41: De Pastore et Leone

The Shepherd and the Lion

A shepherd helps an injured lion by removing a thorn from his paw. The shepherd is later repaid for his kindness when thrown to the lions as a condemned criminal in a public execution. The healed lion, too, it turns out, has been captured and taken to the same arena. He recognizes the shepherd, acts like a tame pet, and saves the shepherd. The Roman public are astonished at the spectacle and insist that both man and beast go free. The powerful should always remember benefits conferred by the less powerful, even many years before.

Also known as Androcles and the Lion. Other versions: Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 5.14. Perry 563. Prose Romulus 51, p. 156 Thiele. 

1  Sollicitus: "eager for," + dat. = avidus, a rare meaning (LS sollicitus II.D).

2  offendit: "runs into," "strikes." The subject is the thorn, as mersa makes clear.

2  mersa: “stuck," "buried," pf. pass. ptc. > mergo.

3  Fit mora dē cursū: "there is delay in his progress" (Pepin), literally “a delay occurs regarding his running." Classical Latin would probably say in cursū, but that is metrically inconvenient here.

3  levitās imprōvida: “rash mobility” (Pepin). The lion tries to keep running at first.

4  turba pedum: “the crowd of his feet,” i.e. because he has multiple feet. 

5  aegrum: supply leōnem.

5  sinit īre: "permits to walk," DMLBS ire 4.c. 

5  saniemque fatētur: "and bears witness to the wound (?)," not otherwise visible because the thorn is so small. This is an unexampled sense of saniēs, which normally means "gore," as in line 13. It is also unusual to have an inanimate subject (like dolor) with fateor, but see DMLBS fateri 2.b.

6  idem loquitur: "declares the same thing" (Pepin), i.e., the intense pain makes his injury obvious.

7  Cum laedit miserōs, fortūna medētur eīsdem: use of the indicative (laedit) in a cum-clause makes this a general rule (AG 548): "whenever fortune harms wretched men, it heals the same ones." An illustration will shortly follow.

8  plaga: "wound."

10  tendit: "holds out," "offers," DMLBS tendere 1.a.

11  tēnsō pede: “his foot having been stretched out,” ablative absolute.

11  illī: "for it," dative with opem. 

12  vulnera solvit acū: “releases the wound(s) with a needle,” i.e., removes the thorn from the wound with a needle. In the Prose Romulus versions he uses a subula, a shoemaker's awl (p. 156 Thiele).

14  blandō ... ōre: “with a caressing mouth.” i.e. the lion holds the shepherd’s arm with his lips, as a pet dog might. 

15  meritīque notās in corde sigillat: "stamps the marks of the favor on his heart." The metaphor is from pressing a seal on hot wax to make a permanent impression.

16  Tempore: “by time,” abl. of means with dēlērī. This point is stressed by the moral below (lines 29-30), and by the Prose Romulus versions (p. 154 Thiele): debent potentes gratiam miseris rependere, et si longum sit tempus, oblivio non esse debet ("The powerful should repay the low [for services]; even if is it a long time [later], they should not forget.")

17  Rōmānae glōria praedae: "the glory of Roman plunder." The ancient Romans were famous for their ability to round up dangerous and exotic animals, transport them to Rome, and exhibit them in public spectacles. Sometimes "beast-fighters" (bestiarii) were pitted against big cats for the amusement of the crowd; in other cases they were used in public executions, and this is the situation imagined here.

19  necis poenam: “penalty of death.” 

19  culpa: the fact that he is subject to the death penalty implies what is explicit in other versions, that the pastor is a runaway slave. 

19  propīnat: "gives" (Pepin), literally "gives to drink," a very striking metaphor, since the direct object is necis poenam, and the subject the abstract noun culpa.

20  ēsca: “as food."

20  ferīs: either abl. (with in mediis), “in the middle of the beasts,” but more likely dat. after datur, “is given as food to the beasts.” Or you could take it twice, once in each clause. 

21-22  timentī / ... blandītur: “(the lion) fawns on the one fearing,” dat. after blanditur as normal.

23  resultat: "bounces" with joy.

25  pēnsatque salūte salūtem: “and he repays safety with safety.” i.e. a life for a life, since the shepherd saved him, he has now saved the shepherd. 

27  virō ...  leōnī: datives with parcit, as normal.

29  meritum:  "service," "kindness," or "benefit" conferred on someone. The common neuter noun is derived from the perfect passive participle of mereō -ēre, "to earn," "merit," "deserve." The idiom bene merēre, "to deserve well," i.e., "to behave well" is also common.

29  turpis ... vetustās: "disgraceful antiquity," i.e., the unfortunate state of having not been repaid or acknowledged for a very long time. 

29  dēlēre: "erase" from the memory.

30  acceptī ... bonī: “a good deed received,” = meritum.