Phaedrus: the war between mice and weasels.

For years now I have mice in my house,, I can even hear them when I am working behind my pc a meter or so away having fun in my living room and yesterday I saw a well-fed mouse running over my sink. I have tried mouse-traps and poison, but they keep up coming.

In the following fable by Phaedrus an army of mice lost a battle against weasels and are fleeing away into their holes. They escape, except for those generals who had put horns on their heads as a visible sign (conspicuum sgnum) for the soldiers to follow them. Thus far I haven’t seen such mice in my house, so I suspect I have to deal with guerrilla warfare. We all know you can’t win that…

Phaedrus , Fabulae book 4, VI. Pugna Murium et Mustelarum

(meter: iambic)

Cum victi mures mustelarum exercitu

(historia, quot sunt, in tabernis pingitur)

fugerent et artos circum trepidarent cavos,

aegre recepti, tamen evaserunt necem:

duces eorum, qui capitibus cornua

suis ligarant ut conspicuum in proelio

haberent signum quod sequerentur milites,

haesere in portis suntque capti ab hostibus;

quos immolatos victor avidis dentibus

capacis alvi mersit Tartareo specu.

Quemcumque populum tristis eventus premit,

periclitatur magnitudo principium,

minuta plebes facili praesidio latet.

mures: the very fact that this word is about the same in Latin, Germanic, Greek, Sanskrit, Russian and other Indo-European languages, proves that this animal has been a constant menace  since Indo-European came into existence.

mustela: weasel (weasels are known as mouse-catchers and one proposed etymology for this word is indeed `mouse-stealer’, but this is far from certain.)

in tabernis pingitur: the walls of pubs were decorated with various  images, like old-fashioned pubs  still have paintings hanging on the walls)

artus: narrow

trepido:  nervously tripping (as they can’t all at the same time escape into the narrow holes artos cavos.)

aegre recepti: concessive `though they were received with difficulty’(recepti cavis)

nex necis (f.): killing, violent death

ligo: to bind, fasten

haereo haesi: to stick

immolo: to sacrifice (immolatos is predicate `who as victims’)

avidus: greedy

capax,  capacis: large

alvus: womb

mergo mersi mersum: to plunge, swallow

specus, -us (f. and m.): chasm, pit

Tartareus; Tartarean   

tristis eventus: grim fate

periclitor: to be in danger

minuta= humilis

plebes, -es (f.) = plebs

facili praesidio latet: hides away in an easy protection/hiding (another possibility is to take praedisum as `government, high officials’  - so Siebilis and Polle in their edition (1889). In that case facili would mean `easy to find’ and facili praesidio.must be taken as in instrumental ablative; `hide away through (= behind)

Translation by Christopher Smart (1722–1771)

The Battle of the Mice and Weasels

The routed Mice upon a day

Fled from the Weasels in array;

But in the hurry of the flight,

What with their weakness and their fright

Each scarce could get into his cave :

Howe'er, at last their lives they save.

But their commanders (who had tied

Horns to their heads in martial pride,

Which as a signal they design'd

For non-commission'd mice to mind)

Stick in the entrance as they go,

And there are taken by the foe,

Who, greedy of the victim, gluts

With mouse-flesh his ungodly guts.

Each great and national distress

Must chiefly mighty men oppress;

While folks subordinate and poor

Are by their littleness secure.