Absentī fīgit dum cornua spōnsa marītō,
Dē moechō puerum moecha proterva parit.
Ēn vir, ecce puer: stupet hic sine sēmine nātum.
Dē nive conceptus fingitur esse puer.
Mūtua fraus; spōnsus, dum suffert dēdecus istud, 5
In spōnsam cautī fabricat arma dolī:
"Lūx mea, dēdūcam puerum; mercātor et hērēs
Noster erit." Ficta gaudia vultus habet.
Hic abit, illa manet: hic vēndit adultera coniux
Quem peperit subitō dē nive facta parēns. 10
Rēbus ab augendīs idem post multa reversus,
Rīdiculum spōnsae nārrat in aure sūā:
"Dum fuit in prōrā, violenta potentia sōlis
Dēprēndit puerum; sīc liquefēcit eum.”
Haec lacrimōsa manet; laniat sine fīne capillōs. 15
Cui suādēre volēns, vir suus inquit eī:
“Parce tuō capitī, lacrimās compesce: liquēscit
Dē nive conceptum quicquid ubīque patet."
Hoc quia premittit ratiōnis calculus omnis,
Fallere fallentem suspicor esse pium. 20
notes
Fable 63: About a Merchant and His Wife
In this tale of adultery, a woman cheats on her husband and becomes pregnant. She lies to him telling him that the child is the son of the snow. The moral of this story is that it is just to treat an unjust person badly. This is one of the darker stories in the collection.
Absentī marītō: “while her husband is absent,” an abl. of attendant circumstances.
fīgit cornua marītō: marītō is doing double duty and being used with this clause as well, “fixes the horns of adultery on her husband.” An idiom for “to cheat.” Cornu can also occasionally be used to mean “lantern” this is obviously not the meaning here, but it is ironic that then her husband’s first word to her upon his return is lux.
Dē moechō: “from a fornicator.” This is the man that the woman was cheating on her husband with.
moecha proterva: “a shameless adulterer.”
sine sēmine nātum: “that the boy was born without a seed.” i.e. without sexual intercourse. The husband is astounded that his wife should have given birth to a baby when he was not there to sleep with her.
Dē nive conceptus esse puer: fingitur should set up an indirect statment and we get an infinitive as you’d expect, but not the accusatives that you would expect. This clause works as an indirect statement despite that, “she lies that the boy was conceived from snow.”
Mūtua fraus: supply est. “There is mutual deception.”
dum suffert dēdecus istud: “while he endures that shame.” Dēdecus can specifically mean a sexual indiscretion outside of a marriage, a lack of chastity.
In spōnsam: “against his wife.”
fabricat: the subject is now the spōnsus.
erit: the boy is now the subject.
Ficta gaudia: “fake joy,” i.e. a fake smile. Direct object of habet.
adultera coniux quem peperit subitō dē nive facta parēns: quem is the direct object of peperit and then adultera coniux is the subject of peperit. “The one whom his adulterous wife gave birth to (as if) having been made a parent suddenly from snow.”
Rēbus ab augendīs: “From increasing his things (i.e. his wealth).”
idem: adv. “Once again.”
post multa: “after many years.”
Rīdiculum: “a ridiculous story.”
fuit: The child is the subject.
Cui: dative with suādēre.
Dē nive conceptum quicquid: “whatever is conceived from snow.”
Hoc quia premittit ratiōnis calculus omnis: reorder: quia omnis calculus ratiōnis premittit hoc.
Fallere fallentem esse pium: suspicor sets up an indirect statement, “I suspect that it is just to deceive a deceiver.”