Cock .... 116 CXX VIII. Jupiter the Judge 118 CXXIX. The Ant and the Grasshopper 119 Fragment I. The Sheep and Shepherd 120 PART II. I. Proem 123 II. The Lark burying its Father 124 III. VEsop in a Dockyard 125 IV. The Eagle and the Man 126 ~»V. The Goat and the Vine 127 VI. The Lion and the Man 127 VII. The Swan and the Goose 128 VIII. The Frogs 129 IX. The Frogs asking a King 130 X. The Archer and the Eagle . . . ... . . 132 XI. The Oxen and the Wagon . 133 XXX Index . PAGE XII. The Frogs 133 XIII. The Vagrant Priests of Cybele 134 XIV. The Husbandman and the Eagle . . . . . 136 XV. The Husbandman and Fortune 137 XVI. The Woman and her Maidservants .... 138 XVII. The Wizard Woman 139 XVIII. The Old Woman and the Doctor .... 140 XIX. The Dogs and the Fox 142 XX. The Dragon and the Eagle 143 XXI. The Bees and the Shepherd ...... 144 XXII. The Shipwreck’d Man and the Sea . . . '. 145 XXIII. The Fox and the Monkey 146 XXIV. Jupiter, Prometheus, Pallas, and Momus . . 147 XXV. The Trumpeter 148 XXVI. Hercules and Pallas 149 XXVII. Hercules and Plutus 150 XXVIII. The Apple-tree, Pomegranate, and Bramble . 15 1 XXIX. The Travellers and the Crow 152 XXX. The Kite and the Snake 153 XXXI. Lies and Truth 153 XXXII. The Lion and the Goat 156 XXXIII. The Crow and the Swan 157 XXXIV. The Dog and the Cockle 158 XXXV. The Bull, the Lioness, and the Wild Boar. . 158 XXXVI. The Gnat and the Lion 159 XXXVII. The Swallow and the Crow 160 XXXVIII. The Gull and the Kite 161 XXXIX. The Horse and the Stag 162 XL. The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox . . . . 163 XLI. The Lion, Prometheus, and the Elephant . . 165 XLII. The Peacock and the Crane . . . . . . 167 XLIII. The Wolf and the Ass 168 Index . XXXI PAGE XLIV. The Wolf and the Lion 169 XLV. The Wolf and the Sheep 170 XLVI. The Jackdaw and the Crows 1 7 1 XLVII. The Flies 172 XLVIII. The Moon and its Mother 172 XLIX. The Mouse and the Frog 173 L. The Spendthrift and the Swallow 174 LI. See Part I. 128 175 LII. See Part I. 124 175 LIII. The Sheep and the Dog. (See I. Fragment I.) 175 LIV. See Part I. 125 177 LV. The Ass and the Fox 177 LVI. The Ass wearing the Lion’s Skin 178 LVII. An Ass carrying an Image 179 LVIII. The Birdcatcher and the Lark 180 LIX. The Tail and Members of a Serpent . . . . 181 LX. The Farmer and the Serpent 182 LXI. The Boy hunting Locusts 183 LXII. The Young Thief and His Mother 184 LXIII. The Cockles . . 185 LXIV. Prometheus and Mankind. ....... 186 LXV. The Thirsty Pigeon 187 LX VI. The Man and the Partridge 188 LX VII. The Bat and the Cat 189 LX VIII. The Tortoise and the Hare 190 LXIX. The Rose and the Amaranth 19 1 LXX. The Sl|jjpherd and the Wolf 192 LXXI. The Olive and the Fig-tree 194 LXXII. The Pard and the Fox 195 LXXIII. The Fox and the Hedgehog 195 LXXIV. The Sow and the Bitch 197 LXXV. The Sow and the Bitch 197 xxxii Index . PAGE LXXVI. Goods and Evils 199 /_, LXXV, II. The Camel and Jupiter 200 LXXVIII. The Dancing Monkeys 200 LXXIX. The Fox and the Goat 201 LXXX. The Bees and Jupiter 203 LXXXI. The Son and the Father 204 LXXXII. The Wild Boar and the Fox 205 LXXXIII. The Lioness and the Beasts 206 LXXXIV. The Bald Rider 207 LXXXV. The Crane and the Fox 208 LXXXVI. The Husbandman and the Lice 209 LXXXVII. The Brazier and His Dog 210 LXXXVIII. The Husbandman and the Viper . . . . 21 1 LXXXIX. Winter and Spring 212 XC. The Swallows and the Swans 213 XCI. The Two Pots 216 XCII. The Flea and the Wrestler 217 XCIII. The Flea and the Man 218 XCIV. The Flea and the Ox 219 XCV. The Ass’s Shadow 220 Notes 221 ■n THE FABLES OF BABRIUS. B 9 ^ PROEM I. ^-pHE race of just men flourish’d first, of old ; Its name, son Branchus, was the “ age of gold.” Third after these was born a brazen race, And next the god-sprung heroes found their place ; Fifth came a stock depraved, an iron root. But ’twas the Golden age, when every brute Had voice articulate, in speech was skill’d, And the mid-forests with its synods fill’d. The tongues of rock and pine-leaf then were free ; To ship and sailor then would speak the sea ; Sparrows with farmers would shrewd talk maintain ; Earth gave all fruits, nor ask’d for toil again. Mortals and gods were wont to mix as friends. To which conclusion all the teaching tends Of sage old ./Esop ; him, to whom belong Fables set forth in free, outspoken song. These should a place in thy remembrance get ; Therefore for thee this honeycomb I set, Desirous, as I hive it, to assuage The harsh Iambic’s bitterness and rage. B 2 4 The Fables of Babrius „ PROEM IL The Fable, royal Alexander’s son ! Is a device by Syrians old begun. Belus and Ninus ruled, when it was young. And clever ^Esop to th’ Hellenic tongue Gave fables first. The like Cybisas spake To Libyans. I, in mine, old forms forsake, And, with gold cheek-piece bitting fiery horse, Commend my mythiambic to the course. Yet I no sooner had unbarr’d the door, Than others enter’d. Theirs the Muse to soar In griffin-like productions, over-wise ; Tho’ past mine own their knowledge doth not rise. Now I in simple speech my fables set, Nor care the famed Iambic’s teeth to whet. Rather to dull their edge, to soothe their stings, Aims he, who now this second volume sings. FABLE I. THE ARCHER AND THE LION. (p. F. 403.) A skilful archer the hill country sought, Intent on sport. His coming quickly brought To every wild beast fear and headlong flight. The lion only tarried to invite The archer’s onslaught. “ Haste not ! Prythee stay,” The stranger said ; “ nor hope to win the day. “ Learn from mine envoy, whom you soon shall meet, “ Your wisest plan.” Forth sped his arrow fleet From no great distance ; and was buried deep In the beast’s flank. Afraid his post to keep The wounded lion straight essay’d to fly To where the lonesome woodland thickets lie. But, lo ! a fox was standing at his side, Who urg’d him still the archer’s shafts to bide. “ Not so !” the lion said ; “ beguile not me 1 “ Yon envoy came but now so bitterly, “ That doubly fierce his master needs must be.” 6 The Fables of Bahrius . II. THE HUSBANDMAN WHO HAD LOST HIS MATTOCK. Trenching his vineyard once a husbandman His mattock lost ; and to inquire began. If it had gone by any workman's theft. But each denied. When no resource was left. To put them on their oaths, he took them all Up to the city. ’Tis our wont to call The country gods poor folks : but those who dwell In walls, we deem, are true, and order well. Now in a fountain in the foregate street The party stay’d to rest, and wash’d their feet. Just then the crier rich rewards was telling To him who’d show who robb’d the sacred dwelling. The farmer heard, and said, “ My journey's vain 1 (C If the god knows not, who has robbed his fane, u And but from men, for bribes, the news receives, “ How can he know, or find out, other thieves \ ” The Fables of Bab rius. 7 III. THE GOATHERD AND THE SHE GOAT (p. F. 17.) A goatherd wish’d to gather home his flock ; Some came ; some tarried ; on a cleft of rock The fragrant shoots of mastich and goatsrue One she-goat into disobedience drew. Quickly the hireling lifted up a stone, Which brake her horn, tho’ from a distance thrown. And now he sued her : “ Goat and fellow-slave, “ By Pan, the patron of these glens, I crave, “ Do not thou to my lord this act proclaim, “ I meant not that the stone should take good aim." “ Nay, how,” said she, “ a plain fact can I hide ] “ My horn is telltale, tho’ my tongue be tied." 8 The Fables of Babrius. IV. THE FISHERMAN AND THE FISH. (P. F. 2 6.) His late-cast net ashore a fisher drew, Enclosing fish, not all alike nor few ; The smaller, taking flight, contrived to get Safe through the bottom of the meshy net, Whilst in the ship the greater emptied lay. ’Tis surely safe, and farthest from harm's way, To be but small : for you shall seldom see The high in rank escape calamity. V. THE YOUNG COCKS. (p. F. 21.) Two Tanagraean cocks a fight began ; Their spirit is, ’tis said, as that of man ; Of these the beaten bird, a mass of blows, For shame into a corner creeping goes ; The Fables of Babrius. The other to the housetop quickly flew, And there in triumph flapp’d his wings, and crew. But him an eagle lifted from the roof, And bore away. His fellow gain’d a proof That oft the wages of defeat are best, None else remain’d the hens to interest. Wherefore, O man, beware of boastfulness, Should fortune lift thee, others to depress, > Many are saved by lack of her caress. VI. THE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH. (p. F. 28.) A fisherman, who all the seashore drain’d, While he with slender rod sweet life maintain’d, Once caught with horsehair line a tiny fish, Ill-suited for the frying-pan or dish. The gasping fish its captor thus besought : “ What am I worth ? For what shall I be bought \ 10 The Fables of Babrius. “ I’m not half-grown ! whom on yon rocky shore “ My mother in the sea-weed lately bore. “ Now let me go ; oh, kill me not in vain, “ And you shall catch me when you come again, “ On sea-weed food ere then grown large and fine, “ And meet to grace a board, where rich men dine .’ 7 As thus she prayed, she raised a piteous moan And panted much ; but the old man was stone. Vain was her hope with winning words to plead ; He said, while piercing her with ruthless reed : “ Who holds not fast a small but certain prize, “ Is but a fool, to seek uncertainties.” VII. THE HORSE AND THE ASS. (p. f. 177.) A man, who kept a horse, along the way Unladen used to lead him, and to lay His burden on an aged ass, who groaned, And coming to the horse his fate bemoaned. The Fables of Babrius . “ Wouldst thou but share my load, I might survive, Said he, “ but else I sha’n’t be long alive/ 7 “ Move on,” the other cried ; “ don’t worry me ! ” The ass crept on reproved ; and presently Sank under toil, and died as he had said ; His master therefore set the horse instead Beside him, shifted all the weight, and laid This and the ass’s skin, when it was flay’d, With all its trappings, on the horse’s back : He cried, “ Ah, ill advised ! alack, alack ! “ I would not bear a part, however small j “ And now constraint hath laid upon me all/’ VIII THE ARAB AND THE CAMEL, (p. f. 68 . ) An Arab, having heap’d his camel’s back, Ask’d if he chose to take the upward track Or downward ; and the beast had sense to say, “ Am I cut off then from the level way % ” 12 The Fables of Babrius. IX. THE FISHERMAN PIPING. (P. F. 27.) A fisher play’d the pipes with wondrous skill, And hoping shoals of fish, of their own will, Would to the sweet sound of his piping throng, Let down his net, and piped a tuneful song. But when his breath was spent, his piping nought, He cast again, and fish in numbers caught. These panting here and there ashore he spied, And, as he wash’d his net, thus sharply cried : “ Dance without music now ! Had ye been wise, “ Ye had before danced to my melodies.” Indifference is oft a losing game ; But when you catch the prize, at which you aim, Then is your time to ridicule and blame. J The Fables of Babrius. i3 X. THE FEMALE SLAVE AND VENDS. A man, enamour’d of his ugly slave, An arrant slut, to her for asking gave Whate’er she would. Hence, as more gauds she wins, And trails fine purple o’er her slattern shins, At wife and mistress she defiance flings ; But Venus, as the cause of these good things, With lamps she fain would honour, and each day Make offering, supplicate, pay vows, and pray ; Till to her came the goddess, in her sleep, And, while the house was hush’d in slumber deep, Said, “ Thank me not, as tho’ I’d made thee fair ; “ To him that thinks thee so, a hate I bear.” Whoso in what is foul can beauty find, Is surely God-abhorr’d, and halt in mind. *4 The Fables of Babrius . XI. THE MAN AND THE FOX . ( p . f . 6 1.) A man, that on his vines 7 and orchards 7 foe, The fox, a strange affront design'd to throw, Bandag’d its tail with tow, applied a light, And sent it forth. Now Heaven’s just oversight Led the flame-bearer to its captor’s fields ; It was the time for crops, when harvest yields A hopeful prospect of abundant share ; The man pursued, deploring wasted care ; And Ceres did not bless his threshing-floor. One should be meek, and ne’er be vexed sore. Anger a vengeance worth avoidance hath, That bringeth damage to the quick-to-wrath. The Fables of Babrius. i5 XII. THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE SWALLOW. (P. F. 10.) Far from men’s fields the swallow forth had flown, When she espied amid the woodlands lone The nightingale, sweet songstress. Her lament Was Itys to his doom untimely sent. Each knew the other through the mournful strain, Flew to embrace, and in sweet talk remain. Then said the swallow, “ Dearest, liv’st thou still ? a Ne’er have I seen thee, since thy Thracian ill. “ Some cruel fate hath ever come between ; “ Our virgin lives till now apart have been. “ Come to the fields : revisit homes of men : “ Come dwell with me, a comrade dear, again, “ Where thou shalt charm the swains, no savage brood “ Dwell near men’s haunts, and quit the open wood : “ One roof, one chamber, sure, can house the two, Or dost prefer the nightly frozen dew, 1 6 The Fables of Babrius. a And day-god’s heat h a wild-wood life and drear 1 “ Come, clever songstress, to the light more near.” To whom the sweet-voiced nightingale replied : “ Still on these lonesome ridges let me bide ; “ Nor seek to part me from the mountain glen ; “ I shun, since Athens, man, and haunts of men ; “To mix with them, their dwelling place to view, “ Stirs up old grief, and opens woes anew.” Some consolation for an evil lot Lies in wise words, in song, in crowds forgot. But sore the pang, when, where you once were great, Again men see you, housed in mean estate. XIII. THE HUSBANDMAN AND THE STORK . (P. F. IOO.) Thin nets a farmer o’er his furrows spread, And caught the cranes that on his tillage fed : And him a limping stork began to pray, Who fell with them into the farmer’s way : The Fables of Babrius. i7 “ I am no crane : I don’t consume the grain : “ That I’m a stork is from my colour plain ; “ A stork, than which no better bird doth live : “ I to my father aid and succour give.” The man replied : “ Good stork, I cannot tell “ Your ways of life : but this I know full well, “ I caught you with the spoilers of my seed : “ With them, with whom I found you, you must bleed.” Walk with the bad, and hate will be as strong ’Gainst you as them, e’en though you no man wrong. XIV. THE BEAR AND THE FOX. (p. F. 69.) A bear for man was boasting fondness rare, Whose corpse, he urged, he was not wont to tear. To whom quoth Reynard, “Were the choice my own, “ You should tear corpses, but let life alone ; “ Let none that hurt my life, my death bemoan.” c 1 8 The Fables of Babrius. XV. THE A THENIAN AND THE THEBAN. (P. F. 50.) A Theban and Athenian took one road, And thence, no marvel, conversation flow’d. They came to speak of heroes, in their walk, And, after other long and needless talk, The Theban fain Alcmena’s son would prove Greatest of men, and now of gods above. TIT Athenian argued, that far nobler fate Was that of Theseus, so divine his state, Compared with Herc’les and his servile lot : And soon the wordy talker victory got. The other, Theban-like, in words outmatch’d, Thus, with rough wit, the argument despatch’d : “ There : you prevail ! So then may we displease “ Theseus : and you Athenians Hercules !” The Fables of Babrius. i XVI. THE WOLF AND THE NURSE. (P. F. 275.) A country nurse, to fright her babe to peace, Said, “ Wolf shall have thee, or thy cries must cease. The wolf overheard, believed the scolding crone, And stay’d in hopes to find the feast his own. But evening came ; the babe was hush’d to rest : The wolf still gaped, with rav’ning hunger prest. At last his hopes to utter dulness grew : Then to his anxious helpmate he withdrew. “ How cam’st thou empty V 9 said she. He replied, “ Because upon a female I relied.” 20 The Fables of Babrius. XVII. THE CAT AND THE COCK. (p. f. 15.) A cat that ambush’d for some house-birds lay, Swung itself, baglike, from a peg one day. ’Twas seen by a sagacious shrewd-tongued cock, Which shrilly thus began the cat to mock ; “Full many bags I’ve noticed heretofore : “ But none the grinders of a live cat bore.” XVIII. THE NORTH WIND AND THE SUN (p. f. 82.) Betwixt the North wind and the Sun arose A contest, which would soonest of his clothes Strip a wayfaring clown, so runs the tale. First Boreas blows an almost Thracian gale, Thinking perforce to steal the man’s capote r He loos’d it not : but as the cold wind smote The Fables of Babrius . 21 More sharply, tighter round him drew the folds, And sheltered by a crag his station holds. But now the Sun at first peer’d gently forth, And thaw’d the chills of the uncanny north ; Then in their turn his beams more amply plied, Till sudden heat the clown’s endurance tried : Stripping himself, away his cloak he flung : The Sun from Boreas thus a triumph wrung. The fable means, “ My son, at mildness aim : Persuasion more results than force may claim.” XIX. THE FOX AND THE GRAPES. (p. F- 33*) There hung some bunches of the purple grape On a hill-side. A cunning fox, agape For these full clusters, many times essay’d To cull their dark bloom, many vain leaps made. 22 The Fables of Babrius. They were quite ripe, and for the vintage fit ; But when his leaps did not avail a whit, He journey’d on, and thus his grief composed : “ The bunch was sour, not ripe, as I supposed.” XX. THE CARTER AND HERCULES. (p. F. 81.) A carter from the village drove his wain : And when it fell into a rugged lane, Inactive stood, nor lent a helping hand ; But to that God, whom of the heavenly band He really honour’d most, Alcides, pray’d : “ Push at your wheels,” the God appearing said, “ And goad your team ; but, when you pray again, “ Help yourself likewise, or you’ll pray in vain.” The Fables of Babrius . 2 XXL THE OXEN AND THE BUTCHERS. (p. f. 80. ) Some oxen wish’d the butcher tribe to kill, Who boasted a to them destructive skill. But when they met, and now for direful fray Whetted their horns, an ox of ancient day Among them, who for years had borne the plough, Said, “ These at least have hands experienced, how “ To kill and carve us, not to hack and hew : “ But if we chance on men to slaughter new, “ We shall die twice. One will not lack to fell “ The ox, but one perhaps to do it well.” A man in haste from present woes to flee Should see his path from worse disaster free. 24 The Fables of Babrius. XXII. THE GRIZZLED MAN AND HIS TWO SWEET- HEARTS. (p. f. 56.) A man on whom mid-age its mark had set, — He was no longer young, nor old as yet, — Was wont to brush his black hair mixt with grey, And then in Love’s sweet revels spend his day. He wooed two loves, a young one and an old ; The young one was desirous to behold Her lover youthful. Age would mate with age. Hence evermore the damsel strove to wage War against each grey hair she chanc’d to find : The elder tried to leave no black behind ; Till each in turn, by plucking out his hair, Young love and old, had left him bald and bare. Woe worth the man entrapp’d by woman’s lure, For such are ever pluck’d and stripp’d, be sure. The Fables of Babrius. XXIII. THE DROVER THAT LOST A BULL. (p. F. 83.) To a far forest for a bull that stray’d, A well-horn’d beast, a drover quest had made. Then to the mountain nymphs and gods around, Hermes and Pan, he sware, in case he found The thief, a lamb should fall a sacrifice. Crossing a hill, his noble bull he spies Feasting a lion. Then he vows in grief, To add an ox, if he escape the thief. Hence, it would seem, this lesson we are taught, Not to uplift a vow devoid of thought, By instant trouble’s pressure overwrought. 26 The Fables of Babrius . XXIV. THE MARK I AGE OF THE SUN. (p. f. 77.) The Sun’s espousals were at summer’s prime, Hence all the beasts enjoy’d a jovial time. The frogs too led the dance in marsh and mere, Till a toad check’d them, saying, “ Nought is here “ To call for joy, but rather grief and moan, “ For if he dries each spring, while yet alone, “ How by this union are we not undone, “ If like himself he should beget a son ? ” Many o’er trifles needlessly exult, From which too often sorrow will result The Fables of Babrius . 27 XXV, THE HATES AND THE FROGS. (p. f. 237.} To end their days the hares made up their mind, And since they were of beasts the feeblest kind, Timid of heart, and dull in all but flight, To hide themselves in some dark pool from light. But as to a broad swamp they drew more near, Upon its margin hosts of frogs appear, Which into slimy depths affrighted leap. As the hares paused, one said, “ Your courage keep. ^ “ Let us return ! To die we need not seek, > “ For here are others than ourselves more weak,” 28 The Fables of Babrius. XXVI. THE FARMER AND THE CRANES. ( p . F. 93.) A farmer’s land, fresh sown with wheaten grain, Was being wasted by the hurtful crane. Long did the farmer lift an empty sling, By fear alone their troop discomfiting. But when they found he only smote the air, To fly at his approach they did not care : * •*» Till he no longer made a feint to throw. But laid with stones the greater number low. Quitting the corn, the rest began to cry, “ Come, to the land of pygmies let us fly. “ This man, it seems, content no more with fright, “ Is now beginning to put forth his might.” The Fables of Babrius. 2 9 XXVII. THE CAPTURED WEASEL. (p. f. 89.) A man had trapp’d a weasel, which to drown, He in a water-vessel tied it down. But when she said, “ How shamefully my aid In catching mice and lizards have you paid ! ” “I own the debt,” cried he; “but did not you “ Stifle each bird, and rob each dwelling too, “ And empty every meat-pot ? You shall die ! “ For I’m more hurt than profited thereby.” XXVIII. THE OX A HD THE TOAD. (P. F. 84.) An ox at water once a toadling crush’d, Whose dam, then absent, quickly homeward rush’d, And question’d all its brethren where it was : “ Mother, ’tis dead. Before its time, alas, 30 The Fables of Babrius . “ Beneath the hoof of a huge quadruped “ ’Twas trampled down ! ” “ Was it as large,” she said, “ As this ? ” She tried her proper size to strain. “ Mother,” cried they, “ forbear ! nor fume in vain. “ You’ll rend yourself in sunder, ere you rise, “ Howe er you ape it, to that monster’s size.” XXIX. THE AGED HORSE . (p. f. 174.) Once an old horse was sold to work the mill : And yok’d each eve a grinder’s task to fill. At last it groan’d and said : “ What courses past, “ Round what strange millers’ turns I wheel at last !” Be not too much with fortune’s hopes elate : Age ends for many in a troubled state. The Fables of Babrius. 3 l XXX. THE SCULPTOR AND MERCURY. \ (p. f. 265.) A man had wrought a Mercury for sale In marble. Would-be buyers did not fail. One for a pillar (he’d just lost a son) To buy it wish’d, for a god’s statue one. Night came : yet it the sculptor had not sold. So he agreed at morn again t’ unfold The statue, if they’d come. In slumber deep He gazed on Hermes at the gates of sleep, Who said, “ Good measure of my worth you take, “ Since god or corpse of me you mean to make.” XXXI. THE CA TS AND MICE . (P. F. 291.) Between the cats and mice of old there raged A truceless war : a feud no blood assuaged. The cats were victors. And the vanquished mice Deem’d this the cause, and this their army’s vice, 32 The Fables of Babrius . A lack of leaders of distinguisht front, And discipline, to meet the battle’s brunt. Then chose they mice for rank, might, counsel, famed, And, as to prowess, more than all unblamed. Who marshalling their squadrons soon devise A mimic phalanx, troops, and companies. Now, all array’d and marshall’ d, forth there stood A mouse, and challenged all the feline brood. Thin straws from mud walls every chief had bound Before his brows. Beheld of all around, They took the lead, the foremost of the host : Alas ! again the mice the day have lost. Safe to their holes the undistinguish’d fled : But for each vainly-ornamented head The narrow entrance proved, alack, too small : Alone outside were ta'en the heroes all. Meetly o’er them the foe a trophy set : For each mouse-chief a feline captor met. Our fable’s moral is, that safety lies Less in high rank than that which most despise. The Fables of Babrius. 33 XXXII. THE CAT AND VENDS. (p. F. 88.) J A cat, that loved a handsome man, was blest By the Loves’ mother granting her request : To change her shape permission Venus gave For lovely woman’s : such who would not rave Unless he won ? ’Twas now the man’s to bend To love and marriage. At the banquet’s end A mouse ran past. Down the deep couch’s side Intent upon its capture sprang the bride. The nuptials ceased. Love vanish’d from among His mocking sports. For nature was too strong. XXXIII. THE FARMER AND THE STARLINGS. (P. F. 99.) The Pleiads set, ’twas time to cast the seed : A farmer sow’d his fallow : then took heed To watch and guard it ; for a countless host Of black and croaking daws had o’er it cross’d, D 34 The Fables of Babrius . And starlings, bent the tillage to destroy. With empty sling there follow’d him a boy. Now with the starlings ’twas the usual thing, To list the farmer calling for his sling ; And fly ere he discharged it. Hence he sought A new device, and thus the stripling taught To act. “ My lad, since we must needs outwit “ This clever race of birds, a plan I’ve hit. " So when they come, and I for bread shall ask, “ To hand the sling, not bread, will be your task.” The starlings came, and on the tillage fed ; And he, as was agreed on, ask’d for bread. They did not fly. The lad supplied the stones And sling. The old man aim’d and brake the bones Of many a starling : shoulders, crowns, and shins : Till from his land the remnant flight begins. Some cranes that met them ask’d them “how they fare ? ” Then said a daw : “ Of base mankind beware ! “ Each speaks to other, words unlike his deeds.” Dread is the race that but by guile succeeds. The Fables of Babrius. 35 XXXIV. THE BOY EATING THE ENTRAILS. (P. F. 348.) What time with vineboughs men the broad-floor strew, A bull to Ceres once the rustics slew. Tables of meat and casks of wine were there ; But one poor lad had gorged too large a share Of the bull’s entrails. Swoln he homeward hies, And sore bewails his stomach’s weight and size. Once in his mother’s arms, “ Alas ! ” cried he. “ What is’t % ” she said. “ Oh, all is o’er with me ! “ My wretched fate is present death, no doubt ; “ For, mother, see, my bowels gushing out.” “ Don’t try to keep it down !” the dame replied ; “ ’Tis not your own, dear ! but the bull’s, inside ! ” So when an orphan’s substance guardians spend, And retribution comes to faithless friend, To such, deep-groaning at disgorging hour, Methinks this fable one might quote with power. d 2 36 The Fables of Babrius. XXXV. THE MONKEYS. (p. F. 366.) Twins at each birth the female monkey bears, Yet gives not them her love in equal shares. For, by her illstarr’d fondness one opprest Is kill’d with kindness in her rugged breast. The other as a useless idiot thrown Adrift, an outcast, thrives when left alone. Men’s natures oft are such, that friendliness Iti them than hate is to be chosen less. XXXVI. THE OAK AND THE REED. (p. F. 179.) A mountain-wind tore from its roots an oak, A wondrous old-world plant, with sweeping stroke ; And lodg’d it in a stream, where to and fro The eddies sway’d it. Close beside there grow The Fables of Babrius. 37 Upon the bank, by rippling water fed, Unnumber’d reeds. “ ’Twas strange,” the stout oak said, “ That plants so frail and feeble did not fall, “ While giant oaks are riven up roots and all.” Sagely the reed made answer : “ Marvel not : “ Through struggling with the blasts, a fall you got : “ If but our slender tops the light breeze fill, “ We meekly bend us with a yielding will.” So spake the reed. Our fable, look you, shows ’Tis best to bow to might, and not t’ oppose. XXXVII. THE HEIFER AND THE BULL. (p. F. 1 13.) A heifer yet unbroken, roaming free, A bull hard-work’d in ploughing chanced to see ; And said, “ Poor wretch, how grievous is thy toil !” Nought said the bull, but still upturn’d the soil. 38 The Fables of Babrius. Soon, when the rustics held their solemn feast, The aged bull to pasture went released ; But ropes that bound its horns the heifer drew, That it with blood the altar might bedew. To whom this sentence then the elder spoke : “ ’Twas for this end they kept thee from the yoke. “ Young before old, thou dost the altar deck ; “ The axe, and not the yoke, will bruise thy neck.” XXXVIII. THE PINE . (p. f. 123.) Some woodmen, bent a forest pine to split, Into each fissure sundry wedges fit, To keep the void, and render work more light. Out groan’d the pine, “ Why should I vent my spite “ Against the axe, which never touch’d my root, “ So much as these curst wedges, mine own fruit ; “ Which rend me through, inserted here and there !” The Fables of Babrius. 39 A fable this, intended to declare, That not so dreadful is a stranger's blow, As wrongs which men receive from those they know. XXXIX. THE DOLPHINS AND THE CRAB . (p. f. 116.) ’Twixt whales and dolphins there was difference great : And to them came a crab to mediate. Just as, in states, if one of small renown Should act peacemaker for each rival crown. XLI. THE LIZARD. (p. F. 388.) ’Tis said a lizard burst its back in twain In vain attempts a dragon’s size t’ attain. Hurt to thyself will be thy certain fate, If men far higher thou shouldst imitate. 40 The Fables of Babrius. XLII. THE DOG AND THE COOK. (P. F. 62.) High feast a-cit was holding, at the end Of sacrifice. His house-dog ask’d a friend, Whom he had met, to come and share his meal. He came. The cook upraised him by the heel And toss’d him o’er the wall into the street. Whom when each dog did with the question greet, “ What chee; 1 ” he said, “ What more could be desired, “ When I scarce know by what way I retired ? ” XLIII. THE STAG AND THE HUNTERS. (P. F. 128.) An antler’ d stag, athirst in midday heat, Drank of a silent pool beneath his feet. At these and at his hoofs he felt disdain, As the clear stream reflected them again. The Fables of Babrius. 4i Not thus his horns with swelling heart he eyed ; But Nemesis was near, to chasten pride. For soon a train of huntsmen fill’d the ground, With ample nets and keenly-scenting hound. He saw and fled, nor stay’d to quench his thirst, And with fleet foot across the champain burst. A thickly-tangled wood at last he gain’d, And found his antlers in its boughs detain’d. “ Mistaken wretch ! ” he cried, “ with scorn to treat, “ In pride of treacherous horns, my saving feet ; “ Had those been true, these had secured retreat.” When you on your affairs deliberate, Hold nought beforehand in a certain state. Yet cast off nought as hopeless in disgust, Our greatest traitors oft are hopes we trust. 42 The Fables of Babrius. XLIV. THE BULLS AND THE LION. s (P. F. 394.) Three bulls together in one pasture grazed : Of seizing these a lion’s hopes were raised. He thought their union all his aims would foil, So with deep-festering slanders to embroil The friends he bent his mind. Asunder they Became, in turns, the lion’s easy prey. If thou wouldst live securely to the end; Distrust a foe, but hold thou fast a friend. XLV. THE GOATHERD AND THE GOATS. (P. F. 12.) Twas snowy weather : and a goatherd led Into a cave, he deem’d untenanted, His goats, all-white with snow descending thick But thither, as he found, had come more quick The Fables of Babnus, 43 Some horned wild goats* a far larger stock* And finer, too, than his accustom’d flock. Green shoots to them he soon began to fling : But to his own let tedious famine cling ; Till, when the sky grew clear, he found them dead. Meanwhile the wild goats hurried off to tread The trackless thickets of unpastured heights. Hence ridicule upon the goatherd lights, Returning goat-less. Seeking prizes new, He lost the profit of his old one too. XL VI. THE SICK STAG, (p. F. 131.) A stag, whose lissome joints grew stiff, had made A grassy couch outside a woodland shade. Hence ample fodder to his need he found. Till soon, to see their neighbour, gathered round Whole tribes of beasts ; (a right good neighbour he !) Each came, and each with his supplies made free 44 The Fables of Babrins. By thoughtless nibbling, ere it sought the wood. Thus sank, not by disease, but want of food, A stag that scarce had yet two crow-lives told : Had he lack'd friends, he haply had died old ! XLVII. THE OLD FARMER AND HIS SONS. (p. F. 103.) Among old worthies lived an ancient man With many sons : and since his life began To wane at last, that truth might so be taught, He bade that there should be before him brought A bundle of thin rods. ’Twas soon at hand. “ Now use,” said he, “ the strength you each command, “ To break the sticks, my sons, thus closely bound.” “ Well,” he rejoined, when force in vain was found, “ Then take them one by one.” Each broke with ease. “ E’en thus,” he cried, “ my children, if ye please “ To live in union, none have power to mar “ Your bond of strength, e’en though superior far. The Fables of Babrius. 45 “ But if ’twixt brothers’ hearts exists a breach, “ The single rod pourtrays the fate of each.” Love between brothers is man’s best of gifts, And oft the humble to high fortune lifts. XLIX. THE WORKMAN AND* FOR TUNE. ((p. f. 316.) Close to a well a workman slept one night, Unwittingly. But Fortune met his sight. He seem’d to hear ; “ What ho, there, sirrah, wake ! “ Lest of thy tumble I the blame should take “ Among mankind, and earn an uglier name : “ For each man’s trips and haps I bear the blame, “ Howe’er his own the fault, ’tis just the same.” 4 6 The Fables of Babrius. L, THE FOX AND THE WOODCUTTER. (p- f. 35-) Hard on a fox a hunter in full chase Was pressing. Reynard, needing breathing-space, Spying a woodman, cried, “ By those who save, “ ’Neath yonder just-fell’d poplars let me crave “ A shelter. To the field betray me not.” The woodman sware. The fox a shelter got. The hunter came, and of the man would know, “ Did the fox enter there, or onward go i” Said he, “ I saw not but his finger showed Meanwhile to reynard’s hiding-place the road. In haste at once the hunter passing on Believed the words. Her hottest danger gone, Our fox began from out the poplar-heap With fawning tail, but spiteful grin, to peep. The old man said, “ You owe your life to me. “ ’Twas I from risk of capture set you free ; The Fables of Babrius . 47 “ Be grateful therefore.” “ To be sure,” she cried, “ For the vast help, I saw your acts supplied. “ Farewell ! The Oath-god will exact his due. “ If your voice saved me, yet your finger slew.” Let none (Heaven's purpose errs not) think to flee The sure deserts of secret perjury. LI. THE WIDOW AND THE SHEEP. (p. f. 382.) A widow kept at home a single sheep : Out of whose fleece a larger gain to reap She clipp’d it rudely, press’d the shears too near Its flesh, and kept them not from wounding clear. The smarting sheep cried : “ Do not torture me, “ My blood in weight will small addition be. “ Nay, mistress, nay ! My flesh if you require, “To kill me quick, a practis’d butcher hire. “ But if ’tis fleece and wool, not flesh, you need, “ Shearers will shear me, yet not make me bleed.” 48 The Fables of Babrius . LII. THE DRIVER AND THE WAGGON (p. F. 79.) Strong bulls to town upon their shoulders drew A four-wheel’d wain. Its creakings were not few. Then was the driver wroth ; and drawing near, He spoke so plain, it could not choose but hear. “ Thou worst of goods, will not thy groaning cease, “ Though they whose shoulders draw thee, hold their peace ? ” It is a base man’s way, to raise a moan, As if the toil of others were his own ! LIII. THE WOLF AND THE FOX. (P. F. 271.) A hapless fox fell in a wild wolfs way, And pray’d him her old life to spare, not slay. “ I will, by Pan, I will ; ” the wolf replied, “ If in thy next three words thou hast not lied.’ 7 The Fables of Babrius. 49 “ Well : first then,” said she, “ would we had not met ! “Next, that a blind wolf had my path beset ! “ And, third and last,” she added, “ go for ever ! “ I trust from this day forth to meet thee never ! ” LV, THE OX AND THE ASS. (P. F. IO4.) With a she-ass, best shift his means allow’d, A tiller yoked his only ox, and plough’d. When these he was preparing to unyoke, Their work being over, thus the ass bespoke The ox : “ Who carries home the old man’s gear ? ” “ The beast whose wont it is,” said he, “ ’tis clear.” E 5o The Fables of Babrius. LVI. JUPITER AND THE MONKEY. A baby-show with prizes Jove decreed For all the beasts, and gave the choice due heed. A monkey-mother came among the rest ; A naked, snub-nosed pug upon her breast She bore, in mother’s fashion. At the sight Assembled gods were moved to laugh outright. Said she, “ Jove knoweth where his prize will fall “ I know, my child’s the beauty of them all.” This Fable will a general law attest, That each one deems that what’s his own, is best. The Fables of Babrius . 5 * LVII. MERCURY'S WAGON AND THE ARABS . (P. F. 141.) Hermes had laden once a cart with lies, And much deceit, and divers villanies. This he essay'd to drive from race to race, Passing near every nation’s dwelling-place, And giving each a share. He came at last To the Arabian land. As this he passed, Down brake his wagon suddenly, 'tis said, And stuck. The Arabs, eager for a raid, And hoping here a merchant’s precious load, Rifled the wain, nor sent it on its road To other tribes beyond them. Hence I find That false and knavish is each Arab’s mind. And, as experience proves, to Arab tongue No particle of truth hath ever hung. e 2 52 The Fables of Babnus . LVIIL JOVE'S CASK. Jove in a cask all blessings pack’d and hid, A charge for man : but first secured the lid. Unbridled man, ago g to scan the gift And its contents, essay’d the top to lift. Releas’d, each blessing mounted to the sky And would not bide below, when free to fly. Hope only tarried. Her the lid secured, When closed at last. And thus hath Hope endured In human homes. In her sole form we see Earnest of all the goods, that then did flee. LIX. JUPITER, NEPTUNE, MINERVA, AND MOMUS. (p- f- 15 50 Pallas, ’tis said, with Neptune and with Jove, Which should create a thing most perfect, strove. The Fables of Babrius. 53 Jove makes the choicest of created things, A man. A dwelling to him Pallas brings : Neptune a bull. They gave the umpire’s post To Momus : Heaven as yet he had not lost. And he, as was his nature, hating all, At blaming the bull’s horns to work must fall, Because they were not set beneath his eyes, For then he’d see to strike. Man lost the prize, Because not open was his breast, but closed, Else each would see his neighbour’s plans exposed : He blamed the house, because no wheels were made Of iron at its base ; that it, convey’d To other climes might pass with roving lord. What purports then to us the Fable’s word ? Prefer not thou to carp : but strive to do. Momus will nought in pleasant aspect view. 54 The Fables of Babrius. LX. THE MOUSE THAT FELL LNTO THE POT A mouse into a lid-less broth-pot fell : Choked with the grease, and bidding life farewell, He said : “ My fill of meat and drink have I, “ And all good things : ’tis time that I should die ” Thou art that dainty mouse among mankind. If hurtful sweets are not by thee declined. LXI. THE HUNTER AND THE FLSHERMAN. (P. F. 220.) A huntsman going laden from the hill, A fisher too, whose fish his basket fill, As luck would have it, chanced one day to meet, And lo ! the hunter thought the fish a treat ; The Fables of Babrius. 55 The fisherman preferr’d the hunter’s game. So they exchanged their spoil. They did the same, Each for a time, to suit the other’s taste, With all they took : till some one said, “ You’ll waste “ And mar by use the present charm of these : “ And each again will seek what used to please.” LXII. THE MULE . (P. F. 157.) A mule, in lazy manger fed on hay, And fresh with corn, began to leap and say, Kicking his heels, “ A racer is my dam, “ And I for her a match in fleetness am.” Yet with sad visage soon his course he check’d. Constrain’d his sire, the ass, to recollect. 56 The Fables of Babrius . LXIII. THE HERO ( OR DAEMON). (p. f. 161.) A good man for a hero’s fane assign’d Space in his court -yard. Here he loved to bind Wreaths on the altars, rich libations pay, And, sacrificing oft, devoutly pray. “ Loved hero, hail ! thy fellow-lodger bless “ With plenteous gifts.” At midnight his address Met answer. “ Heroes can vouchsafe no good “To man ; for these ’twere meet the Gods were sued “ ’Tis rather all the ills that fall to men, “ That we dispense : when seeking evil then, “ Pray us ! Ask one , and many I’ll bestow. “ So now to whom to sacrifice you know ! ” The Fables of Babrius. 57 LXIV. THE FIR-TREE AND THE BRAMBLE. (p. f. T25.) A fir-tree and a bramble disagreed, For the fir alway paid to self the meed Of praise. “ I’m fine, well-grown in point of size : “ And my straight top is neighbour to the skies. “ ’Tis I, am roof of mansions, keel of ships : “So much my comeliness all trees outstrips.” To whom the bramble said, “Keep well in view “ The axe, whose business is thy trunk to hew, “ And saws, that cut thee : haply thou’lt prefer “To be the bramble, rather than the fir.” All men of mark more rank and credit gain Than meaner folks, but still more risks sustain. 5 » 7 he Fables of Babrius. LXV. THE CRANE AND* THE PEACOCK. (p. f. 3970 To a bright-plumaged peacock, smart and vain, This sharp retort fell from an ashen crane. “ Through these dull wings, whose colour you decry, “ I scream aloft, in starry heights I fly. “ You, cock-like, flap your wings. The tail you spread, “ With all its gold, is never seen o’erhead.” Rather would I in threadbare coat aspire, Than live inglorious, tho’ in rich attire. LXVI. THE MAN WITH TWO WALLETS. (*• f. 359*) Prometheus was a god, an elder god : Man, the brutes’ lord, he fashion’d of the sod, ’Tis said, and round his neck two wallets hung, Full of all ills, that rise mankind among : The Fables of Babrius. 59 One, holding others’ faults, in front was thrown : The larger, slung behind him, held his own. » Hence others’ falls, methinks, men clearly see : But when one should look homeward, blind are we. LXVII. THE WILD ASS AND THE LION. (p. F. 258.) Chase-partners were the lion and wild ass : That did in prowess, this in speed surpass : A booty of fat beasts their hunt supplied, Which into three the lion would divide. “ This first,” said he, “ as foremost, I shall take “ In right of kinghood. That my equal stake “ Marks as my part. And, for the hindmost lot, “ ’Twill cause you hurt, unless you flee, I wot.” • Measure your strength, nor, with a man more strong, To company, or partnership belong. 6o The Fables of Babrius . « LXVIII. APOLLO AND JUPITER. ( p . f . 15 1.) Said the far-darter to the gods on high, “ Not one can farther shoot or throw than I.” In sport great Jove Apollo’s challenge took, And quick the lots in Mars’ cap Hermes shook. Luck was with Phoebus. Soon the golden bow And string he circles ; lets the arrow go, And shoots within the gardens of the West. Said Jove, when the same range his feet had prest, “ Space fails me, boy. To what point can I shoot % ” Thus without shaft he won the arrow’s fruit. The Fables of Babrius. 6 1 LXIX. 7 HE HARE AND THE HOUND. A dog, no novice in the chase, pursued A rough-pawed hare, disturb’d from tangled wood. And soon was left behind. A goatherd near, “Fine runners beat you !” said, the hound to jeer. Said he, “ One needs must use far more despatch “To save one’s own, than other lives to snatch.” LXX. THE MARRIAGES OF THE GODS. (P. F. 162.) The Gods were wedding. Each had found a mate. To War it chanced till last of all to wait And so with Insolence, left all alone, In love he fell, and won her for his own. So runs the Fable. Hence, devoted swain, Where’er she goes, he follows in her train. 62 The Fables of Babrius. Oh then may Insolence, most apt to smile On commons, and to lead them wrong the while, Be ever from our states and nations far, For close behind her comes her husband, War. LXXI. THE HUSBANDMAN AND THE SEA. (r. F. 94.) A countryman beheld a crowded ship Its prow beneath the arching surges dip ; “ Would thou hadst ne’er been ploughed,” he cried, “ thou main ! “ Harsh element, of which all men complain.” The sea o’erheard, assumed a woman’s tone, And said, “ I pray you, leave my name alone. “For ’tis not I that cause you all these woes : “ But every blast that round about me blows, “ See me and sail me, yonder winds removed, “ And gentler than your earth you’ll own me proved.” Bad natures oft turn many goods to worse, Thus e’en a blessing comes to seem a curse. The Fables of Babrius. 6 3 LXXII. THE BIRDS AND THE JACKDAW. (P. F. 200.) A contest in Heaven’s courts for beauty’s prize, Bright Iris, who with the Gods’ tidings hies, Proclaim’d to birds. The news soon spread to all, And to himself each hoped the meed would fall. Rose from a rock, that rarely goat had scaled, A spring, whose clear wave ne’er in summer fail’d. To it resorted all the feather’d race, Intent on washing, each, its wings and face, Shaking its wings, its plumage combing clean ; When, lo ! a jackdaw to approach was seen, A crow’s now-ancient son. From ev’ry plume And each wet shoulder he made haste to assume A stolen feather. Soon his various guise In the Gods’ sight the eagle’s form outvies. Him Jove, astonished, victor had declared, Had not the swallow, Pallas-like, unbared 6 4 The Fables of Babrius . The cheating rogue, her feathers quick to claim ; “ Pray,” said the daw, “ expose me not to shame.” To pluck him, next, the thrush and turtle-dove, Tomb-haunting lark, and jay, together strove ; The hawk, a-watch for birds not yet full grown, Nay, all the birds. Thus was the jackdaw known. My son, array thee in thy proper dress : For borrow’d clothes will leave thee garmentless. LXXIII. THE KITE. (p. F. 170.) Of old far other was the kite’s shrill cry ! * Till once she heard a horse neigh tunefully. She needs must ape the steed ; and then nor heard Her former voice, nor that which she preferred. The Fables of Babrius . ^5 LXXIV. THE MAN, THE HORSE, THE OX, AND THE DOG. (p. f. 173.) A horse, an ox, a dog, distrest by cold, To seek the warmth of a man’s house made bold. He let them enter by his open’d door, And was not slack to give them of his store, Warming his guests withal beside his hearth : The horse found corn, of vetch the ox no dearth, While the dog shared the table of his host. Then fain would they requite their supper’s cost ; And so its life’s chief habit each bestows. The horse gave first. Hence each among us glows With leaping spirit in our early prime. The ox came next. Therefore, at mid-life’s time, Man toils, and dearly loves to hoard and save. The dog, ’tis said, life’s latest features gave. Whence, Branchus, each, as age steals o’er him, grows Peevish apace, caressing only those To whom he looks for food. A stranger’s face Provokes his bark, and never wins his grace. F 66 The Fables of JBabrius, LXXV. THE UNSKILFUL PHYSICIAN (P. F. 169.) There lived a quack. And all but he could tell A sick man not to fear ; he’d soon be well : “ Diseases run their time, but then are over ; ” The doctor came and said, “ You won’t recover ! “ Make all your preparations. You must die ! “ I scorn to cheat : I’m not the man to lie. “To morrow at the most you’ll scarce get o’er !” He said, nor visited his patient more. But, lo ! the man from his disorder rose, Pallid, and somewhat shaky on his toes. Taking his walk, the doctor met him so : “ Good morrow ! How goes on the world below ? ” “ Oh ! deadly lively ! Lethe’s draught is flat ! “ But if you’d know what hell’s high powers were at, “ Doctors just now incurr’d their fiercest threats, “ Because each sick man well so quickly gets. The Fables of Babrius . 67 t “ They were proscribing all. Among the first “ They talk’d of posting you. But forth I burst “ A little timid from the shadowy crowd, “ And suppliant before their sceptres bow’d ; “ And sware to them the truth I could not hide, “ You were no doctor, but had been belied.” LXXVI. THE KNIGHT AND HIS CHARGER. (p. F. 178.) A knight his charger pamper’d day by day, So long as war was rife, with corn and hay, As his brave comrade in the battle’s din ; But when war ceas’d, and peace at last came in, When from his deme the knight drew pay no more, Oft from the woods to town his charger bore Huge logs of timber, and with various load Toil’d as a hireling on a weary road ; f 2 68 The Fables of Babrius. On sorry chaff he barely life preserv’d, And yoked for draught, no longer knighthood serv’d. But war again was heard without the walls, On each to burnish arms the trumpet calls, To whet his steel, his war-horse to array : Again our knight has bridled for the fray His charger, led for him to take the field, But its weak limbs began to sink and yield. “ Go rank thyself with infantry,” it said : i “ If thou could’st me from horse to ass degrade, r~ “ No more can I my former self be made.” J LXXVII. THE FOX AND THE CROW. (P. F. 204.) A crow upon his perch was munching cheese, When a sly fox by arguments like these, To suit herself, beguiled him of his prize : — “Fair are thy plumes, good crow, and bright thine eyes, The Fables of Babrius . 6 9 “ Charming thy neck, an eagle's breast thou hast, “ In talons thou art by no brute surpass’d. “'Tis strange that dumb should be a bird so smart !” The flatter'd crow became elate in heart, And, cawing, from his mouth the cheese let fall ; This reynard snatch’d, and tauntingly did call, “ ’Tis true thou wast not dumb, for thou canst speak, “ Yet, spite of all thou hast, thy mind is weak.” LXXVIII. THE SICK CROW. (P. F. 208.) A sick crow to its weeping mother said, “ Weep not, but pray the Gods that from the bed “ Of sad disease and suffering I may rise.” “ Will any god,” said she, “ child, hear my cries, “ And save thee ? Is there one of whom 'tis true, “ His altar never has been robb'd by you *? ” 7o The Fables of Babrius . LXXIX. THE DOG AND THE SHADOW. (p. F. 233.) Tray from the shambles stole a piece of meat ; And, as he cross’d a stream, upon its sheet Of crystal saw the shadow magnified ; Which, letting go the flesh, to grasp he tried. He gain’d nor it, nor that which he had lost, And, supperless, again the river cross’d. All avaricious men consume in vain Uncertain lives, in fleeting hope of gain. LXXX. THE CAMEL. (P. F. l8l.) A drinking master would his camel bring To dance to flutes, and brazen cymbal’s ring. “ Would that I could on a plain road advance, “ Causing no laughter,” said she, “ much less dance. The Fables of Babrius . 7i LXXXI. THE FOX AND THE MONKEY. (P. F. 43.) A fox said to an ape, “ The stone you see “ Records my sire’s and grandsire’s memory.” Said Pug to Reynard, “ Lie, as likes you best, “ For none remain your story’s truth to test.” It marks a bad man not to shrink from lies, When, lying, he can shun detective eyes. LXXXII. THE LION AND THE FOX. (P. F. 257.) A mouse ran o’er a sleeping lion’s mane, And the roused brute his wrath could not restrain : So bristling up, he leapt from out his lair. A neighbour-fox derision did not spare, 72 The Fables of Babrius . That on a mouse the king of brutes should spend His ire. Said he, “ I fear not, cunning friend, “ Lest mice my skin should nettle, and escape : “ But roads o’er me take an ill-habit’s shape.” The boldness of the impudent repress, Small though it be, before it can progress ! Nor let it by the mean be lightly dreamt, That thou wilt be a butt for their contempt. V LXXXIII. THE HORSE AND THE GROOM, (p. F. 176.) A groom each day his horse kept currying, Yet each day too the corn-bin emptying. Then said the horse, “ If sleek you really would “ Behold me, prythee, do not sell my food.” True love will study things expedient And useful. Vain, indeed, is ornament As a makeweight, when needful things are spent. The Fables of Babrius. 73 LXXXIV. THE GNAT AND THE BULL. *( p . f * 235.) A gnat on a bull's horn his seat had made, And, pausing first, thus with a buzz he said : “ If I bear down or bend your neck a whit, “ I'll go and on yon river-poplar sit.” The bull cried, “ Stay or go, for aught I care, “ I did not even know when you came there.” Absurd is he, who, being nought, will try To cope with great men, and ape something high. LXXXV. THE DOGS AND THE WOLVES. (P. F. 2 67.) A feud between the dogs and wolves arose, And of their host the dogs as leader chose One from Achaia : who, like general sage, Kept holding back. His troops began to rage 74 The Fables of Babrius . At his preferring ambush to fair fight. “ Why I delay,” he answered* “ hear aright, “ And why I’m careful. Prudence can’t be wrong. “ Our foes I see are one united throng ; “ But some of us have from Molossia come, “ Others from Crete, from Acarnania some : “ Some are Dolopian : others Cyprus boast, “ Or Thrace their home : in short, a various host. “ We differ, unlike these, in colour too, “ Being, some black, and some of ashen hue : “ While some are bright and mottled in the chest, “ Others are white. Discordant bands at best “ How can I marshal, with an eye to war, “ Gainst troops that all alike in all things are 1 ” For aught more good than harmony to seek Is vain. Disunion slavish is, and weak. The Fables of Babrius. 75 LXXXVI. THE SWOLLEN EOX. (p. F. 31.) An aged oak was at its roots decay’d, Wherein the wallet of a hind was laid, Ragged and brimful of stale bread and meat 3 A fox ran in, and its contents did eat. Her stomach thence, no marvel, wax’d so stout, That through the opening she could not get out. She wept. Another fox, that came that way, Said jeeringly, “Till you are fasting, stay ! “ You won’t find egress, till you grow as thin “ In stomach, as you were when you got in.” 76 The Fables of Babrius. LXXXVII. THE DOG AND THE HARE. (P. F. 229.) Chasing a mountain hare, a certain hound Would one while bite her, if a chance he found, And one while turn and lick her as a friend ; Said puss at last, “ Let double-dealing end. “ Be a true brute. If friend, why do you bite ? “ But if a foe, why fawn, nor be downright ] ” Of an uncertain class of minds are those, Whom, if to trust or distrust, no one knows. LXXXVIII. THE LARK AND ITS YOUNG. In the green corn a lark, that nurs’d his young, At dawn, in answer to the lapwing sung. And now his brood had fed on corn so long, That they had crests, and on their wings were strong. The Fables of Babrius . 77 So the field’s owner, when he came to see The harvest ripe, said, “ Now ’tis time for me “ Tp gather all my friends, that I may reap.” But one of the young crestlings chanc’d to keep Watch on his words, and ran, his sire to tell, That to remove them elsewhere it were well. But he replied, “’Tis not yet time to flee ! “ Who trusts to friends, not over-fast is he.” When the man came, and saw the sun’s bright ray Had caused the ear o’er-ripe to fall away, And said, he’d hire reapers the next morn, And pay all hands to bind and sheave the com, Then the lark to his novice children cries, T I “ ’Tis time, my sons, that each one elsewhere flies, > “ Since on himself, not friends, the man relies.” J 78 The Fables of Babrius. LXXXIX. THE WOLF AND THE LAMB . (p. f. 274.) A wolf beheld a lambkin once astray, And did not give brute force at once its way, But, bent to seize it, found this specious plea : “ Small though you were last year, you slander’d me.” “Nay ! how last year] A year I’ve not been born.” “Well, then, you nibbled my own field of corn !” “ I eat nor grass nor corn ! A nursling still ! ” “ Have you not drunk then of my private rill ] ” “ As yet, my mother’s milk’s my beverage.” Upsprang the wolf, and ate the lamb in rage. “ A wolf,” said he, “ can’t for his supper wait, “ Though all his pleas you may invalidate.” The Fables of Babrius. 79 XC. THE LION AND THE FA WN. A lion raved. A fawn from woods hard by Saw, and began, “ Ah ! wretched we ! ” to cry. “ How must we, when he’s mad, expect to fare, “ Whom, in his sane state, none of us could bear?” XCI. THE BULL AND THE GOAT. (p. F. 396.) Once, in a cave the goatherds had forsaken, A bull had from a lion refuge taken, But to contest his entrance there remain’d One goat within, who horned war maintain’d. “ Pshaw ! ” said the bull, “ could I yon beast elude, “ I’d bear a little space to see you rude ! “ Just let the lion pass, and you shall note “ How wide the difference ’twixt bull and goat.” 8o The Fables of Babrius . XCII. THE TIMID HUNTER. (p. F. 1 14.) A lion-hunter once, who courage lack’d, In the hill-forests dense his game had track’d. A woodman near a tall fir met his view, Whom by the Nymphs he pray’d, if aught he knew, To point the wild beast’s steps, that harbour’d near. The other said, “ Good luck has brought you here ! “ The lion’s self to you I’ll quickly show.” Pale, and with chattering teeth, he cried, “No, no !” “ Pray don’t oblige me, friend, beyond your task : “To see the lion’s track, not him, I ask.” The Fables of Babrius. 81 XCIII. THE WOLVES AND THE SHEEP . (p. F. 268.) The wolf-tribe sent the flock an embassy, And proffer’d oaths of peace and amity. The terms were that the dogs should be disgraced, Who caused the feud now sought to be effaced. The sheep, weak, silly creatures, were disposed To scout old friends. An old ram interposed, And said, his thick wool bristling from below, “ A novel mediation this, I trow ! ” “ How, if unguarded, am I safe with you, “ When even now my perils are not few, “ Though, while I feed, I keep my watch-dog true , G 82 The Fables of Babrius. XCIV. THE WOLF AND THE HERON (P. F. 276.) A bone in the wolfs throat was firmly set : Then covenanted he the hern should get A due reward, if, letting down his neck, He’d draw the bone, and thus his suffering check. The hern extracted it, and claim’d his prize. “ Nay,” said the wolf, with grinning teeth and eyes, “ A meed of healing great enough you’ve found, “ Your head from out the wolfs jaw safe and sound.” It is ill wages, when the bad you aid. To take no hurt, is to be well-repaid. The Fables of Babrius . 83 xcv. THE SICK LION . (p. f. 243.) Sick in a rocky cleft a lion lay, Glad on the ground his failing limbs to stay. With him a fox was chiefly intimate, To whom he said, “ Wouldst have me ’scape my fate ? “ Then know, I hunger for the stag that dwells “ ’Neath yon wild pine amid the woodland dells. “ And I, you wot, can hunt the stag no more ; “ But if you choose your honied words to pour “ Into his ears and trap him, mine’s the prize !” Away went Reynard : where the wild wood lies She found him leaping o’er the mossy grass, And, first embracing, then began to pass High compliments, and say she came to bring Good news. “ My neighbour is the forest king, “ The lion ; he is sick, nay well nigh dead : “ And he was thinking who should rule instead g 2 8 4 The Fables of Babrius . “ O’er beasts. To find a pig with sense is hard ! “ The bear is dull ; and wrathful is the pard. “ The braggart tiger ever stands alone. “ He deems the stag is meetest for his throne. “ ’Tis light of form ; it lives unnumber’d years ; “ Fearful to reptiles is the horn it rears, “ Branching like trees, to bulls’ horn un-allied ; “ Need I say more ? The choice is ratified. “ You are to rule the beasts that roam the hills ; “ Oh ! then, whene’er the throne your highness fills, “ Pray think of Reynard, who first let you know “ These news. I’ve said. Good-bye, my dear ! I go “ To join the lion ; he may need me back : “ My counsel now in all things he would lack. “ You’ll come, child, too, if the advice you heed “ Of an old head. ’Tis fitting you should speed “ To counsel him, and cheer him in his woes : “ Small things win much at life’s extremest close, “ And souls are in the eyes of them that die 4 Thus spake the fox. The stag’s heart leapt on high At her feign’d words. He sought the cavern home Of the wild beast, and wist not what should come. The Fables oj Babrius. 85 Reckless upsprang the lion from his lair, And fail’d, through haste, of more than just to tear The stag’s ear with his talon-tips. Afraid, Straight from the door it fled to woodland shade. The fox to clap her paws in spite was fain, Because her labour had been spent in vain. Gnashing his teeth the lion raised a groan ; Chagrin and famine seiz’d him, both in one. Again he call’d the fox, again he pray’d The stag by some fresh trick might be betray’d. Revolving schemes from her heart’s inmost core, “ I’ll do your will,” she said, “ tho’ hard, once more.” Then follow’d she, like sage dog, on the scent, Weaving her wily tricks, as on she went ; Asking each shepherd ever and anon, “ Knew he which way a bleeding stag had gone V 9 Each that had seen it, pointing led the way To where, she found, the fleet stag resting lay, Tired with the chase, in deeply shaded wood, And there with forehead unabash’d she stood. A shudder smote the stag in back and knees, Wrath overflow’d his heart. His words were these : 86 The Fables of Babrius . “ Now you pursue me, wheresoe’er I fly : “ But, hated one, discomfiture is nigh, “ If you approach, and dare to mutter aught. “ Go play the fox to others yet untaught “ In wiles. Stir others up, and make them reign.” But Reynard heard unmoved. In blameful strain She said, “ Art thou so mean, so full of fear ? “ And dost thou thus suspect associates dear % “ The lion planning what might profit thee, | “ And how to rouse thee from past apathy, “ Just touch’d thine ear, a dying father’s act, “ For he desired no precept should be lack’d “ By thee for keeping sovereignty so great ; “ But thou his weak claw’s tickling couldst not wait, “ And, tearing thyself off, wast wounded sore. “ Hence he, than thou, is now offended more, “ For trial shows thee weak, unfit to trust ; “ So into kinghood he the wolf will thrust. “ Ah me ! an evil lord ! What will befall 1 “ Thou art a cause of ills to one and all. “ Nay, come and show more courage than of old, “ Nor cower, like sheep just straying from the fold. The Fables oj Babrius . 87 “ Now may my oath by springs and leaves be known, “ So may I subject be to thee alone, “ As he intends no harm, but in good will, “ Bids thee the lordship of the beasts to fill/’ Cajoling thus the brocket, him she won Into the selfsame fate again to run. So when he lay, inclosed within the lair, The lion had, himself, most dainty fare, Gorging the flesh, the marrow from each bone And entrails lapping. Famishing, alone Stood the decoyer, till she slily stole And ate the heart, which near her chanc'd to roll ; The single gain of all her toil was this : Which soon the lion, counting, came to miss, Of all the inward parts. Indignant then He search'd each lair, and hunted every den. And Reynard said, to cheat him of the truth, “ Don’t search in vain ! It had no heart in sooth. “ To own a fine heart he was likely, who “ A second time came visitor to you ! ” 88 The Fables of Babrius . XCVI. THE WOLF AND THE YOUNG RAM, A wolf pass’d by a wall ; and from its top A young ram peeping much abuse let drop. Gnashing his teeth the wolf said bitterly, “ Boast not thyself. Thy place abuses me !” Let no one then, whom luck or accident Makes strong awhile, to insolence give vent. XCVII. THE LION AND THE BULL. (P. F. 262.) A lion once conceiving a design Against a wild bull, feign’d that at the shrine Of Cybele he meant to sacrifice, And bade the bull ; who, blind to his device, The Fables of Babrius. 89 Promis’d to join the feast, and came and stood At his host’s door. Seeing the kitchen strew’d With cauldrons of hot water, cleavers bright, Sharp carving-knives, but nought for food in sight, Save a cock bound, he to the hills made off : Much did the lion, when he met him, scoff. “ Nay,” said the bull, “ this token proves I came. “ Your ample kitchens larger victims claim.” XCVIII. THE LION WOOER. (p. F. 249.) A lion, smitten with a beauteous maid, Ask’d her in marriage of her sire, who said, Without show of dislike or hollowness, “ I’d give consent, and gladly, I profess ! “ What sire a mighty lion would refuse ! “ But timid are young maids’ and children’s views. “ Just think how large your teeth ! how long you wear “ Your talons ! What maid, do you think, will dare 9 o The Fables of Babrius . “ To clasp you boldly, see you unalarm’d % “ If you would wed, against these fears be arm’d. “ Be a wild beast no more, but suitor mild.” On wings of promise, by the words beguil’d, The lion drew his teeth, his talons pared With surgeon’s knife, then to the sire repair’d, And showing them he claim’d his bride. But all With stones or clubs on him began to fall. He lay inactive, e’en as dying swine, Taught by a crafty old man to divine, That ’tis not nature’s will that men should burn For lions, or they love mankind in turn. XCIX. THE WOLF AND THE DOG. (p. f. 278.) There met a wolf a dog exceeding sleek, Of whom the former soon began to seek, “ In what abode he grew so fat and large.” Said he, “ I live at a rich master’s charge.” The Fables of Babrius . “ But how/’ said Wolf, “ became thy neck so bare ? “ Rubb’d by the iron collar which I wear : “ My master had it forg’d, and placed on me.” The wolf on this made answer mockingly : “ Adieu ! for me, the nurture I refuse, “ Through which the iron is my neck to bruise.” C. THE LION AND THE EAGLE. (F. DE FURIA, 358.) An eagle to a lion flew, and pray’d To be his partner. “What should let?” he said In answer. “ Only you must certify, “ You will not let your faith take wings and fly : “ On friend unsettled how could I rely?” 9 2 The Fables of Babrius. CI. THE WOLF AND THE FOX. (P. F. 272.) A fine-grown wolf his tribe in size outvied, The rest surnamed him “ lion.” Puff’d with pride He could not bear renown, but left his kin, And with the lions friendship strove to win. Then said a jeering fox, “ From me be far “ That frenzy, in the mists of which you are. “ For you, no doubt, to wolves a lion seem, “ But lions count you wolf, in their esteem.” CII. THE LION RULING JUSTLY. (P. F. 242.) A lion ruled : no brawling lion he, Nor fierce, nor one who used brute force with glee ; But mild and just, as any child of man. ’Twas in his reign, or so the story ran, The Fables of Babrius . 93 The wild beasts held a congress, with this aim, Each to do justice, and receive the same. And when each brute accounted, as by law, Wolves to the lambs, the pard to the chamois, Tiger to stag, and peace pervaded all, A cow’ring hare said, “ Ever did I call “ Upon the gods, to grant this day ere long, “ Which makes the weak a terror to the strong.” cm. THE SICK LION AND THE WILD BEASTS . (P. F. 246.) A lion hunting could no longer go, He had grown old full many a year ago. So in his cave he laid him, feigning sick, And gasping, not in truth, ; twas all a trick. His once deep voice now seem’d so faint and low : Quickly did Rumour to each beast’s den go ; Her tale, the lion’s sickness, grieved them all, And each went in, on the old king to call. 94 The Fables of Babrius . These, in their turn, he took with ease, though weak, And, feasting on them, found his age grow sleek. Yet one, who guess’d his trick, a fox, afar Ask’d, “ Prythee, good my liege, say how you are ?” He answer’d, “ Best of creatures, how d’ye do ? “ Come nearer, nor from far your old friend view. “ Come, sweet one, with the balm your words can ' give, “ And comfort me who have not long to live.” Said fox, “ Good-bye, my leaving you’ll forgive ; “ I must be off, forewarn’d by many a track “ Of beasts, which you can scarcely prove came back.” He that is taught by strange calamity And is not first in falling, blest is he ! t The Fables oj Babrius. 95 CIV. THE DOG BEARING THE BELL. (P. F. 224.) A dog was fond of biting “ on the sly,” Whose master, this ill trick to notify Abroad, a brazen bell around him tied. On this the dog began to ring with pride His bell in every square. Then to him said An elder dog, “ Why proudly lift your head, “ Poor wretch i no badge of worth you sound in this, “ But a plain proof of what you do amiss.” CV. THE WOLF AND THE LION. (p. F. 279.) A wolf was bearing home a sheep one day Snatch’d from the-»fold. A lion in the way Captur’d his spoil. The wolf, far off, made moan : “ Wrongly ,” he cried, “ you’ve robb’d me of my own.” 9 6 The Fables of Babrius . The mocking lion answer'd with delight ; “ Of course ’twas given by friends, and your’s by right” CVI. THE GENTLE LION. A lion once the noblest life of men Would emulate, and in his spacious den “ At home,” with kindness to entreat essay’d All the best kinds of beasts of hill or glade. Large grew the crowd of various brutes apace, For which his kindly “ menage” found a space : While each he loved and feasted as a guest, Meting to all the food they fancied best, He ’d ta’en a friendly fox his den to share, With whom his life was mostly smooth and fair ; But carver to him was an ancient ape, Each messmate’s share to parcel out and shape. This ape, if guest unwonted cross’d the door, Set the same meal his lord and him before, The lion’s chase some recent spoil had ta’en, The Fables of Babrius . 97 While Reynard did but scraps of stale meat gain. So when a purposed silence she maintain’d, And now from food and feast her paws restrain’d, Her conduct’s motive fain the host would seek : “ Sage fox, in wonted fashion, prythee, speak ; “ Share, dearest, share the feast with cheerful face.” “ Best,” cried the fox, “ of all the wild-beast race, “ With much solicitude I waste my heart ; “ Nor do things present merely cause the smart ; “ But what is coming, I with grief foresee : “ For if fresh guests come hither constantly, “ One after other, and this habit grows, “ I shall miss even stale meat, I suppose.” A lion’s smile o’er the pleased lion came : “ I told the ape so. Me then do not blame.” H The Fables of Babrius . 98 CVII. THE LION AND THE MOUSE.