59: De Iudaeo et Pincerna

A Jewish man works to endear himself to the king by giving gifts, and asks to be guided to the king by the king’s butler. On the journey, however, the butler is overcome with greed and decides to kill the man. The man protests, noting that the partridge sitting in the nearby tree will tell of the deed, but the butler scoffs and kills him anyway. A year passes and the butler is serving partridge to the king, and after eating he begins to laugh uncontrollably. The king questions this, and eventually the butler spills the story of the man’s murder. The king is upset, and orders the butler crucified. The moral of the fable warns that gold should not persuade you to slay anyone. The reason that the main character of this fable is characterized as a Jewish man appears to be because he is a wealthy man, which reflects the stereotypes prevalent at that period of time.

Perry

onus fert pectore maius: “carries a bigger burden in his heart”; pectore is ablative of place where.

metu damnī,: “condemned by fear,” abl. Abs. .

sibi: dative of advantage with rēgis amōrem, “the king’s love for himself.”

munere: ablative of means, “with a gift.” 

ut tutus eat: “in order to go safely”; pres. subj. in a purpose clause.

accepto produce: abl. abs., “a guide having been received,” i.e., from the king.

dīra sitis: subject of adūrit.

sequentis: “on the face of the one following”; pres. part.

obito: “die!”; fut. imper. of obeo.

hanc: the partridge.

Indice signat: “designates with an index-finger,” i.e., points to; indice ablative of means.

scrobe fūnus: “hides the corpse in a ditch”; scrobe is an ablative of place where. LS funus I. B. 1. 

rapit ēnse caput: “he cuts off his head with a sword.” 

Agit celerēs rotas: “drives the swift wheels,” i.e., the “rotations” of the seasons but also the “wheels” of the sun’s chariot.

dominī cenae: “for the dinner of the master.” Cēnae is a dative of purpose. 

vix vacat: “was scarcely free from” + abl. of separation. i.e. he couldn’t stop laughing. 

ille: the butler.

laeto ... vultu: “pretends with a glad expression”; ablative of means with mentitur. 

concilium consiliumque: an example of zeugma, since the verb is strictly appropriate only to the first of these nouns, which are often exchanged for one another, “the counsel sits and deliberates.”

crucis: “guilty of a cross,” i.e., guilty of a crime worthy of crucifixion; genitive after reum.

prodit: “advances that the butler is”; introducing indirect statement.

iure favente: “with justice giving favor to the cross”; ablative absolute with cruci as a dative with favente. 

ut perimas: “to kill”; pres. subj. in a noun clause after suadeat

nūllum tibi suādeat aurum: “let no gold persuade you!”; pres. jussive subj. Tibi is a dative with suādeat.