Haec fabula discipulis placet, quia ostendit victoriam saepe ex patientia et bono consilio nasci.

Because fabula is a feminine singular noun, and haec is the feminine singular nominative form of hic, haec, hoc.

The demonstrative has to agree with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case:

• hic = masculine singular nominative
• haec = feminine singular nominative
• hoc = neuter singular nominative

So:

• haec fabula = this story

Discipulis is dative plural.

It is dative because the verb placet works differently from English like. In Latin, placere means to please. So the person who “likes” something is put in the dative:

• Haec fabula discipulis placet
  literally: This story is pleasing to the students

So:

• haec fabula = the thing that pleases
• discipulis = the people to whom it is pleasing

That is why Latin uses the dative here, not the accusative.

Because discipulis is not the subject.

The subject is haec fabula, which is singular. Therefore the verb is singular too:

• haec fabula ... placet = this story pleases ...

If the subject were plural, then the verb would be plural:

• haec fabulae discipulis placent = these stories please the students

Latin verbs agree with the subject, not with the dative noun.

The most accurate literal sense is pleases.

So:

• discipulis placet = it pleases the students

But in smoother English, we often translate that as:

• the students like it

This is a very common Latin pattern:

• mihi placet = it pleases me = I like it
• tibi placet = it pleases you = you like it

So even if the English meaning is “like,” the Latin grammar is built around please.

Because quia here introduces a real, factual reason: because it shows...

In classical and later Latin, quia is commonly followed by the indicative when the speaker presents the reason as a fact.

So:

• quia ostendit = because it shows

You may sometimes see subjunctive after causal words in other contexts, especially when the reason is presented as someone’s idea or alleged reason, but here the straightforward indicative is exactly what you would expect.

The subject is still haec fabula.

So the structure is:

• Haec fabula discipulis placet
• quia [haec fabula] ostendit ...

Latin often leaves out a repeated subject when it is easy to understand from context.

So ostendit means:

• it shows

with it referring back to this story.

Because it is the subject of an infinitive in an accusative-and-infinitive construction.

After verbs like ostendere (to show), Latin often uses indirect statement:

• ostendit victoriam ... nasci

Literally:

• it shows victory to be born / to arise ...

In this construction:

• victoriam = accusative subject of the infinitive
• nasci = infinitive

This is very normal Latin after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, perceiving, and showing.

Because after ostendit, Latin is using an indirect statement, and indirect statement takes an infinitive, not a finite verb.

So:

• ostendit victoriam ... nasci
• it shows that victory arises ...

If Latin used a full subordinate clause with that, English would say:

• it shows that victory is born/arises from patience and good judgment

But Latin usually prefers:

• victoriam ... nasci

So nasci is there because it is the infinitive required by the construction.

It belongs to a deponent verb: nascor, nasci, natus sum.

A deponent verb has passive forms but an active meaning. So although nasci looks passive in form, it means:

• to be born
• or more naturally here, to arise, to come from

In this sentence, victoriam ... nasci means something like:

• victory arises
• victory is born

So yes, the form is deponent, but the meaning is active in sense.

The preposition ex takes the ablative, so both nouns are in the ablative:

• patientia = ablative singular
• bono consilio = ablative singular

So:

• ex patientia = from patience
• ex bono consilio = from good judgment / good planning / good advice

Together:

• ex patientia et bono consilio = from patience and good judgment

This phrase tells us the source or origin of victory.

Because consilio is ablative singular after ex, and the adjective bonus has to agree with it.

So the forms must match:

• noun: consilio = neuter ablative singular
• adjective: bono = neuter ablative singular

That is why the phrase is:

• ex bono consilio

not:

• bonus consilium (wrong case)
• boni consilii (genitive, also wrong here)

Consilium can mean several related things:

• plan
• judgment
• strategy
• deliberation
• advice

In this sentence, bono consilio probably means something like:

• good judgment
• good planning
• wise strategy

So the idea is not just receiving advice, but acting with sound thinking and wise decision-making.

Saepe means often, and it modifies the idea of nasci:

• victoriam saepe ... nasci
• that victory often arises ...

It tells us how often victory comes from patience and good judgment.

Because Latin word order is flexible, saepe can stand between other words without changing what it modifies.

Because Latin has no articles.

There is no separate word for:

• the
• a
• an

So:

• fabula can mean a story or the story
• victoriam can mean victory or the victory, depending on context

English has to choose an article when translating, but Latin usually leaves that to context.

It breaks down like this:

• quia = because
• ostendit = it shows
• victoriam ... nasci = victory to arise / that victory arises
• saepe = often
• ex patientia et bono consilio = from patience and good judgment

So the grammar is:

• because
  • main verb
• followed by an accusative-and-infinitive construction

In full:

• quia ostendit victoriam saepe ex patientia et bono consilio nasci
• because it shows that victory often arises from patience and good judgment

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

English relies heavily on word order to show meaning. Latin relies much more on endings. That allows Latin authors to arrange words for:

• emphasis
• rhythm
• style
• clarity

For example:

• Haec fabula discipulis placet puts haec fabula first, highlighting the story itself.
• victoriam ... nasci places victoriam before the phrase explaining its source, and then ends with nasci, which neatly completes the indirect statement.

Even though the order differs from English, the case endings tell you how the parts fit together.

It can in other contexts, but not here.

The form haec has more than one possible use:

• feminine singular nominative = this
• neuter plural nominative/accusative = these

Here it modifies fabula, which is feminine singular, so it must mean:

• this story

If it meant these, it would need to go with a plural noun.

Because although nascor literally means to be born, Latin often uses it more broadly for things that arise, spring up, or come into being.

So in this sentence:

• victoriam ... nasci

could be translated literally as:

• victory to be born from patience and good judgment

But idiomatic English prefers:

• victory arises from patience and good judgment
• victory comes from patience and good judgment

That preserves the sense while sounding natural in English.