9: De Duabus Canibus

The Two Dogs

One dog welcomes a pregnant dog into her home, but the host dog is soon excluded from her own home by the guest dog and her puppies. 

Also known as The Bitch and her Whelps. Other versions: Perry 480.

1-2  Dē partū ... canem: order: canis suscipit aede (alteram) canem, querulam dē partū, plēnam nectare verbōrum, prō cane mōta.

1  Dē partū querulam. “(a dog) complaining about her pregnancy." One dog welcomes into her home a dog who is about to give birth.

1  nectare plēnam: abl. after plenus -a -um, as normal. The pregnant dog is a sweet-talker. 

2  mōta: pf. part. nom. in apposition with canis, “moved (with compassion).” 

3  Haec abit: the host dog vacates her house so the guest dog can give birth there.

3  illa: the guest dog.

3  haec cursitat: the host dog "runs about," outside her own home.

3  illa quiēscit: the guest dog rests within.

4  huic: the guest dog, dat. of disadvantage with rumpitur.

4  ā partū: "after the birth," LS ab II.A.1. 

4  illa quiēs: subject of rumpitur, “that quiet.” Note the pun, it’s that quiet, because any semblance of quiet is broken for both dogs, when the puppies come. Although the pregnant guest dog has conned the host dog into taking care of her and her puppies. So the quiet is ironically most disturbed for the host dog.

5  illa redit: the host dog returns to her home to find it fully occupied.

5  reddī: = restituī. Pres. pass. inf. after precatur. The wordplay of redit (> redeō), reddīque (> reddo) is typical of the author.

5  sub iūra: "under the laws," i.e., in accordance with their earlier agreement (see DMLBS sub 17). The ablative would be more normal.

5  precātur: = petit.

6  obserat haec: the guest dog, now fully entrenched, "closes" her ears and the house. Note the use of one word in two different senses, a figure known as zeugma.

6  aure: ablative of comparison after nec minus, “no less than her ear.”

7  plūs ... posse minās: "threats have greater effect" (LS possum II.A), indirect statement after putat. The subject of putat is haec, the usurping dog. 

7  plūs bella: supply posse. The usurper threatens violence. In Phaedrus's version, she says she will leave if the other dog thinks she can beat her and her brood: 'Si mihi et turbae meae / par' inquit 'esse potueris, cedam loco' (1.19.9–10).

7  duōbus: = prece et minīs, ablative of comparison after plus. 

8  Haec scit: “(now) this one (the displaced dog) has come to know (for certain) that ....” i.e., once the usurper threatens her, the displaced dog backs down. Wright's text reads Nescit rather than Haec scit.

9  cum dolor hanc armet: concessive, "although grief arms her (the displaced dog)."

9  plūs mātrem fīlius armat: “a son (i.e., the puppies) arms the mother (the usurping dog) more.” 

10  cēdit sōla gregī: "alone, (the displaced dog) yields to the pack (the mother and her puppies)."

10  perit: "perishes," i.e., ”loses.”

11  Nōn satis est tūtum: "it is not sufficiently safe," i.e., "it is unsafe."

11 mellitīs verbīs: dat. after credere, as normal.

sequī: pres. inf. after solet, “usually follows” + ex + ablative.