History and Literature | Latin Words and Grammar

Lupus in Fabula: How to Speak of the Devil in Latin

This article has been reviewed in accordance with our editorial policy.

In the Roman play­wright Terence’s play Adelphoe, writ­ten c:a 160 B.C., two of the char­ac­ters, Syrus and Cte­sipho, are speak­ing when Syrus blurts out:

— Em tibi autem!
— Quid­namst?
— Lupus in fab­u­la.
— Pater est?
— Ipsust.

— Ter­ence, Adelphoe 535–539

i.e.

— But look!
— What is it?
— Talk of the dev­il!
— It’s my father?
— In person.

    (Transl. Bars­by, 2001)

Adelphoe with Cte­sipho and Syrur from Ter­ence’s Come­dies, St Albans Abbey, mid 12th century

Ter­ence makes it rather clear to us in just these few lines what the proverb Lupus in fab­u­la, i.e. lit­er­al­ly “The wolf in the sto­ry”, means and pro­vides clues as to how to use it:

When you speak of some­one or some­thing and they or it sud­den­ly appears, almost as if you were call­ing or sum­mon­ing them, this proverb is perfect.

An Eng­lish equiv­a­lent would be to Speak, or talk, of the Dev­il, and you use the Latin ver­sion in just the same way.

Varro The Wolf

How­ev­er, we not only find Lupus in fab­u­la in Terence’s, but also in the Roman ora­tor and states­man Cicero’s work. In a let­ter to Atti­cus writ­ten in Tus­cu­lum the 9th of July 45 B.C., Cicero tells Atti­cus about Var­ro, who had swung by Cicero’s house:

“De Var­rone loque­ba­mur: lupus in fab­u­la, ven­it enim ad me et qui­dem id tem­po­ris ut reti­nen­dus esset.”

— Cicero, Att. 13.33a.1

i.e. ”We were speak­ing of Var­ro: Talk of the dev­il! He called (i.e. vis­it­ed), and at such an hour that I had to ask him to stay.” (transl. Shack­le­ton Bai­ley, 1999)

As men­tioned, in Eng­lish you can say speak of the Dev­il or talk of the Dev­il. Two ver­sions of one proverb, that ulti­mate­ly mean the same thing. For Latin, it is the same.

Cicero at his desk writ­ing Epis­tu­lae Ad Famil­iares, wood­cut from 1547.

Wolf Version

While Cicero and Ter­ence used Lupus in fab­u­la, “the wolf in the sto­ry”, Plau­tus (c:a 254–184 B.C.) had his own ver­sion. In his play Stichus the char­ac­ter Epig­no­mus says to Pampi­la, just as Gelasimus enters the stage:

“Atque eccum tibi lupum in sermone”

— Plau­tus, Stichus, 577

i.e. “And look, here you have the wolf in the fable (lit. “in the con­ver­sa­tion”).” (transl. Melo, 2013)

Down­load a pdf and a recording Get an audio file and a print-ready PDF of Cicero’s let­ter to Atti­cus in which he uses the proverb “Lupus in fab­u­la”. Click Here.

Dogs, Donkeys And Devils

This proverb, to speak of some­one as a way of sum­mon­ing them or per­haps as a warn­ing of keep­ing your tongue, is found in dif­fer­ent ver­sions all around the world. Some speak of dogs, cats or wolves, oth­er proverbs of don­keys, dev­ils or tigers, and yet oth­ers of kings, lions and trolls.

Usu­al­ly the proverbs are split in two with only the first half used, such as with the Eng­lish ver­sions (there are several):

  • Speak of the dev­il (and he is at your tail)
  • Speak of the dev­il (and he shall appear)
  • Speak of the dev­il and he’s present­ly at your elbow, etc.

The French do the same but derive their proverb from the Latin with their Quand on par­le du loup, (on en voit sa queue), i.e. “When one speaks of the wolf, (one sees its tail).”

The Swedes are a bit more super­sti­tious and instead uses trolls: När man talar om trollen, så står de i farstun, i.e. ”When you speak of the trolls, they’re in your hall­way.” The sec­ond half is rarely used.

The Dan­ish and Nor­weigians are per­haps the most opti­mistic as they say: Når man taler om solen, så skin­ner den/Når man snakker om sola, så skin­ner’n, which trans­lates to “When you speak of the sun, it shines.”

Lupus In Fab­u­la In Oth­er Languages?

Dan­sk: Når man taler om solen, så skin­ner den.

Deutsch: Wenn man vom Teufel spricht, kommt er gegangen.

Español: Hablan­do del rey de Roma, por la puer­ta asoma!

Français: Quand on par­le du loup, (on en voit sa queue).

Ital­iano: Lupo in favola.

Norsk: Når man snakker om sola, så skinner’n.

Sven­s­ka: När man talar om trollen (så står de i farstun).

Por­tuguês: Falan­do no dia­bo, aparece o rabo.


References

  • Ter­ence. Phormio. The Moth­er-in-Law. The Broth­ers.Edit­ed and trans­lat­ed by John Bars­by. Loeb Clas­si­cal Library 23. Cam­bridge, MA: Har­vard Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 2001.
  • Cicero. Let­ters to Atti­cus, Vol­ume IV. Edit­ed and trans­lat­ed by D. R. Shack­le­ton Bai­ley. Loeb Clas­si­cal Library 491. Cam­bridge, MA: Har­vard Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 1999.
  • Plau­tus. Stichus. Trinum­mus. Tru­cu­len­tus. Tale of a Trav­el­ling Bag. Frag­ments. Edit­ed and trans­lat­ed by Wolf­gang de Melo. Loeb Clas­si­cal Library 328. Cam­bridge, MA: Har­vard Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 2013.

If you like proverbs with wolves, you can learn more about what hold­ing a wolf by the ears mean in Latin here


If you want to help out, con­sid­er sup­port­ing Latini­tium on Patre­on by click­ing below.

Amelie Rosengren

Amelie Rosengren

Amelie Rosengren, M.A. and co-founder of Latinitium, is a published author, illustrator and historian. She specializes in daily life, has a soft spot for historic curiosities, and works as a museum educator at the world’s oldest open air museum, Skansen.
Written by Amelie Rosengren

Written by Amelie Rosengren

Related articles

The Latin of Saxo Grammaticus

The Latin of Saxo Grammaticus

The Hunt for Saxo  Shortly after the year 1208, Saxo Grammaticus put the finishing touches to his great ...
The Supine in Latin Grammar: What it is and What its Function is

The Supine in Latin Grammar: What it is and What its Function is

Among Latin’s many verb forms, the supine, causes students quite a lot of confusion. In this article, I will ...