38: De Lupo et Vulpe

The Wolf and the Fox

A wolf takes a fox to court, accusing her of theft. The fox ably denies the charge, but the shrewd ape, acting a judge, sees that both are lying and dismisses the case. Those who habitually lie cannot be trusted.

Perry 474. Prose Romulus.

1  dē fūrtī lābe: “concerning the crime of theft.”

1  tenētur: "is oblgated."

2  causa: since this is a legal fable, a transition like, “lawsuit,” or “trial” works best here. LS causa II E.   

2  petit: "seeks" the return of allegedly stolen property.

2  negat: "denies" having stolen anything.

4  in ōre legit: "reads on the face" of each party to the suit.

5  Iudicium: "verdict."

5  Poscis: the subject is the wolf, who has lodged a false charge.

5  quod: “a thing which.” Direct object of poscīs. 

5  poscere fraus est: “it is a fraud to demand."

6  vīsque: "and you (the wolf) want."

6  fidem: "trust," i.e., to be trusted. 

7  Tu: vulpēs. 

7-8 tē vitae pūrior ūsus / līberat: "a more blameless way of life frees you" from the charge. As Phaedrus and the Prose Romulus make clear, both animals are lying, and the ape judge sees this clearly (Phaedrus 1.10.10 te [vulpem] credo subripuisse quod pulchre negas). Walter of England, by contrast, seems to want the fox to be a blameless victim.

8  Hanc lītem pāx domet, ira cadat: "let peace subdue this strife, let anger subside" (Pepin). The ape dismisses the case. Foerster and Busdraghi both prefer the manuscript readings domat ... cadit (i.e. present indicative). This implies that the ape's speech has ended after liberat. But the prose Romulus has the ape say: talis sit abolitio vestra et pares exite concordes. This would argue that we adopt the jussive subjunctives (domet ... cadat) seen in other manuscripts, and the continuation of the ape's speech though line 10. 

9  Simplicitās vērī fraus: "having no sense of truth is a crime" (Pepin). This seems a reasonable translation in context, but simplicitas should mean "lack of judgment," "gullibility" (DMLBS simplicitas 5). The ape is (rightly) accusing the other two of lying.

9  estque puerpera falsī: "and is the mother of lying."

10  esse solent vītae dissona verba suae: order: verba solent esse dissona vītae suae.

10  vitae suae: dat. with dissona.

11  Sordibus imbūtī: participle used substantively: “those who have been thoroughly steeped in (moral) filth.”

12  qui didicit: "he who has learned," >disco.