A Traveler was ready for a trip and found his Dog by the door waiting for him. Dog had gotten ready first.
The slacker often blames delay on the more active.
A Traveler was about to start on a trip with his Dog. The Dog was standing by the door stretching when the Traveler asked, “Why do you stand there? All is ready; come now.”
The Dog, wagging his tail, replied, “I am ready, it is I who wait for you.”
Townsend version
A Traveler about to set out on a journey saw his Dog stand at the door stretching himself. He asked him sharply: “Why do you stand there gaping? Everything is ready but you, so come with me instantly.” The Dog, wagging his tail, replied: “O, master! I am quite ready; it is you for whom I am waiting.”
Moral
The loiterer often blames delay on his more active friend.
Babrius Translation (The Dog and His Master)
“Gape not,” a man about to travel cried
To his dog near him; “but to start provide;
“For you must go with me.” It wagg’d its tail,
And said, “I’m right! ’Tis you in quickness fail.”
Canis et Dominus Morans
Iter qui meditabatur, aliquis adstanti caniculae “Quid hias?” dixit; “cuncta tibi fac parata sint. Mecum etenim venies.” Quae, caudam levans, “Cuncta,” inquit, “mea mihi sunt parata. Tu vero moraris.”
Perry #330