Dum legit arva lupus, reperit caput arte superbum:

hoc beat hūmānīs ars pretiōsa genīs.

Hoc lupus alternō volvit pede, verba resolvit:

“Ō sine vōce genās, ō sine mente caput!"

Fuscat et extinguit cordis cālīgō nitōrem 5

Corporis: est animī sōlus in orbe nitor.

    A wolf happens upon beautifully sculpted human head, which he rolls around and realizes has no consciousness or life in it. True beauty is within. 

    Other versions: Perry 027. Prose Romulus

    1  lēgit arva: “traverses the fields,” DMLBS lego 4. 

    1  caput: a sculpted head or bust lying on the ground.

    1  arte superbum: “superb in its art,” i.e., artfully made.”

    2  hoc: caput, direct object of beat. 

    3  Hoc: caput.

    3  alternō volvit pede: “rolls (it back and forth) with alternating foot,” showing that it is lifeless and powerless.

    3  verba resolvit: "spoke." The normal idiom is ora (fauces) resolvere in verba, "to loosen one's mouth (jaws) into words," "to unlock one's lips," "break silence." See OLD resolvo 1.c.

    4  genās ... caput: accusative of exclamation, normal after O (AG 397.d).

    5  cordis cālīgō: “the darkness of the heart,” i.e., lack of consciousness, subject of fuscat and extinguit.  

    5-6  nitōrem ... nitor: the external splendor of the bust is contrasted with its lack of mind or heart (cordis ... animī) within.

    6  animī: “of the mind,” emphatic. The only real "splendor" (nitor) is that of the mind or heart. In Phaedrus (1.7) a fox (rather than a wolf) finds not a bust but a tragic mask, and the fable is directed at "people to whom fortune has allotted honor and glory but who have no common sense." 

    6  in orbe: "in the world." Supply terrārum.

    lupusi m.: a wolf

    beo –are –avi –atus: to bless, enrich

    pretiosusaum: expensive, costly

    genaae f.: cheek

    alternusaum: one of two, alternating

    volvo –ere volvi volutus: roll

    resolvo –ere –solvi –solutus: to loosen, release

    fusco –are –avi –atus: to darken

    extinguo –ere –nxi –nctus: to extinguish

    caligo –inis f.: mist, darkness

    nitor –oris m.: splendor

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