A Latin Reader

FABLES
1. Flattered Out of His Cheese

Corvus, quī ali­cunde case­um rapuer­at, in altam arborem sub­volāvit. Vulpēcu­la, quae case­um appetē­bat, corvum ita adlo­quitur: “Fōr­mam tuam magnopere laudō et pen­nārum tuārum nitōrem. Pol! sī can­tus tuus pul­chritū­di­ni tuae respon­det, rēx avi­um es.” Tum corvus, laudibus vulpēcu­lae īnflā­tus, can­tāre cōnā­tus est. Sed ē rōstrō apertō dēlāp­sus est caseus, quem vulpēcu­la sta­tim dēvorāvit. Ver­ba adulātōrum sunt pretī parvī, ut haec fābu­la docet.

had stolen, from rapiō.

vulpēs is fox, vulpēcu­la, lit­tle fox. The suf­fix -cula is often thus used in form­ing diminutives.

had a great desire for. Eng­lish appetite is a direct descen­dant from this word.

By Pol­lux! a very com­mon excla­ma­tion. Pol­lux was one of the numer­ous Roman demigods.

Dative of Indi­rect Object.

cor­re­sponds to, is equal to.

Abla­tive of Cause, with inflā­tus.

puffed up, per­fect par­tici­ple of īnflō.

ē rōstrō apertō: out of his opened beak, i.e. opened in the effort to sing. apertō is the per­fect par­tici­ple of aper­iō.

From dēlabōr, slip out.

pretī parvī: of lit­tle val­ue.

as. With this mean­ing ut takes the indicative.

corvus, ‑Ī, m., crow, raven.

ali­cunde (aliquis, some, and unde, whence), from some source or other.

caseus, ‑ī„ m., cheese.

altus, ‑a, ‑um (par­tici­ple of alō, nour­ish), grown; high, tali, lofty; deep.

arbor, arboris, f., tree.

sub­vo­lo, ‑āre, ‑āvī, ‑ātus (volō, fly), fly up, fly away.

nitor, nitōris, m., bril­liance, brightness.