Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/534

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360

NOTES.

Note 54.⁠Page 174.

The anecdote is thus recorded by the historian: "Senectutis ultimæ quædam, Syracusanis omnibus Dionysii tyranni exitum, propter nimiam morum acerbitatem et intolerabilia onera, votis expetentibus, sola quotidie matutino tempore deos, ut incolumis ac sibi superstes esset, orabat. Quod ubi is cognovit, non debitam sibi admiratus benevolentiam, arcessit eam, et quid ita hoc, aut quo suo merito faceret, interrogavit. Tum illa, certa est, inquit, ratio propositi mei, puella enim, cum gravem tyrannum haberemus, carere eo cupiebam: quo interfecto, aliquanto tetrior arcem occupavit. Ejus quoque finiri dominationem magni æstimabam: tertium te superioribus importuniorem habere cœpimus rectorem. Itaque timens, ne, si tu fueris absumptus, deterior in locum tuum succedat, caput meam pro tua salute devoveo. Tam facetam audaciam Dionysius punire erubuit."^[1]

Val Max. Lib. vi. c. 2. Ex. 2.

This must remind the reader of Æsop's fable of the frogs who desired a king. Which is the original? It occurs among some translated Dutch fables by De Witt, under the title of "A woman praying for the long Life of Dionysius the Tyrant." See the Appendix.

↑ Rough translation of the Latin: While all the Syracusans were praying ardently for the death of the tyrant Dionysius, because of the harshness of his ways and the intolerable burdens, a single solitary woman of extreme old age was every morning imploring the gods to keep him safe and sound until after her own decease. When Dionysus learned of this, surprised at this ill-merited benevolence towards himself, he had her summoned, and queried why she did so, and whether this was due to some merit on his part. "I have a specific reason," she said, "for what I do, for when I was a girl, and we had an oppressive tyrant, I wished to be free of him. When he was killed, a rather harsher one then occupied the citadel. I longed for the end of his rule as well, but now we have got you as our third ruler, even crueler than the previous ones. So fearing lest you be destroyed and an even worse one succeed you, I devote my life to your well-being." Dionysius blushed to punish such elegant effrontery. (Wikisource contributor note)

[1] Rough translation of the Latin: While all the Syracusans were praying ardently for the death of the tyrant Dionysius, because of the harshness of his ways and the intolerable burdens, a single solitary woman of extreme old age was every morning imploring the gods to keep him safe and sound until after her own decease. When Dionysus learned of this, surprised at this ill-merited benevolence towards himself, he had her summoned, and queried why she did so, and whether this was due to some merit on his part. "I have a specific reason," she said, "for what I do, for when I was a girl, and we had an oppressive tyrant, I wished to be free of him. When he was killed, a rather harsher one then occupied the citadel. I longed for the end of his rule as well, but now we have got you as our third ruler, even crueler than the previous ones. So fearing lest you be destroyed and an even worse one succeed you, I devote my life to your well-being." Dionysius blushed to punish such elegant effrontery. (Wikisource contributor note)

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