41: De Pastore et Leone

This fable was taken from an ancient story found in the 2nd century Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius. In the tale, a man named Androcles helps an injured lion by removing a thorn from his paw. He is later repaid for his kindness when he is thrown into a pit of lions as punishment for fleeing slavery. The lion in the pit is, of course, the lion that he had helped earlier, who remembers Androcles’ kind deed. The lion immediately behaves as though he is tame, and the astonished Romans free both the lion and Androcles. The fable version of this story is told almost exactly as the ancient tale, except that Androcles is recast as an unnamed shepherd, and the crime that sends him to the lion’s den is unnamed. The moral repeats the adage of doing unto others. 

Perry 563

praedae: “concerned for prey”; dat. after sollicitus.

mersa: “the thorn, having been hidden in”; perf. part.

laeso pede: “with his foot having been hurt”; ablative absolute.

Fit mora dē cursū: lit., “he makes a delay concerning his course,” i.e. he stops running.  

levitās imprōvida: “an unexpected lightness.” Really a transferred epithet, because imprōvida works better with lāpsum, “an unexpected slip.” 

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

aegrum: “allows the sick one to go”; acc., subject of ire.

laedit: take fortūna as the subject in this clause too. 

eisdem: “cures the same people”; dat. after medetur.

leoni: “for the lion”; dative of advantage.

tenso pede: “his foot having been stretched out”; ablative absolute.

tempore: “by time”; ablative of means.

Illī: dative with opem. 

vulnera solvit acū: “releases the wound(s) with a needle.” i.e. removes the thorn from the wound with a needle. 

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

Tempore: “by time.” Abl. of means with dēlērī.

deleri: “is not able to be erased”; inf. pass. after nequit.

Rōmānae praedae: genitive with glōria, “of Roman spoils.” You could alsorepeat the word praedae again as a dative after hunc habet and get the sense of “the glory of Roman spoils as this one for pray (i.e. as prey).” 

Hunc: i.e. the shepherd. 

necis poenam: “penalty of death.” 

 culpa: subj. of propīnat.

esca: “is given as food”; pred. nom.

feris: could be 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. 

timenti: “he flatters the one fearing”; dat. after blanditur.

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. 

virō,  leōnī: datives with parcit.

turpis vetustās: lit., “a shameful old age,” but has the implication of “a shameful past.” Subject.

 acceptī memorēs: “having accepted (our) memories.”