Desbillons: Simia et Vulpis

Another fable that Hector and I worked on this week from the Latin fables of Desbillons (see this post for more info) is a great one about a monkey and a fox. This is one of those fables where there is some tension about the moral. The monkey, especially when the emphasis is on the monkey's nude butt (so, an ape actually, rather than a monkey), is often an object of contempt in Aesop's fables, and the fox certainly expresses contempt for the monkey in this story. But the moral, it turns out, is on the side of the monkey, with the fox being characterized as a miser, while the monkey is deserving of charity... even though the fox gets the last word in the actual story, expressing total contempt for the monkey and especially the monkey's naked butt.

3.19 Simia et Vulpis

Vulpem rogavit Simia, ut concederet

Caudae partem aliquam, contegendas ad nates;

Etenim quod usui et honori foret sibi,

Huic esse id oneri. Vulpis at rettulit, nihil

Sibi nimium esse, et cauda humum verri sua

Se malle, quam illa Simiae nates tegi.

Significat haec fabella, raro quidpiam

Superfluum esse diviti, ut egenum juvet.

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

Simia rogavit Vulpem

ut concederet aliquam partem caudae

ad contegendas nates;

etenim id, 

quod foret usui et honori sibi (Simiae),

esse oneri huic (Vulpi).

At Vulpis rettulit

nihil nimium esse sibi, 

et se malle verri humum sua cauda

quam Simiae nates tegi illa.

Haec fabella significat

raro quidpiam esse superfluum diviti, 

ut juvet egenum.

This is a fable which shows up in Perotti's famous Appendix, and so it has featured regularly in editions of Phaedrus since it was discovered by Niccolò Perotti. As the fable also shows up in the Romulus tradition (including a Romulus in verse), that lends credibility to this fable being part of the greater Phaedrus collection. Gudius reconstructed a version from the prose Romulus, and there is also a poem by Osius for this fable. So, I'll have lots more versions of this fable to share as this project takes shape, and those are just the metrical versions, totally aside from prose versions (for example, I used a prose version from Irenaeus in the Mille Fabulae et Una book).

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

Vulpem · roga·vit Si·mi~ ut · conce·deret

Caudae · part~ ali·quam, con·tegen·das ad · nates;

Etenim · quod u·su~ et ho·nori · foret · sibi,

Huic es·s~ id one·ri. Vul·pis at ret·tulit, · nihil

Sibi ni·mi~ es·s~ et cau·d~ humum · verri · sua

Se mal·le, qu~ il·la Si·miae · nates · tegi.

Signifi·cat haec · fabel·la, ra·ro quid·piam

Super·flu~ es·se di·vit~ ut e·genum · juvet.

You can find illustrations for the fable here. Here's one from a Croxall Aesop, with this text:
The ape, meeting the fox one day, humbly requested him to give him a piece of his fine long brush tail to cover his poor naked backside, which was so exposed to all the violence and inclemency of the weather; “for,” says he, “Reynard, you have already more than you have occasion for, and a great part of it even drags along in the dirt.”

The fox answered, that as to his having too much, that was more than he knew; but, be it as it would, he had rather sweep the ground with his tail as long as he lived, than deprive himself of the least bit to cover the ape's nasty stinking posteriors.