Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)
1. GALLUS REPERTOR UNIONIS. (Perry 503)
MORE fimeta suo cristatus ut eruit ales,
Invento cupiens se satiare cibo:
Repperit everso radiantem stercore gemmam,
Nulla tamen spes hinc utilitatis erat.
Cur ait hanc rem nos erat invenisse necesse,
Nil mihi quae prodest sit pretiosa licet.
Triticeo potiens grano quin laetior essem,
Gemma potest oculos pascere, nilque gulam.
Tollere quam nolim, quia nec decus addere novi
Huic ego, quique mihi quaeritur, usus abest.
Quae petit, in neutro sic commoda percipit alter,
Nil ut ego huic prosim, me iuvat illa nihil.
Splendorem multis fortuna benignius offert,
Sed quo sustineant non didicere modo.
Quemque ipsi stolidis infamem reddere verbis,
Iudicioque rudi dedecorare solent.
Compare also this image which appears at Fable 141, which it does not fit:
Phryx Aesopus Habitu Poetico, by Hieronymus Osius, 1574 (artist not identified). Available online at the University of Mannheim. This book clearly recycles a set of images from another book of Aesop's fables. In some cases, the illustration does not match the fable shown, and in some cases I have not been able to identify what fable a given illustration is supposed to illustrate. |
