Desbillons: Sus Opima

Hector and I just did one of the Latin fables of Desbillons yesterday... but it is a powerful one! (See this post for more info about Desbillons.)

5.19 Sus Opima

Forte in culinam Sus se opima contulit;

Ibique pernas, larda, botulos, dum videt:

Haec sunt suilla, dixit, et abiit gemens.

Placere nulla conditio felix potest,

Cuius odiosus praevidetur exitus.

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

Forte

Sus opima

contulit se

in culinam,

et ibi,

dum videt

pernas, larda, botulos,

dixit,

"Haec sunt suilla,"

et abiit gemens.

nulla felix conditio

potest placere

cuius exitus 

praevidetur odiosus.

The epitmythium makes sense, but it's far less powerful than the actual story itself! If I were to put this little fable into an anthology (and I hope to do so, creating an anthology of Latin Aesopic poetry), I'd leave this epimythium out and let the poor pig have the last words.

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

Fort~ in · culi · nam Sus · s~ opi · ma con · tulit;

Ibi · que per · nas lar · da botu · los, dum · videt:

Haec sunt · suil · la, dix · it et ab · iit · gemens.

Place · re nul · la con · ditio · felix · potest,

Cuius o · dio · sus prae · vide · tur ex · itus.

Desbillons cites Camerarius as his source, which turns out to be a story from the Speculum Sapientiae about a pig and a fox, where the fox is the one who brings the pig to the larger, instead of the pig going there on her own, as in Desbillons.

The version in the Speculum Sapientiae, de porco et vulpe, is very long (over 300 words!), and the version in Camerarius is on the long side too, but I did a shortened version for my Mille Fabulae et Una book, so here's that, Porcus Pinguis et Vulpes:

Pinguis et opimus assiduo pastu et diligente sagina porcus, interrogatus a vulpe unde nam ipsi tanta corporis moles et ille copiosus adeps contigisset, respondit curam hoc efficere domini, a quo omnia praeberentur abunde et etiam ingererentur. Vulpes non potuit se continere quin fatuam et insulsam bestiam redargueret atque porcum abducit intra villam ante quam forte convenerat iubetque sursum aspicere. Hoc ille vix potuit, cum difficulter cervicem reflecteret. Sed, sublatis oculis, succidiam videt, laridum, pernas, farta. Tum vulpes “Haec,” inquit, “omnia suilla sunt, et ad tales fructus tendit cultura tua.”

Here is the full version in Camerarius (click on the image for a larger view):

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