The Fisherman & the Fish (Babrius 4)
Fable Friday | Aesop’s Fables | Translation from Babrius & Phaedrus Fables
I hope to keep up this new project of translating from Babrius & Phaedrus’s Fables—a collection of Greek and Latin poetry of Aesop’s Fables. My goal is to post a new translation every Friday or every other Friday, depending on the length of the fable and the time available.
The Fisherman & the Fish
|1| A fisherman hauled in his net, which he had just recently cast,
|2| and—as fortune would have it—the net was full of multifarious, succulent fish.
|3| Now, the small fish among them fled to the bottom
|4| and slipped out of the meshed fishing net,
|5| but, the large fish—because they had been caught—were laid out in the fishing boat.
~~~~
|6| In a manner of speaking, being small is safe and free from misfortune,
|7| but you seldom might see
|8| a great man, who flees from risk, with a remarkable reputation.
Le Greek
Ἁλιεὺς σαγήνην ἣν νεωστὶ βεβλήκει
ἀνείλετ'· ὄψου δ' ἔτυχε ποικίλου πλήρης.
τῶν δ' ἰχθύων ὀ λεπτὸς εἰς βυθὸν φεύγων
ὑπεξέδυνε δικτύου πολυτρήτου,
ὁ μέγας δ' ἀγρευθεὶς εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ἡπλώθη.
Σωτήριόν πώς ἐστι καὶ κακῶν ἔξω
τὸ μικρὸν εἶναι· τὸν μέγαν δὲ τῇ δόξῃ
σπανίως ἴδοις ἂν ἐκφυγόντα κινδύνους.
If you wish to read more of Aesop’s fables and the New Testament, would you kindly subscribe?
More Literal, Stricter Greek Syntax, with Notes | My Thought Process
|1| A fisherman1 took up2 his net, which he had just now3 cast;
|2| And, it happened4 that (it was) full of varied,5 delicate6 fish.
|3| But, the small (ones) of7 the fish, fleeing to the bottom (of the net),
|4| slipped out the many-holed8 fishing-net.9
|5| And the large (ones), having been caught,10 were laid out in the fishing boat.11
~~
|6| In a certain way,12 to be small13 is safety and out of evil/ills,14
|7| But, a great15 (one, i.e., man,) with respect to his repute16
|8| you seldom17 might18 see—him who flees19 from risks/ventures.
LSJ ἁλιεύς A. one who has to do with the sea, and so, 1. fisher, Od.12.251, 22.384, Hdt.3.42, S.Fr.115, Pl.Ion539e, etc.: “ἀνὴρ ἁ.” Hes.Sc.214. 2. seaman, sailor, Od.24.419; ἐρέτας ἁλιῆας rowers on the sea, 16.349; as Adj., ἁλιεὺς στρατός Opp.H.5.121. 3. a fish, = βάτραχος, Arist.HA 620b12, Plu.2.978d, Paus.3.21.5.
Cp. Matt 4:19, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων.
From line 2.
LSJ τυγχάνω B. gain one's end or purpose, succeed. The word means “happen upon”; it’s root is connected with luck/fortune/fate. The idea is, “it so happened” or “as fate would have it” etc.
LSJ ποικίλος A. many-coloured, spotted, pied, dappled... III. metaph., changeful, diversified, manifold.
LSJ ὄψον A. cooked or otherwise prepared food, a made dish, eaten with bread and wine... the greatest of delicacies... 3. at Athens, esp. fish, the chief delicacy of the Athenians (“πολλῶν ὄντων ὄ. ἐκνενίκηκεν ὁ ἰχθὺς μόνος ἢ μάλιστά γε ὄψον καλεῖσθαι” Plu.2.667f, cf. Ath.7.276e); so in Pap., ὄ. as collective, = fish, PCair. Zen. 82.17 (iii B. C.); in Hp.Mul.1.37 ὄψα θαλάσσια is v.l. (dub.).
So, “dainty”; “delectable”; “succulent”
Partitive gen.
LSJ πολύτρητος A. much-pierced, full of holes, porous.
LSJ τρητός A. perforated, with a hole in it.
There is a lexical shift here. “Net” previously was σαγήνη, but here it is δίκτυον.
LSJ σαγήνη A.large drag-net for taking fish, seine, Ital. sagena
LSJ δίκτυον A.net: 1. fishing-net,
Circumstantial participle: causal; “because they had been caught.”
LSJ πλοῖον A. floating vessel: hence, generally, ship,... when distd. from ναῦς, without Adj., mostly merchant-ship or transport, as opp. ship of war.
I prefer to use a different word than just “boat” because ναῦς was not used. This is a personal preference of mine. Perhaps, “skiff.”
LSJ πως enclit. Adv. of Manner, A.II. in a certain way.
Not to be confused with πῶς; the accent in the text is because the adverb in enclitic followed by ἐστιν.
From line 7.
This is an articular infinitive with an adjective, τὸ μικρὸν εἶναι, which taken ridiculously literally means, “the to be small,” i.e., the state of smallness. So, in English, “being small” is probably the best way to convey the thought.
There is not a lexical parallel with the “small” (λεπτός) fish.
LSJ κακός A.bad:... II. of things, evil, pernicious... unlucky.
There is a play on words here that can be lost in translation. The “big/large (ones)”—fish—of line 5 are called ὁ μέγας (ho megas), and “greatness” here is τὸν μέγαν (ton megan); the same word has been used for both.
Dative of respect.
LSJ δόξα III. the opinion which others have of one, estimation, repute, first in Sol.13.4 ἀνθρώπων δόξαν ἔχειν ἀγαθήν, cf. 34; “δ. ἐπ᾽ ἀμφότερα φέρεσθαι” Th.2.11... 2. mostly, good repute, honour, glory
In the NT, it is commonly used for “glory,” as also in the LXX, e.g., the glory of the Lord (Exod 16:7, δόξαν κυρίου)
The syntax here is inverted in English, but I have preserved what is in the Greek. A bit awkward in English having the object (the accusative) come first, but it is not unintelligible.
LSJ σπάνιος A. rare, scarce, scanty... III. Adv. -ίως seldom, X.Ages.9.1
Optative with ἀν Smyth §1824 “Potential Optative. — The potential optative with ἄν states a future possibility, propriety, or likelihood, as an opinion of the speaker; and my be translated by may, might, can (especially with a negative), must, would, should, (rarely will, shall)...”
Attributive participle—descriptive