Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Rabbit, the Dog and the Goatherd

The Rabbit, the Dog and the Goatherd. A dog was chasing a furry-footed rabbit that he had roused from inside a thicket, being an expert hunter as he was. In running, however, he was not match for the rabbit. A goatherd happened to see all this and said jokingly, "Has such a teeny-tiny creature turned out to be faster than you?" To which the dog replied, "It's one thing to run after something you want to catch; it's something else again to run for your life."

Lepus, Canis et Caprarius. Ex fruticeto Leporem villosipedem quem excitaverat, insequebatur Canis, venandi non imperitus. Cursu tamen fuit impar. Et caprarius quidam dixit per iocum, "Quantula bestia reperta fuit te velocior?" Cui Canis, "Currit aliquis aliter alium rapere qui cupit, et aliter alium qui ex malo servat."

Notes. This is Babrius 69 , which is Perry 331 in Perry's classification scheme. This is one of those fables that shows how things always depend on their context: the dog and the rabbit are both on the run, but their reasons for running are quite different!

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