You can find more Latin stories at Centum.LauraGibbs.net,
and more Tiny Tales at 100Words.LauraGibbs.net.
and more Tiny Tales at 100Words.LauraGibbs.net.
Lepus parvulus videt cervum magnum.
Sibi dicit,
"Quam gloriosus est cervus!
Et quam gloriosa cervi cornua!
Ego cervi cornua cupio!"
Cornua cupiens, lepus Iovem adit et orat,
“O creator et dominus,
ceterae bestiae diversis muneribus sunt superbae.
Sed ego parvulus sum, et timidus, ad fugam habilis.
Rogo ergo te:
da mihi cornua talia qualia cervus habet.
Si cervi cornua habebo, ego quoque gloriosus ero!"
Iuppiter, ridens, lepori cornua dat.
Sed cornibus oneratus, lepus currere non potest.
Cornua magna portans, repere vix potest.
Fabula docet:
Multi magnis honoribus inhiant,
sed, honoribus adeptis,
honores gerere nesciunt,
et viliores fiunt quam prius fuerant.
Dictionary help:
ad — adeptis — adit — bestiae — cervi — cervum — cervus — ceterae — cornibus — cornua — creator — cupiens — cupio — currere — da — dat — dicit — diversis — docet — dominus — ego — ergo — ero — est — et — fabula — fiunt — fuerant — fugam — gerere — gloriosa — gloriosus — habebo — habet — habilis — honores — honoribus — inhiant — iovem — iuppiter — lepori — lepus — magna — magnis — magnum — mihi — multi — muneribus — nesciunt — non — o — oneratus — orat — parvulus — portans — potest — prius — qualia — quam — quoque — repere — ridens — rogo — sed — si — sibi — sum — sunt — superbae — talia — te — timidus — videt — viliores — vix
Here is the version of the fable in Mille Fabulae et Una:
Mille Fabulae et Una: 163. Lepus Cornua Cupiens.
Lepus vidit cervum, magno corpore et erectis cornibus gloriosum et, suam parvitatem aegre ferens, Iovem adiit, volens de humili sua conditione querimoniam facere. Et ait Iovi, “Tibi, quia creator es et dominus, de humili sorte meae conditionis conqueror, quia, cum ceterae bestiae diversis Naturae muneribus sunt superbae, nihil mihi collatum est, nisi pedum levitas ad fugam habilis. Rogo ergo te, Creator, ut talia per te habeam cornua qualia cervus habet,” et exauditus est a Iove. Receptisque cornibus onerata fronte, currere nequivit, sed et repere vix potuit, et sic plus rogaverat quam portare posset. Sic multi magnis honoribus inhiant, quibus adeptis, cum eos gerere nesciant, viliores fiunt quam prius fuerant.
And here is an English version of the fable. This is not a translation; it's another version of the same story in 100 English words.
100-Words: Zeus and the Rabbit
And here is an English version of the fable. This is not a translation; it's another version of the same story in 100 English words.
100-Words: Zeus and the Rabbit
The rabbit admired the horns on the head of the stag, so he prayed to Zeus to grant him the honor of horns.
"You have given other animals many gifts, but I have nothing except swiftness of foot. I would like to have horns just like the stag!"
Zeus agreed to the rabbit's request and placed horns upon his head.
The horns were very heavy, though, and the rabbit could barely move beneath their weight. He was no longer swift of foot as before, and he looked ridiculous.
The moral: Beware of honors that do you dishonor in the end.
