Cum grege barbātō dum lūdit iūnior agnus,
Tendit in hunc mentī dissona verba lupus:
“Cūr olidam mundā sequeris plūs mātre capellam?
Lac tibi praeberet dulcius ipsa parēns;
Est prope, festīnā, mātrem pete, mūnera mātris, 5
lac bibe: nam servat ūbera plēna tibi.”
Agnus ad haec: “Pia capra mihi lac dulce propīnat,
mē vice mātris alit, mē vice mātris amat.
Nōn mihi, sed dominō, prōdest mē vīvere: vīvō
ut mētat in tergō vellera multa meō.10
Ergō mihi praestat nūtrīrī lacte caprīnō
quam lac mātris habēns mergar in ōre tuō.”
Omnēs vincit opēs sēcūram dūcere vītam.
Pauperius nihil est quam miser ūsus opum.
Nīl melius sānō monitū, nīl peius inīquō:15
Cōnsilium sequitur certa ruīna malum.
notes
The Lamb and the Wolf
A lamb has been raised by a surrogate mother, a goat. The wolf disingenuously asks why the lamb doesn’t go and find her own mother, but the lamb cannot be shaken, saying that the goat has always provided her with all that she needs. The lamb also acknowledges that she has grown much stronger nourished by the goat’s milk, and it is important that she grow as much fleece as possible for her master. The lamb sees through the wolf’s ruse, and realizes that the wolf is trying to deceive her. Do not listen to bad advice.
Also known as The Dog to the Lamb. Other versions: Perry 506.
This version substantially alters that found in Phaedrus the Prose Romulus versions. There the lamb's interlocutor is a dog, not a wolf. The dog, with no ill intent, simply tells the lamb to go find its real mother. The moral validates foster parents: it is generous nurture makes a good mother, not the mere fact of having given birth. Facit parentes bonitas, non necessitas (Phaedrus 3.15.18).
1 grege barbātō: “the bearded flock,” i.e., goats.
2 tendit verba: “extends words,” i.e., speaks.
2 hunc: agnum.
2 mentī dissona: “discordant to his mind," i.e., deceptive. See 3.3 mēns dissona verbīs.
3 Cūr olidam mundā sequeris plūs mātre capellam?: order: Cūr sequeris olidam capellam plūs mundā mātre?
3 mundā matre: ablative of comparison after plus.
5 Est: supply mater as subject.
6 lac: in apposition to mūnera mātris.
7 ad haec: "in response to these (words)," supply dicit.
8 vice:, “in place of”; abl. (+ gen.).
9 prōdest mē vīvere: “profits me to live."
10 metat: supply dominus as subject.
11 praestat: "it is better."
12 quam mergar: “than that I be engulfed."
12 habēns: “while having,” "though having," concessive participle.
13-14 this sentiment seems to have little relationship to this fable, though it recalls the moral of the story of the city mouse and the country mouse (Fable 12).
13 vincit: "surpasses." he subject is sēcūram dūcere vītam.
15 sānō monitū: ablative of comparison after melius.
vocabulary
grex gregis m.: a flock, herd
barbatus –a –um: bearded
ludo –ere –si –sus: to play
iunior iunius: younger
agnus –i m.: a lamb
dissonus –a –um: dissonant, different
lupus –i m.: a wolf
olidus –a –um: stinking
capella –ae f.: a she-goat
lac lactis n.: milk
praebeo -ēre: to present, offer
festino –are –avi –atus: to hasten, hurry
bibo –ere bibi –– : to drink
uber –eris n.: an udder
capra –ae f.: a she-goat, nanny-goat
propino –are –avi –atum: to give to drink
meto –ere messui messus: to reap, cut off
vellus –eris n.: fleece
nutrio –ire –ivi –itus: to nourish, suckle
caprinus –a –um: of goats
mergo –ere mersi mersus : to dip, plunge
pauper –a –um: poor
monitus –ūs m.: warning, advice
peior –us: worse
iniquus –a –um: hostile
ruina –ae f.: a fall