Desbillons: Canis et Lepores Duo

As part of this work on the Latin fables of Desbillons (see this post for more info), I'm reading some poems with Hector Tapia, and I just realized I forgot to post this fable that we worked on a couple weeks ago; it's all about the perils of multitasking!

1.26 Canis et Lepores Duo  

Unum insecutus in campo leporem canis,

Videt alterum, et eum similiter studet insequi.

Utrumque sed dum capere vult, neutrum capit.

Sibi ipsa semper aviditas nimia officit.

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

Canis,

insecutus unum leporem in campo,

videt alterum, 

et studet insequi eum similiter.

sed

dum vult capere utrumque,

capit neutrum.

nimia aviditas ipsa officit sibi semper.

This is not a classical fable; Desbillons used as his source a fable of Le Brun: Le Chien & les deux Lievres. Compare the Latin proverb: "Duos insequens lepores, neutrum capit."

Hare by James Seymour

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

Un~ in · secu · tus in  · campo  · leporem · canis,

Videt al · ter~ et e · um simi · liter stu · det in · sequi.

Utrum · que sed · dum cape · re vult · neutrum · capit.

Sib~ ip · sa sem · per avi · ditas  · nimi~ of · ficit.

And for more Desbillons, here are the other poems I've posted so far here at the blog. :-)