Phaedrus (Extra): Vultur et Aliae Aves

You can read more about Phaedrus at Wikipedia, and here are all the Phaedrus poems I have posted at this blog, plus the reconstructed Phaedrus poems too. This reconstruction comes from the work of Petrus Burmannus, a.k.a. Pieter Burman the Elder.

This fable appears in the classical Greek Aesop with a predatory cat instead of a predatory bird; then, in the medieval Latin tradition, it is told about a predatory bird, and in Caxton it is a hawk:

And here is the reconstructed poem:

7. Vultur et Aliae Aves

Vultur, natalem simulans se celebrare, aves

Domum invitavit. Deinde ingressus ostium

Occlusit atque caedere coepit singulas.

Sic spem tribuentes saepe struunt contraria.

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

Vultur, 

simulans se celebrare natalem, 

invitavit aves domum. 

Deinde ingressus 

occlusit ostium

atque coepit caedere singulas.

Sic 

tribuentes spem 

saepe struunt contraria.

The meter is iambic:

Vultur, · nata·lem simu·lans se · celebrar~ · aves

Dom~ in·vita·vit. Deind~ · ingres·sus os·tium

Occlu·sit at·que cae·dere coe·pit sin·gulas.

Sic spem · tribuen·tes sae·pe struunt · contra·ria.

Here's an illustration from Salomon's 16th-century Aesop: