Part 1 (1/2)
The Fables of Phaedrus.
by Phaedrus.
PREFACE.
In the Translation of Phaedrus, the Critical Edition by Orellius, 1831, has been used, and in the aesopian Fables, the text of the Parisian Edition of Gail, 1826. The Notes will, it is believed, be found to embody the little that is known of the contemporary history of the Author.
H. T. R.
THE FABLES OF PHaeDRUS.
BOOK I.
THE PROLOGUE.
The matter which aesop, the inventor {of Fables}, has provided, I have polished in Iambic verse. The advantages of {this} little work are twofold--that it excites laughter, and by counsel guides the life {of man}. But if any one shall think fit to cavil, because not only wild beasts, but even trees speak, let him remember that we are disporting in fables.
FABLE I.
THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.
Driven by thirst, a Wolf and a Lamb had come to the same stream; the Wolf stood above, and the Lamb at a distance below. Then, the spoiler, prompted by a ravenous maw, alleged a pretext for a quarrel. ”Why,” said he, ”have you made the water muddy for me {while I am} drinking?” The Fleece-bearer, trembling, {answered}: ”Prithee, Wolf, how can I do what you complain of? The water is flowing downwards from you to where I am drinking.” The other, disconcerted by the force of truth, {exclaimed}: ”Six months ago, you slandered me.” ”Indeed,” answered the Lamb, ”I was not born {then}.” ”By Hercules,” said {the Wolf}, ”{then 'twas} your father slandered me;” and so, s.n.a.t.c.hing him up, he tore him to pieces, killing him unjustly.
This Fable is applicable to those men who, under false pretences, oppress the innocent.
FABLE II.
THE FROGS ASKING FOR A KING.
When Athens[1] was flouris.h.i.+ng under just laws, liberty grown wanton embroiled the city, and license relaxed the reins of ancient discipline.
Upon this, the partisans of factions conspiring, Pisistratus the Tyrant[2] seized the citadel. When the Athenians were lamenting their sad servitude (not that he was cruel, but because every burden is grievous to those who are unused to it), and began to complain, aesop related a Fable to the following effect:--
”The Frogs, roaming at large in their marshy fens, with loud clamour demanded of Jupiter a king, who, by {his} authority, might check their dissolute manners. The Father of the G.o.ds smiled, and gave them a little Log, which, on being thrown {among them} startled the timorous race by the noise and sudden commotion in the bog. When it had lain for some time immersed in the mud, one {of them} by chance silently lifted his head above the water, and having taken a peep at the king, called up all the rest. Having got the better of their fears, vying with each other, they swim towards him, and the insolent mob leap upon the Log. After defiling it with every kind of insult, they sent to Jupiter, requesting another king, because the one that had been given them was useless. Upon this, he sent them a Water Snake,[3] who with his sharp teeth began to gobble them up one after another. Helpless they strive in vain to escape death; terror deprives them of voice. By stealth, therefore, they send through Mercury a request to Jupiter, to succour them in their distress.
Then said the G.o.d in reply: 'Since you would not be content with your good fortune, continue to endure your bad fortune.'”
”Do you also, O fellow-citizens,” said {aesop}, ”submit to the present evil, lest a greater one befall you.”
[Footnote I.1: _When Athens_)--Ver. 1. This probably alludes to the government of Solon, when Archon of Athens.]
[Footnote I.2: _Pisistratus the Tyrant_)--Ver. 5. From Suidas and Eusebius we learn that aesop died in the fifty-fourth Olympiad, while Pisistratus did not seize the supreme power at Athens till the first year of the fifty-fifth. These dates, however, have been disputed by many, and partly on the strength of the present pa.s.sage.]
[Footnote I.3: _A Water-Snake_)--Ver. 24. Pliny tells us that the ”hydrus” lives in the water, and is exceedingly venomous. Some Commentators think that Phaedrus, like aesop, intends to conceal a political meaning under this Fable, and that by the Water-Snake he means Caligula, and by the Log, Tiberius. Others, perhaps with more probability, think that the cruelty of Tiberius alone is alluded to in the mention of the snake. Indeed, it is doubtful whether Phaedrus survived to the time of Caligula: and it is more generally believed that the First and Second Books were written in the time of Augustus and Tiberius.]