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Aesop's Fables: Phaedrus

Appendix XXV. Serpens et lacerta (Perry 552)

Vbi leonis pellis deficit, uulpinam insuendam esse; hoc est, ubi deficiunt uires astu utendum

Serpens lacertam forte auersam prenderat,
quam deuorare patula cum uellet gula,
arripuit illa prope iacentem surculum,
et pertinaci morsu transuersum tenens
auidum solleti rictum frenauit mora.
praedam dimisit ore serpens inritam.

Latin text from Phaedrus at The Latin Library (Ad Fontes), English translations from The Fables of Phaedrus Translated into English Verse by Christopher Smart (London: 1913). Ben Perry, Babrius and Phaedrus (Loeb), contains the Latin texts of Phaedrus, with a facing English translation, along with a valuable appendix listing all the Aesop's fables attested in Greek and/or in Latin. Invaluable.