Aesopi Carmina: Desbillons Book 9

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This project has moved to a blog of its own: Fabulae Aesopi.

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This project has moved to a blog of its own: Fabulae Aesopi.

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I hope everybody is having a good weekend! This post continues my series of posts about the Latin verse fables of Desbillons; for more about Desbillons, see the starting post. I'm working through the poems book by book with indexes to each of the individual fables; this is the post for Book 9, and below you'll see the poem I selected from that book. Like many fables, it's got a "punchline" that makes it feel like a joke, and then the moral at the end.

IX.39 Cynicus et Rex

Cynicus talentum a Rege cum peteret sibi,

"Plus," inquit ille, "quam decet Cynicum petis."

Denarium ergo iam petit. "Petis minus,"

Ait ille rursus, "quam decet Regem dare."

Nil dare volenti causa facile suppetit.

Here is the poem written out in English prose order to help in reading:

Cum Cynicus 

peteret sibi talentum 

a Rege,

ille (Rex) inquit,

"Petis

plus quam decet Cynicum."

Ergo (Cynicus)

iam petit denarium. 

Ille (Rex) rursus ait,

"Petis 

minus quam [decet] Regem dare."

Causa suppetit facile

volenti dare nil.

Desbillons does not provide a source for this story, so I assume it is his own invention. In the notes at the back of the book, he cites a saying of Publilius Syrus for comparison: Negandi causa avaro numquam deficit. That's a perfectly nice little iambic line, so I'm surprised that Desbillons did not lift that for his own poem, although I suppose there can be other reasons for not wanting to grant a request (nil dare volens) aside from just being avarus.

The meter is iambic, and here is some help with the meter (for more about iambic meter, see the post about Desbillons 1.1).

Cynicus · talent~ · a Re · ge cum · peteret · sibi,

Plus in · quit il · le quam · decet · Cynicum · petis.

Dena · ri~ er · go iam · petit. · Petis · minus,

Ait il · le rur · sus, quam · decet · Regem · dare.

Nil dare · volen · ti cau · sa faci · le sup · petit.

As for the professed poverty of Cynics, consider Diogenes and the story of how he threw away his cup when he realized he could drink from his hands instead: Diogenes the Cynic.

More poems in Desbillons, Book 9:

1. anguilla et anguis (lines: 6)
2. piscis (lines: 6)
3. sus et apes (lines: 8)
4. picta solitudo et columba (lines: 10)
5. pastor et rex (lines: 20+)
6. rusticus et sophus (lines: 20+)
7. felis et mus (lines: 20+)
8. villicus, vulpis, et canis (lines: 14)
9. cycnus (lines: 12)
10. simius et speculum (lines: 14)
11. gallus et cochlea (lines: 7)
12. serpens et talpa (lines: 11)
13. culex (lines: 20+)
14. mulus et porcus (lines: 20+)
15. vulpis (lines: 5)
16. rubus et ovis (lines: 13)
17. villicus et columba (lines: 20+)
18. cornicula et columba (lines: 8)
19. psittacus (lines: 20+)
20. vulpis et lupus (lines: 18)
21. viatores duo et latro (lines: 13)
22. Mercurius et sculptor (lines: 13)
23. gallus et vultur (lines: 6)
24. gallus et vultur (lines: 17)
25. canis domesticus et canis externus (lines: 14)
26. simis et eius filius (lines: 8)
27. avium et piscium fedus (lines: 8)
28. arbuscula et quercus (lines: 9)
29. auceps (lines: 15)
30. rusticus et canis (lines: 20+)
31. accipiter et luscinia (lines: 9)
32. gutta, pontus et ostreum (lines: 13)
33. corvus et lupi (lines: 9)
34. cuclus, philomela, et asellus (lines: 11)
35. porcus et nautae (lines: 14)
36. iuvenci duo et pratulum (lines: 20+)
37. ursus et vulpis (lines: 6)
38. lupus et agnus (lines: 11)
39. cynicus et rex (lines: 5)
40. orator et circulator (lines: 16)