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.
In mundi initio, bos creatus est sine cornibus.
Sui iuris ambulat per campos,
iugi expers,
superbus,
erecta cervice,
sed sine cornibus.
Bos sibi dicit,
"Vires meas sentio,
et nulli animalium cedo
aut viribus aut mole corporis!
Sed arma non habeo.
Cornibus mihi opus est!"
Supplex ergo bos Iovem petiit,
"O Iuppiter,
pater deorum et effector omnium creaturarum,
da mihi cornua!"
Annuit Iuppiter bovis votis,
cornua hinc et inde capiti inserens.
Sed bovis felicitas non durat.
Homines nunc bovem cornibus capiunt et ligant.
Cornibus sic ligatus,
bos iugo addictus est.
Sub onere bos ingemiscit.
"Cornua inutilia habeo,
sed libertate utilissima careo."
Dictionary help:
addictus — ambulat — animalium — annuit — arma — aut — bos — bovem — bovis — campos — capiti — capiunt — careo — cedo — cervice — cornibus — cornua — corporis — creaturarum — creatus — da — deorum — dicit — durat — effector — erecta — ergo — est — et — expers — felicitas — habeo — hinc — homines — in — inde — ingemiscit — initio — inserens — inutilia — iovem — iugi — iugo — iuppiter — iuris — libertate — ligant — ligatus — meas — mihi — mole — mundi — non — nulli — nunc — o — omnium — onere — opus — pater — per — petiit — sed — sentio — sibi — sic — sine — sub — sui — superbus — supplex — utilissima — vires — viribus — votis
Here is the version of the fable in Mille Fabulae et Una:
Mille Fabulae et Una: 282. Bos et Iuppiter.
Ferunt, initio, bovem creatum sine cornibus, adeo ut sui iuris et iugi expers vagaretur per campos, erecta cervice. Sed ubi vires suas sensit, nulli paene animalium mole corporis aut viribus cedens, exarmatum se esse indoluit. Ergo, supplex, a Iove petiit sibi dari cornua. Annuit Iuppiter votis eius cornuaque hinc et inde capiti inseruit. Sed novae felicitatis gaudio et usu non diu potitus est. Nam cum antea non haberet unde capi et ligari posset, natis cornibus comprehensus et ligatus, iugo addictus est et arandae terrae mancipatus. Quo sub onere deinceps ingemiscit deperditam libertatem; optimum esse sentiens, si creatura se Dei arbitrio committat, et nil ab eo petat, quam quod eius beneplacitum est voluntati.
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: Jupiter and the Bull
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: Jupiter and the Bull
In the beginning, Jupiter created the bull without horns. He wandered the meadows freely, head held high, one of the biggest and strongest of the animals.
But then the bull wanted to be even more powerful, so he prayer to Jupiter, "Please give me horns!"
Jupiter agreed and put horns on the bull's head.
But the bull soon discovered that he could be tied by the horns, then yoked to the plow, and made to labor as a slave.
He groaned under the weight and lamented his lost liberty, wishing he had been satisfied with what Jupiter originally gave him.
