997. Dives et Sutor. Sutor quidam ab oriente sole ad occidentem cotidie cantabat. Vicinus eius contra, argentarius bene nummatus, haud multum canebat, minus dormiebat. Cantorem tum argentarius ita interrogavit, “Dic mihi,” inquit, “mi vetule, quantum argenti quotannis mereris?” “Panem suum,” respondet, “quisque adfert dies.” Tum argentarius, alterius inscientiam ridens, “Accipe,” inquit, “nummos centum, quos ad usus necessarios serves.” Ille domum redit; nummos sub casa condit et laetitiam quidem suam cum illis. Nulla enim iam carmina, nullus inde somnus, nihil nisi curae, et, viso forte hospite, suspiciones metusque inanes. Per totum diem quasi excubabat; noctu, si quid strepitus fecerat feles, ne haec argentum abriperet metuebat. Tandem ad vicinum accurrit; “Redde,” inquit, “mihi cantum ac somnum. At istos centum nummos, en, recipe sodes.”
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M0997 (not in Perry). Source: La Fontaine 8.2 (translated into Latin prose by Moore; shortened). This fable is not in Perry’s catalog. La Fontaine may have been inspired by the story of Volteius Mena in Horace’s Epistles, 1.7. Compare the fable of the city mouse and the country mouse, #196, or the story of Socrates and his gold, #884.
