Rana rupta et bos

Rana rupta et bos (1.24 - The broken frog and the ox ) is a Latin fable from the liber primus of the fabulae by the Roman poet Phaedrus .

The fable

The Latin original	Translation (after Kerler, 1838)	annotation
Rana rupta et bos Inops, potentem dum vult imitari, perit. In prato quondam rana conspexit bovem, et tacta invidia tantae magnitudinis rugosam inflavit pellem. Tum natos suos interrogavit an bove esset latior. Illi negarunt. Rursus intendit cutem maiore nisu, et simili quaesivit modo, quis maior esset. Illi dixerunt 'bovem'. Novissime indignata, dum vult validius inflare sese, rupto iacuit corpore.	The broken frog and the ox. A weak person who plays the mighty goes to the bottom. The frog once saw an ox in the field, and full of displeasure at its size, He blew on the wrinkled skin, and then asked the boys whether he was bigger than the ox? But she says no. Again he stretches on the skin With greater power, and asked again, as before, Who would be greater? They then said: the ox. At last he gets angry : while he inflates himself even more violently, he bursts and falls to the ground, dead.	interpretation The fable teaches that one should not pretend what one is really not. It appeals that one should be content with what one has and not indulge in envy and covet what others have more. The fable is about the lack of height, it can be transferred to wealth or power . The proverbs “like a puffed up frog”, “a puffed up person” or “bursting with envy or bursting” can be derived from this fable.

literature

• Johann Ulrich Krausen, J. v. Vianen: Aesopian Fables. (Phaedrus) Kraus, Augsburg 1716, OCLC 258097612 .
• HJ Kerler: Roman fable poets. In: Roman poets in new metric translations . Vols 24-26. Stuttgart 1838, OCLC 604181775 , pp. 98/99.
• Johannes Siebelis: Tirocinium poeticum. Teubner, Berlin 1917, p. 25.

Web links

• The frog and the ox on uni-mannheim.de (fable with images)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Phaedrus Translations on lateinheft.de, accessed on November 29, 2013.
2. ↑ ^{a b} H. J. Kerler: Roman fable poets. P. 100. Stuttgart 1838, ( online ).
3. ↑ 10. Frog and Ox. In: Johannes Siebelis: Tirocinium poeticum. Teubner, Berlin 1917, p. 25. (PDF; 2.1 MB)
4. ↑ Phaedri Avgvsti Liberti Fabvlarvm Aesopiarvm Liber Primvs on thelatinlibrary.com, accessed November 29, 2013.
5. ↑ puffed up frog on hellenicaworld.com, accessed November 29, 2013.