Phaedrus’ THE MAN AND THE ASS*

Posted by jlubans on June 01, 2018

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A Man having sacrificed a young boar to the god Hercules, to whom he owed performance of a vow made for the preservation of his health, ordered the remains of the barley to be set for the Ass.
But he refused to touch it, and said: “I would most willingly accept your food, if he who had been fed upon it had not had his throat cut.”
Warned by the significance of this Fable, I have always been careful to avoid the gain that exposed to hazard.
“But,” say you, “those who have got riches by rapine, are still in possession of them.”
Come, then, let us enumerate those, who, being detected, have come to a bad end; you will find that those so punished constitute a great majority.
Rashness brings luck to a few, misfortune to most.”
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I suppose when Mr. Putin allegedly “takes out” an exiled Russian oligarch, we might say this is one of those in the fable who “got richness by rapine” coming “to a bad end”.
But then say you, what of Mr. Putin? Good question. Phaedrus last line suggests just deserts may lurking around the corner.
And, so it is in the work world. Those who have harmed others, stepping on the fingers and heads of those scrambling up the ladder of success may yet get their comeuppance.

*Source:
The Comedies of Terence. And the Fables of Phædrus. Literally translated into English prose with notes, by Henry Thomas Riley. To which is added a metrical translation of Phædrus, by Christopher Smart. London: George Bell & Sons. 1887.

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© Copyright John Lubans 2018



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