THE PROLOGUE.
TO EUTYCHUS.[1]
If you have a desire, Eutychus, to read the little books of Phædrus, you
must keep yourself disengaged from business, that your mind, at liberty,
may relish the meaning of the lines. "But," you say, "my genius is not
of such great value, that a moment of time should be lost {for it} to my
own pursuits." There is no reason then why that should be touched by
your hands which is not suited for ears so engaged. Perhaps you will
say, "some holidays will come,[2] which will invite me to study with
mind unbent." Will you {rather}, I ask you, read worthless ditties,[3]
than bestow attention upon your domestic concerns, give moments to your
friends, your leisure to your wife, relax your mind, and refresh your
body, in order that you may return more efficiently to your wonted
duties? You must change your purpose and your mode of life, if you have
thoughts of crossing the threshold of the Muses. I, whom my mother
brought forth on the Pierian hill,[4] upon which hallowed Mnemosyne,
nine times fruitful, bore the choir of Muses to thundering Jove:
although I was born almost in the very school itself, and have entirely
erased {all} care for acquiring wealth from my breast, and with the
approval of many have applied myself to these pursuits, am still with
difficulty received into the choir {of the Poets}. What do you imagine
must be the lot of him who seeks, with ceaseless vigilance, to amass
great wealth, preferring the sweets of gain to the labours of learning?
But now, come of it what may (as Sinon said[5] when he was brought
before the King of Dardania), I will trace a third book with the pen of
Æsop, and dedicate it to you, in acknowledgment of your honor and your
goodness.[6] If you read it, I shall rejoice; but if otherwise, at least
posterity will have something with which to amuse themselves.
Now will I explain in a few words why Fabulous narrative was invented.
Slavery,[7] subject to the will of another, because it did not dare to
say what it wished, couched its sentiments in Fables, and by pleasing
fictions eluded censure. In place of its foot-path I have made a road,
and have invented more than it left, selecting some points to my own
misfortune.[8] But if any other than Sejanus[9] had been the informer,
if any other the witness, if any other the judge, in fine, I should
confess myself deserving of such severe woes; nor should I soothe my
sorrow with these expedients. If any one shall make erroneous surmises,
and apply to himself what is applicable to all in common, he will
absurdly expose the secret convictions of his mind. And still, to him I
would hold myself excused; for it is no intention of mine to point at
individuals, but to describe life itself and the manners of mankind.
Perhaps some one will say, that I undertake a weighty task. If Æsop of
Phrygia, if Anacharsis of Scythia[10] could, by their genius, found a
lasting fame, why should I who am more nearly related to learned Greece,
forsake in sluggish indolence the glories of my country? especially as
the Thracian race numbers its own authors, and Apollo was the parent of
Linus, a Muse of Orpheus, who with his song moved rocks and tamed wild
beasts, and held the current of Hebrus in sweet suspense. Away then,
envy! nor lament in vain, because to me the customary fame is due.
I have urged you to read {these lines}; I beg that you will give me your
sincere opinion[11] of them with {your} well-known candour.
[Footnote III.1: _Eutychus_)--Ver. 2. It is not known with
certainty who this Eutychus was to whom he addresses himself. It
has been suggested that he is the same person who is mentioned by
Josephus, Antiq. B. xix., c. 4, as flourishing at the Court of
Caligula, and who had previously been a charioteer and inspector
of buildings at the stables of Claudius. He is also supposed, from
the words of the Epilogue of this Book, line 20-26, to have held
more than one public office. It has been suggested that he was the
freedman of the Emperor Claudius or Augustus, an inscription
having been found in the tomb of the freedmen of the latter to C.
Julius Eutychus. But it is hardly probable that he is the person
meant; as there is little doubt that Phædrus wrote the present
Book of Fables long after the time of Augustus. Indeed it has been
suggested by some that he wrote it as late as the reign of
Caligula.]
[Footnote III.2: _Some holidays_)--Ver. 8. The Romans had
three kinds of public "feriæ," or holidays, which all belonged to
the "dies nefasti," or days on which no public business could be
done. These were the "feriæ stativæ," "conceptivæ," and
"imperativæ." The first were held regularly, and on stated days
set forth in the Calendar. To these belonged the Lupercalia,
Carmentalia, and Agonalia. The "conceptivæ," or "conceptæ," were
moveable feasts held at certain seasons in every year, but not on
fixed days; the times for holding them being annually appointed by
the magistrates or priests. Among these were the "feriæ Latinæ,"
Sementivæ, Paganalia, and Compitalia. The "feriæ imperativæ" were
appointed to be held on certain emergencies by order of the
Consuls, Prætors, and Dictators; and were in general held to avert
national calamities or to celebrate great victories.]
[Footnote III.3: _Worthless ditties_)--Ver. 10. "Nænia" were,
properly, the improvised songs that were sung at funerals by the
hired mourners, who were generally females. From their trivial
nature, the word came to be generally applied to all worthless
ditties, and under this name Phædrus, with all humility, alludes
to his Fables.]
[Footnote III.4: _On the Pierian Hill_)--Ver. 17. Judging from
this passage it would appear that Phædrus was a Macedonian by
birth, and not, as more generally stated, a Thracian. Pieria was a
country on the south-east coast of Macedonia, through which ran a
ridge of mountains, a part of which were called Pieria, or the
Pierian mountain. The inhabitants are celebrated in the early
history of the music and poesy of Greece, as their country was one
of the earliest seats of the worship of the Muses, and Orpheus was
said to have been buried there. It is most probable that Phædrus
was carried away in slavery to Rome in his early years, and that
he remembered but little of his native country.]
[Footnote III.5: _As Sinon said_)--Ver. 27. He here alludes to
the words of Sinon, the Grecian spy, when brought before Priam, in
the Second Book of Virgil, 77-78:--
"Cuncta equidem tibi, rex, fuerit quodcumque fatebor
Vera, inquit----"
Others, again, suppose that this was a proverbial expression in
general use at Rome. It is not improbable that it may have become
so on being adopted from the work of Virgil: "Come what may of it,
as Sinon said."]
[Footnote III.6: _And your goodness_)--Ver. 30. "Honori et
meritis dedicam illum tuis." We learn from ancient inscriptions
that this was a customary formula in dedications.]
[Footnote III.7: _Slavery_)--Ver. 34. He probably alludes to
Æsop's state of slavery, in the service of the philosopher
Xanthus.]
[Footnote III.8: _To my own misfortune_)--Ver. 40. He
evidently alludes to some misfortune which has befallen him in
consequence of having alluded in his work to the events of his own
times. It has been suggested that he fell under the displeasure of
Tiberius and his minister Sejanus, in consequence of the covert
allusions made to them in Fables II and VI in the First Book. This
question is, however, involved in impenetrable obscurity.]
[Footnote III.9: _Than Sejanus_)--Ver. 41. He means that Ælius
Sejanus had acted against him as both informer, witness, and
judge; but that had an honest man condemned him to the sufferings
he then experienced, he should not have complained. The nature of
the punishment here alluded to is not known.]
[Footnote III.10: _Anacharsis of Scythia_)--Ver. 52.
A Scythian philosopher, and supposed contemporary of Æsop. He came
to Athens in pursuit of knowledge while Solon was the lawgiver of
that city. He is said to have written works on legislation and the
art of war.]
FABLE I.
THE OLD WOMAN AND THE CASK.
An Old Woman espied a Cask,[12] which had been drained to the dregs,
lying on the ground, {and} which still spread forth from its ennobled
shell a delightful smell of the Falernian lees.[13] After she had
greedily snuffed it up her nostrils with all her might; "O delicious
fragrance,[14]" said she, "how good I should say were your former
contents, when the remains of them are such!"
What this refers to let him say who knows me.[15]
[Footnote III.11: _Nearer to learned Greece_)--Ver. 54.
Alluding to Pieria, the place of his birth. The people of Pieria
were supposed to have been of Thracian origin.]
[Footnote III.12: _A cask_)--Ver. 1. "Amphoram." Properly, the
"amphora," or earthen vessel with two handles, in which wine was
usually kept.]
[Footnote III.13: _Falernian Lees_)--Ver. 2. The Falernian
wine held the second rank in estimation among the Romans. The
territory where it was grown commenced at the "Pons Campanus," and
extended from the Massic Hills to the river Vulturnus. Pliny
mentions three kinds, the rough, the sweet, and the thin. It is
supposed to have been of an amber colour, and of considerable
strength. It was the custom to write the age of the wine and the
vintage on the "amphora," or cask.]
[Footnote III.14: _O, delicious fragrance_)--Ver. 5. "Anima,"
most probably applies to the savour or smell of the wine; though
some Commentators have thought that she addresses the cask as
"anima," meaning "O dear soul;" others, that she speaks of the
wine as being the soul of life; while Walchius seems to think that
she is addressing her own soul, which is quite cheered by the
fumes.]
[Footnote III.15: _Who knows me_)--Ver. 7. Burmann thinks that
the author covertly hints here at the habits of the Emperor
Tiberius in his old age, who still hankered after those vicious
indulgences which had been his main pursuits in his former days;
or else that the Poet simply refers to human life, in the same
spirit in which Seneca, Ep. lvii., calls old age, "fæx vitæ," "the
lees of life." Others again suppose that Phædrus alludes to his
own old age, and means that those who knew him when this Fable was
written, may judge from their present acquaintance with him what
he must have been in his younger days. Heinsius thinks that it
refers to the present state of servitude of Phædrus, compared with
his former liberty; but, if he was manumitted, as generally
supposed, by Augustus, and this Fable was not written till after
the death of Sejanus, that cannot be the case.]
FABLE II.
THE PANTHER AND THE SHEPHERD.
Repayment in kind is generally made by those who are despised.
A Panther[16] had once inadvertently fallen into a pit. The rustics saw
her; some belaboured her with sticks, others pelted her with stones;
while some, on the other hand, moved with compassion, seeing that she
must die even though no one should hurt her, threw her some bread to
sustain existence. Night comes on apace; homeward they go without
concern, making sure of finding her dead on the following day. She,
however, after having recruited her failing strength, with a swift bound
effected her escape from the pit, and with hurried pace hastened to her
den. A few days intervening, she sallies forth, slaughters the flocks,
kills the shepherds themselves, and laying waste every side, rages with
unbridled fury. Upon this those who had shown mercy to the beast,
alarmed for their safety, made no demur to the loss {of their flocks,
and} begged only for their lives. But she {thus answered them}:
"I remember him who attacked me with stones, {and} him who gave me
bread; lay aside your fears; I return as an enemy to those {only} who
injured me."
[Footnote III.16: _A Panther_)--Ver. 2. Some have suggested,
Burmann and Guyetus in the number, that by the Panther is meant
Tiberius, who, during his banishment to the isle of Rhodes,
occupied himself in studying how to wreak his vengeance upon his
enemies at Rome, and, with the fury of the Panther, as soon as he
had the opportunity, glutted his vengeance. This notion, however,
seems more ingenious than well founded.]
FABLE III.
ÆSOP AND THE FARMER.
One taught by experience is proverbially said to be more quick-{witted}
than a wizard, but the reason is not told; which, now for the first
time, shall be made known by my Fable.
The ewes of a certain Man who reared flocks, brought forth lambs with
human heads. Dreadfully alarmed at the prodigy, he runs full of concern
to the soothsayers. One answers that it bears reference to the life of
the owner, and that the danger must be averted with a victim. Another,
no wiser, affirms that it is meant that his wife is an adultress, and
his children are spurious; but that it can be atoned for by a victim of
greater age.[17] Why enlarge? They all differ in opinions, and greatly
aggravate the anxiety of the Man. Æsop being at hand, a sage of nice
discernment, whom nature could never deceive {by appearances},
remarked:-- "If you wish, Farmer, to take due precautions against
{this} portent, find wives for your shepherds."[18]
[Footnote III.17: _Of greater age_)--Ver. 11. "Majori hostiâ;"
probably, a sheep of two years old instead of a lamb.]
[Footnote III.18: _For your shepherds_)--Ver. 17. Plutarch
introduces Thales in his "Convivium Sapientium," as telling a
somewhat similar story. Phædrus might, with better grace, have
omitted this so-called Fable.]
FABLE IV.
THE BUTCHER AND THE APE.
A man seeing an Ape hanging up at a Butcher's among the rest of his
commodities and provisions, enquired how it might taste;[19] on which
the Butcher, joking, replied: "Just as the head is, such, I warrant, is
the taste."
[Footnote III.19: _How it might taste_)--Ver. 3. The Butcher
puns upon the twofold meaning of "sapio," "to taste of," or "have
a flavour," and "to be wise." The customer uses the word in the
former sense, while the Butcher answers it in the latter, and
perhaps in the former as well; "Such as the head is," pointing to
it, "I'll warrant the wisdom of the animal to be;" the words at
the same time bearing the meaning of, "It has an ape's head, and
therefore it can only taste like the head of an ape." "Sapor"
ordinarily means "flavour," or "taste;" but Cicero uses it in the
signification of wisdom or genius. Many other significations of
this passage have been suggested by the various Editors.]
This I deem to be said more facetiously than correctly; for on the one
hand I have often found the good-looking to be very knaves, and on the
other I have known many with ugly features to be most worthy men.
FABLE V.
ÆSOP AND THE INSOLENT MAN.
Success leads many astray to their ruin.
An Insolent Fellow threw a stone at Æsop. "Well done," said he, and then
gave him a penny, thus continuing: "Upon my faith I have got no more,
but I will show you where you can get some; see, yonder comes a rich and
influential man; throw a stone at him in the same way, and you will
receive a due reward." The other, being persuaded, did as he was
advised. His daring impudence, however, was disappointed of its hope,
for, being seized, he paid the penalty on the cross.[20]
[Footnote III.20: _On the cross_)--Ver. 10. The cross was
especially used as an instrument of punishment for malefactors of
low station, and, as we see here, sometimes on very trivial
occasions.]
FABLE VI.
THE FLY AND THE MULE.
A Fly sat on the pole of a chariot, and rebuking the Mule: "How slow you
are," said she; "will you not go faster? Take care that I don't prick
your neck with my sting." The Mule made answer: "I am not moved by your
words, but I fear him who, sitting on the next seat, guides my yoke[21]
with his pliant whip, and governs my mouth with the foam-covered reins.
Therefore, cease your frivolous impertinence, for I well know when to go
at a gentle pace, and when to run."
In this Fable, he may be deservedly ridiculed, who, without {any}
strength, gives utterance to vain threats.
[Footnote III.21: _Guides my yoke_)--Ver. 6. "Jugum meum;"
meaning, "me who bear the yoke."]
FABLE VII.
THE DOG AND THE WOLF.
I will shew in a few words how sweet is Liberty.
A Wolf, quite starved with hunger, chanced to meet a well-fed Dog, and
as they stopped to salute each other, "Pray," {said the Wolf}, "how is
it that you are so sleek? or on what food have you made so much flesh?
I, who am far stronger, am perishing with hunger." The Dog frankly
{replied}: "You may enjoy the same condition, if you can render the like
service to your master." "What {is it}?" said the other. "To be the
guardian of his threshold, {and} to protect the house from thieves at
night." "I am quite ready for that," {said the Wolf}; "at present I have
to endure snow and showers, dragging on a wretched existence in the
woods. How much more pleasant for me to be living under a roof, and, at
my ease, to be stuffed with plenty of victuals." "Come along, then, with
me," {said the Dog}. As they were going along, the Wolf observed the
neck of the Dog, where it was worn with the chain. "Whence comes this,
my friend?" "Oh, it is nothing.[22]" "Do tell me, though." "Because I
appear to be fierce, they fasten me up in the day-time, that I may be
quiet when it is light, and watch when night comes; unchained at
midnight, I wander wherever I please. Bread is brought me without my
asking; from his own table my master gives me bones; the servants throw
me bits, and whatever dainties each person leaves; thus, without trouble
{on my part}, is my belly filled." "Well, if you have a mind to go
anywhere, are you at liberty?" "Certainly not," replied {the Dog}.
"{Then}, Dog, enjoy what you boast of; I would not be a king, to lose my
liberty."
[Footnote III.22: _It is nothing_)--Ver. 17. "Nihil est." This
was a form of expression used when they wished to cut short any
disagreable question, to which they did not think fit to give a
direct answer.]
FABLE VIII.
THE BROTHER AND SISTER.
Warned by this lesson, often examine yourself.
A certain Man had a very ugly Daughter, and also a Son, remarkable for
his handsome features. These, diverting themselves, as children do,
chanced to look into a mirror, as it lay upon their mother's chair.[23]
He praises his own good looks; she is vexed, and cannot endure the
raillery of her boasting brother, construing everything (and how could
she do otherwise?) as a reproach {against herself}. Accordingly, off she
runs to her Father, to be avenged {on him} in her turn, and with great
rancour, makes a charge against the Son, how that he, though a male, has
been meddling with a thing that belongs to the women. Embracing them
both, kissing them, and dividing his tender affection between the two,
he said: "I wish you both to use the mirror every day: you, that you may
not spoil your beauty by vicious conduct; you, that you may make amends
by your virtues for your looks."
[Footnote III.23: _Their mother's chair_)--Ver. 4. The
"cathedra" was properly a soft or easy chair used in the
"gynæcæa," or women's apartments. These were of various forms and
sizes, and had backs to them; it was considered effeminate for the
male sex to use them. "Sellæ" was the name of seats common to both
sexes. The use of the "speculum," or mirror, was also confined to
the female sex; indeed, even Pallas or Minerva was represented as
shunning its use, as only befitting her more voluptuous
fellow-goddess, Venus.]
FABLE IX.
SOCRATES TO HIS FRIENDS.
The name of a friend is common; but fidelity is rarely found.
Socrates having laid for himself the foundation of a small house (a man,
whose death I would not decline, if I could acquire {similar} fame, and
{like him} I could yield to envy, if I might be but acquitted[24] when
ashes); one of the people, no matter who, {amongst such passing remarks}
as are usual in these cases, asked: "Why do you, so famed as you are,
build so small a house?"
"I {only} wish," he replied, "I could fill it with real friends."
[Footnote III.24: _I might be acquitted_)--Ver. 4. He alludes
to the fate of Socrates, who, after he was put to death by his
countrymen, was publicly pronounced to be innocent, and a statue
was erected in his honour.]
FABLE X.
THE POET, ON BELIEVING, AND NOT BELIEVING.
It is dangerous alike to believe or to disbelieve. Of either fact,
I will briefly lay before you an instance.
Hippolytus met his death,[25] because his step-mother was believed:
because Cassandra was not believed, Troy fell. Therefore, we ought to
examine strictly into the truth of a matter, rather than {suffer} an
erroneous impression to pervert our judgment. But, that I may not weaken
{this truth} by referring to fabulous antiquity, I will relate to you a
thing that happened within my own memory.
A certain married Man, who was very fond of his Wife, having now
provided the white toga[26] for his Son, was privately taken aside by
his Freedman, who hoped that he should be substituted as his next heir,
{and} who, after telling many lies about the youth, and still more about
the misconduct of the chaste Wife, added, what he knew would especially
grieve one so fond, that a gallant was in the habit of paying her
visits, and that the honor of his house was stained with base adultery.
Enraged at the supposed guilt of his Wife, the husband pretended a
journey to his country-house, and privately stayed behind in town; then
at night he suddenly entered at the door, making straight to his Wife's
apartment, in which the mother had ordered her son to sleep, keeping a
strict eye over his ripening years. While they are seeking for a light,
while the servants are hurrying to and fro, unable to restrain the
violence of his raging passion, he approaches the bed, and feels a head
in the dark. When he finds the hair cut close,[27] he plunges his sword
into {the sleeper's} breast, caring for nothing, so he but avenge his
injury. A light being brought, at the same instant he beholds his son,
and his chaste wife sleeping in her apartment; who, fast locked in her
first sleep, had heard nothing: on the spot he inflicted punishment on
himself for his guilt, and fell upon the sword which a too easy belief
had unsheathed. The accusers indicted the woman, and dragged her to
Rome, before the Centumviri.[28] Innocent as she was, dark suspicion
weighed heavily against her, because she had become possessor of his
property: her patrons stand[29] and boldly plead the cause of the
guiltless woman. The judges then besought the Emperor Augustus that he
would aid them in the discharge of their oath, as the intricacy of the
case had embarrassed them. After he had dispelled the clouds raised by
calumny, and had discovered a sure source of truth[30]: "Let the
Freedman," said he, "the cause of the mischief, suffer punishment; but
as for her, at the same instant bereft of a son, and deprived of a
husband, I deem her to be pitied rather than condemned. If the father of
the family had thoroughly enquired into the charge preferred, and had
shrewdly sifted the lying accusations, he would not, by a dismal crime,
have ruined his house from the very foundation."
Let the ear despise nothing, nor yet let it accord implicit belief at
once: since not only do those err whom you would be far from suspecting,
but those who do not err are {sometimes} falsely and maliciously
accused.
This also may be a warning to the simple, not to form a judgment on
anything according to the opinion of another; for the different aims of
mortals either follow the bias of their goodwill or their prejudice. He
{alone} will be correctly estimated {by you}, whom you judge of by
personal experience.
These points I have enlarged upon, as by too great brevity I have
offended some.
[Footnote III.25: _Met his death_)--Ver. 3. The story of
Hippolytus, who met his death in consequence of the treachery of
his step-mother Phædra, is related at length in the Play of
Euripides of that name, and in the Fifteenth Book of Ovid's
Metamorphoses. The fate of Cassandra, the daughter of Priam, who
in vain prophesied the fall of Troy, is related in the Second Book
of the Æneid, l. 246, _et seq._]
[Footnote III.26: _The white toga_)--Ver. 10. The "toga
prætexta," or Consular robe, was worn by the male children of the
Romans till their sixteenth year; when they assumed the ordinary
"toga," which was called "pura," because it had no purple border,
and was entirely white.]
[Footnote III.27: _The hair cut close_)--Ver. 27. This is
appropriately introduced, as the hair of youths was allowed to
grow long until they had reached the age of manhood, on which it
was cut close, and consecrated to the Gods.]
[Footnote III.28: _The Centumviri_)--Ver. 35. The "Centumviri"
were a body of 105 officers, whose duty it was to assist the
prætor in litigated questions. They were sometimes called "judices
selecti," or "commissioned judges."]
[Footnote III.29: _The patrons stand_)--Ver. 37. The patrons
stood while pleading the causes of their clients, while the judges
sat, as with us.]
[Footnote III.30: _Sure source of truth_)--Ver. 43. It is
suggested that the source of information here alluded to was the
evidence of the slaves, who had heard their master mention in his
last moments the treachery of his freedman. It is not probable
that the freedman voluntarily came forward, and declared the truth
to Augustus. In l. 39, Augustus is called "Divus," as having been
deified after his death. Domitian was the first who was so called
during his lifetime.]
FABLE XI.
THE EUNUCH TO THE ABUSIVE MAN.
A Eunuch had a dispute with a scurrilous fellow, who, in addition to
obscene remarks and insolent abuse, reproached him with the misfortune
of his mutilated person. "Look you," said {the Eunuch}, "this is the
only point as to which I am effectually staggered, forasmuch as I want
the evidences of integrity. But why, simpleton, do you charge me with
the faults of fortune? That {alone} is really disgraceful to a man,
which he has deserved to suffer."[31]
[Footnote III.31: _Deserved to suffer_)--Ver. 7. Though this
moral may apply to all misfortunes in general, it is supposed by
some of the Commentators that by the insulter some individual
notorious for his adulteries was intended to be represented; who
consequently merited by law to be reduced to the same situation as
the innocent Eunuch.]
FABLE XII.
THE COCK AND THE PEARL.
A young Cock, while seeking for food on a dunghill, found a Pearl, and
exclaimed: "What a fine thing are you to be lying in {so} unseemly a
place. If any one sensible of your value had espied you here, you would
long ago have returned to your former brilliancy. And it is I who have
found you, I to whom food is far preferable! I can be of no use to you
or you to me."
This I relate for those who have no relish for me.[32]
[Footnote III.32: _Have no relish for me_)--Ver. 8. From this
passage we may infer either that Phædrus himself had many
censurers at Rome, or that the people in general were not admirers
of Fables.]
FABLE XIII.
THE BEES AND THE DRONES, THE WASP SITTING AS JUDGE.
Some Bees had made their combs in a lofty oak. Some lazy Drones asserted
that these belonged to them. The cause was brought into court, the Wasp
{sitting as} judge; who, being perfectly acquainted with either race,
proposed to the two parties these terms: "Your shape is not unlike, and
your colour is similar; so that the affair clearly and fairly becomes a
matter of doubt. But that my sacred duty may not be at fault through
insufficiency of knowledge, {each of you} take hives, and pour your
productions into the waxen cells; that from the flavour of the honey and
the shape of the comb, the maker of them, about which the present
dispute exists, may be evident." The Drones decline; the proposal
pleases the Bees. Upon this, the Wasp pronounces sentence to the
following effect: "It is evident who cannot, and who did, make {them};
wherefore, to the Bees I restore the fruits of their labours."
This Fable I should have passed by in silence, if the Drones had not
refused the proposed stipulation.[33]
FABLE XIV.
ÆSOP AT PLAY.
An Athenian seeing Æsop in a crowd of boys at play with nuts,[34]
stopped and laughed at him for a madman. As soon as the Sage,--a laugher
at others rather than one to be laughed at,--perceived this, he placed
an unstrung bow in the middle of the road: "Hark you, wise man," said
he, "unriddle what I have done." The people gather round. The man
torments his invention a long time, but cannot make out the reason of
the proposed question. At last he gives up. Upon this, the victorious
Philosopher says: "You will soon break the bow, if you always keep it
bent; but if you loosen it, it will be fit for use when you want it."
Thus ought recreation sometimes to be given to the mind, that it may
return to you better fitted for thought.
[Footnote III.33: _The proposed stipulation_)--Ver. 17. It has
been suggested that Phædrus here alludes to some who had laid
claim to the authorship of his Fables, and had refused a challenge
given by him, such as that here given to the Drones, to test the
correctness of their assertions.]
[Footnote III.34: _At play with nuts_)--Ver. 2. It is thought
by Schwabe that Phædrus wrote this Fable in defence of his early
patron Augustus, against those who censured him for the levity of
his conduct in his old age, as we learn from Suetonius that he
amused himself with fishing, playing with dice, pebbles, or nuts
with boys. --For some account of Roman games with nuts, see "The
Walnut-tree," a fragment of Ovid, in vol. iii. p. 491, of Bohn's
Translation of that author.]
FABLE XV.
THE DOG TO THE LAMB.
A Dog said to a Lamb[35] bleating among some She-Goats: "Simpleton, you
are mistaken; your mother is not here;" and pointed out some Sheep at a
distance, in a flock by themselves. "I am not looking for her," {said
the Lamb}, "who, when she thinks fit, conceives, then carries her
unknown burden for a certain number of months, and at last empties out
the fallen bundle; but for her who, presenting her udder, nourishes me,
and deprives her young ones of milk that I may not go without." "Still,"
said the Dog, "she ought to be preferred who brought you forth." "Not at
all: how was she to know whether I should be born black or white?[36]
However, suppose she did know; seeing I was born a male, truly she
conferred a great obligation on me in giving me birth, that I might
expect the butcher every hour. Why should she, who had no power in
engendering me, be preferred to her who took pity on me as I lay, and of
her own accord shewed me a welcome affection? It is kindliness makes
parents, not the ordinary course {of Nature}."
By these lines the author meant to show that men are averse to fixed
rules, but are won by kind services.
[Footnote III.35: _To a Lamb_)--Ver. 1. Burmann suggests that
this Fable is levelled against the cruelty of parents, who were
much in the habit of exposing their children, who were
consequently far from indebted to them. Schwabe conjectures that
the system of employing wet-nurses is intended here to be
censured.]
[Footnote III.36: _Black or white_)--Ver. 10. This, though
disregarded by the mother, would be of importance to him, as the
black lambs were first selected for sacrifice.]
FABLE XVI.
THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE OWL.
He who does not conform to courtesy, mostly pays the penalty of his
superciliousness.
A Grasshopper was making a chirping that was disagreeable to an Owl, who
was wont to seek her living in the dark, and in the day-time to take her
rest in a hollow tree. She was asked to cease her noise, but she began
much more loudly to send forth her note; entreaties urged again only set
her on still more. The Owl, when she saw she had no remedy, and that her
words were slighted, attacked the chatterer with this stratagem: "As
your song, which one might take for the tones of Apollo's lyre, will not
allow me to go to sleep, I have a mind to drink some nectar which Pallas
lately gave me;[37] if you do not object, come, let us drink together."
The other, who was parched with thirst, as soon as she found her voice
complimented, eagerly flew up. The Owl, coming forth from her hollow,
seized the trembling thing, and put her to death.
Thus what she had refused when alive, she gave when dead.
[Footnote III.37: _Pallas lately gave me_)--Ver. 13. The Owl
was sacred to Pallas.]
FABLE XVII.
THE TREES UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE GODS.
The Gods in days of yore made choice of such Trees as they wished to be
under their protection. The Oak pleased Jupiter, the Myrtle Venus, the
Laurel Phoebus, the Pine Cybele, the lofty Poplar Hercules. Minerva,
wondering why they had chosen the barren ones, enquired the reason.
Jupiter answered: "That we may not seem to sell the honor for the
fruit." "Now, so heaven help me,"[38] said she, "let any one say what he
likes, but the Olive is more pleasing to me on account of its fruit."
Then said the Father of the Gods and the Creator of men: "O daughter, it
is with justice that you are called wise by all; unless what we do is
useful, vain is our glory."[39]
This little Fable admonishes us to do nothing that is not profitable.
[Footnote III.38: _So heaven help me_)--Ver. 8. "Mehercule,"
literally "By Hercules." This was a form of oath used generally by
men, and Phædrus has been censured for here putting it in the
mouth of Minerva. Some Commentators also think that he is guilty
of a slight anachronism in using the name of Hercules here to give
emphasis to an asseveration; but there does not appear to be any
ground for so thinking, as the choice must, of course, be supposed
to have been made after his death and deification. In the
Amphitryon of Plautus, Mercury is represented as swearing by
Hercules before that God was born.]
[Footnote III.39: _Vain is our glory_)--Ver. 12. "Nisi utile
est quod facimus, stulta est gloria." This line is said to have
been found copied on a marble stone, as part of a sepulchral
inscription, at Alba Julia or Weissenburg, in Transylvania.]
FABLE XVIII.
THE PEACOCK TO JUNO.
A Peacock came to Juno, complaining sadly that she had not given to him
the song of the Nightingale; that it was the admiration of every ear,
while he himself was laughed at the very instant he raised his voice.
The Goddess, to console him, replied: "But you surpass the {nightingale}
in beauty, you surpass {him} in size; the brilliancy of the emerald
shines upon your neck; and you unfold a tail begemmed with painted
plumage." "Wherefore {give} me," he retorted, "a beauty that is dumb, if
I am surpassed in voice?" "By the will of the Fates," {said she}, "have
your respective qualities been assigned; beauty to you, strength to the
Eagle, melody to the Nightingale, to the Raven presages, unpropitious
omens to the Crow; all of {these} are contented with their own
endowments."
Covet not that which has not been granted you, lest your baffled hopes
sink down to {useless} repinings.
FABLE XIX.
ÆSOP'S ANSWER TO THE INQUISITIVE MAN.
When Æsop was the only servant of his master, he was ordered to prepare
dinner earlier than usual. Accordingly, he went round to several houses,
seeking for fire,[40] and at last found a place at which to light his
lantern. Then as he had made a rather long circuit, he shortened the way
back, for he went home straight through the Forum. There a certain
Busybody in the crowd {said to him}: "Æsop, why with a light at
mid-day?" "I'm in search of a man,"[41] said he; and went hastily
homewards.
If the inquisitive fellow reflected on this {answer}, he must have
perceived that the sage did not deem him a man, who could so
unseasonably rally him when busy.
[Footnote III.40: _Seeking for fire_)--Ver. 3. Fire was
kindled in general by being kept smouldering in a log under the
ashes, from day to day, for culinary purposes; or else it was
begged from a neighbour, as we learn from the Aulularia of
Plautus, A. I., Sc. ii., l. 12 _et seq._; and so generally was
this done that we find it stated in the Trinummus, A. II.,
sc. ii., l. 53, that it was the custom not to refuse fire when
asked for even to an enemy.]
[Footnote III.41: _In search of a man_)--Ver 9. Meaning that
he did not deem the enquirer to be a man. The same story is told
in Diogenes Laertius, of Diogenes the Cynic.]
EPILOGUE.[42]
There are yet remaining {Fables} for me to write, but I purposely
abstain; first, that I may not seem troublesome to you, whom a
multiplicity of matters distract; and next, that, if perchance any other
person is desirous to make a like attempt, he may still have something
left to do; although there is so abundant a stock of matter that an
artist will be wanting to the work, not work to the artist. I request
that you will give the reward to my brevity which you promised; make
good your word. For life each day is nearer unto death; and the greater
the time that is wasted in delays, the less the advantage that will
accrue to me. If you dispatch the matter quickly, the more lasting will
be {my} enjoyment; the sooner I receive {your favours}, the longer shall
I have the benefit {thereof}. While there are yet some remnants of a
wearied life,[43] there is room for {your} goodness; in aftertimes your
kindness will in vain endeavour to aid me, infirm with old age; for then
I shall have ceased to be able to enjoy your kindness, and death, close
at hand, will be claiming its due. I deem it foolish to address my
entreaties to you, when your compassion is so ready, spontaneously, to
render assistance. A criminal has often gained pardon by confessing; how
much more reasonably ought it to be granted to the innocent? It is your
province[44] {now to judge of my cause}; it will fall to others
by-and-by; and again by a like revolution, the turn of others will come.
Pronounce the sentence, as religion--as your oath permits; and give me
reason to rejoice in your decision. My feelings have passed the limits
they had proposed; but the mind is with difficulty restrained, which,
conscious of unsullied integrity, is exposed to the insults of spiteful
men. "Who are they?" you will ask: they will be seen in time. For my
part, so long as I shall continue in my senses, I shall take care to
recollect that "it is a dangerous thing for a man of humble birth to
murmur in public.[45]"
[Footnote III.42: This and the following Prologue seem better
suited to their present places than to the close of the Fourth
Book, where in most of the editions they appear.]
[Footnote III.43: _Of a wearied life_)--Ver. 15. It is
impossible to say with any certainty to what he refers; but the
most probable conjecture is that he has again got into trouble
through his compositions, and is begging Eutychus, in some public
capacity, immediately to give a favourable decision in his behalf.
That "Languens ævum" means a life worn out with misfortune, and
does not refer to himself as sinking, in want, under old age, is
evident from the next line. It has been conjectured by some that
Phædrus wrote these lines in prison, where he had been thrown
through the malice of his enemies.]
[Footnote III.44: _It is your province_)--Ver. 24. He is
supposed to allude to some judicial position held by Eutychus,
which he would have to vacate at the end of a year, and be
succeeded by others, probably not so favourably disposed to
himself.]
[Footnote III.45: _To murmur in public_)--Ver. 33. "Palam
mutire plebeio piaculum est." These words are quoted from the
Telephus of Ennius.]