Mūs Rūsticus, vidēns Urbānum Mūrem rūs deambulantem, invītat ad cēnam
dēprōmitque omne penum,
ut tantī hospitis expleat lautitiam.
Urbānus Mūs rūris damnat inopiam urbisque cōpiam laudat,
sēcumque in urbem dūcit Rūsticum.
Quī, inter epulandum attonitus insolitīs clāmōribus,
cum intellexerat perīculum quotīdiānum esse,
dixit Urbānō Mūrī,
“Tuae dapēs plūs fellis quam mellis habent.
Mālō sēcūrus esse cum meā inopiā quam dīves esse cum tuā anxietāte.”Translation: The country mouse, seeing the city mouse walking around the countryside, invited him to supper,
and fetched out all his provisions
so that he could satisfy the sumptuous expectations of such a great guest.
But the city mouse disapproved of the poverty of the countryside and praised the abundance of the city,
and he brought the country mouse back with him to town.
In the midst of their feasting, however, the country mouse was panicked by the unfamiliar shouts.
When he realized that this was a daily danger,
he told the city mouse:
Your banquets have more bitterness than sweetness.
I prefer to be carefree in my poverty, than to be wealthy with your worries.[This translation is meant as a help in understanding the story, not as a "crib" for the Latin. I have not hesitated to change the syntax to make it flow more smoothly in English, altering the verb tense consistently to narrative past tense, etc.]
The Moral of the Story:
Divitiae quidem prae se ferunt voluptatem,
sed, si penitus introspicias, habent pericula et amaritudinem.
Maiori etenim curarum mole opprimuntur divites, quam pauperes.