Latronis Filii: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:43, 12 December 2024

The Sons of the Bandit

After a long career of theft and robbery, a bandit chief gives up his life of crime and settles down to live like a lord on his wealth. He encourages his sons to take up respectable careers, but they want to become robbers like their father. They decide to steal the queen's horse, and hide the youngest brother instead a bundle of hay sent to the horse's stall. When the brother emerges and rides off on the horse, however, the queen's guards spot him, and all the brothers are arrested. The queen summons their father and asks if he will pay their bail; when he refuses, she asks for stories of his exploits in exchange for clemency for his sons. He begins to tell the stories Polyphemus and Striges.

Polyphemus (see inset story page for notes)

The bandit chief tells of his band's attempts to rob a group of giants, who instead capture them. Together with nine companions, the bandit is held captive by a giant with an injured eye who rejects their offer of ransom, and instead eats the other robbers, one by one over the coming days. The bandit himself is, he claims, forced to eat his fellows too. On the day when he is to be eaten, he offers to heal the giant's eye in exchange for his life; when the giant agrees, he pours a vat of boiling ingredients over the giant's face, and the giant is blinded. He rolls about on the floor in pain and blindly tries to find the bandit. The bandit conceals himself amonst the giant's flock of sheep, and tries to escape out into the pasture when the flock is sent forth - but unluckily, the giants feels around for the fattest sheep to eat every day, and the bandit seems like a tasty morsel and is grabbed. He escapes, and is caught again, and escapes again; seven times this occurs, until the giant is disgusted and allows him to leave, tried of the chase. A stone's throw from the bandit stopped, celebrating his escape and mocking the giant for failing to catch him so many times. Grudgingly, the giant offers him a ring as a reward - but once the bandit puts it on, he cannot take it off, and cannot stop himself from shouting out 'I'm here! I'm here!'. Finally able to locate him, the giant lunges for him, but the bandit bites off his own finger, and runs away in silence.

Critical Literature
Nishimura (2001), Gilleland (1981)

Latronis Filii appears in the following versions and secondary versions

Latronis Filii is narrated in the following occurrences

Narrator	Pages
Sixth Master	Dolopathos, French Dolopathos, Latin Dolopathos

Latronis Filii appears in the following manuscripts
This inset story appears in no manuscripts of the database

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 After a long career of theft and robbery, a bandit chief gives up his life of crime and settles down to live like a lord on his wealth. He encourages his sons to take up respectable careers, but they want to become robbers like their father. They decide to steal the queen's horse, and hide the youngest brother instead a bundle of hay sent to the horse's stall. When the brother emerges and rides off on the horse, however, the queen's guards spot him, and all the brothers are arrested. The queen summons their father and asks if he will pay their bail; when he refuses, she asks for stories of his exploits in exchange for clemency for his sons. He begins to tell the stories Polyphemus and Striges.
+'''[[Polyphemus]]''' ''(see inset story page for notes)''
+The bandit chief tells of his band's attempts to rob a group of giants, who instead capture them. Together with nine companions, the bandit is held captive by a giant with an injured eye who rejects their offer of ransom, and instead eats the other robbers, one by one over the coming days. The bandit himself is, he claims, forced to eat his fellows too. On the day when he is to be eaten, he offers to heal the giant's eye in exchange for his life; when the giant agrees, he pours a vat of boiling ingredients over the giant's face, and the giant is blinded. He rolls about on the floor in pain and blindly tries to find the bandit. The bandit conceals himself amonst the giant's flock of sheep, and tries to escape out into the pasture when the flock is sent forth - but unluckily, the giants feels around for the fattest sheep to eat every day, and the bandit seems like a tasty morsel and is grabbed. He escapes, and is caught again, and escapes again; seven times this occurs, until the giant is disgusted and allows him to leave, tried of the chase. A stone's throw from the bandit stopped, celebrating his escape and mocking the giant for failing to catch him so many times. Grudgingly, the giant offers him a ring as a reward - but once the bandit puts it on, he cannot take it off, and cannot stop himself from shouting out 'I'm here! I'm here!'. Finally able to locate him, the giant lunges for him, but the bandit bites off his own finger, and runs away in silence.
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