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.
notes
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.
vocabulary
lupus –i m.: a wolf
beo –are –avi –atus: to bless, enrich
pretiosus –a –um: expensive, costly
gena –ae f.: cheek
alternus –a –um: 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