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Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)

118. GALLINA AURIPARA. (Perry 87)

AUREA cottidie pariens erat ova colono,
Alite quae Gallo coniuge gaudet avis.
Ille putans auri massam vi ventre recondi,
Hanc stolido lucri captus amore necat.
Nil tamen huic aliud quae iam dissecta ministrat,
Quam quod habere solent nominis huius aves.
Sic inhians magnis dum spe delirat habendi,
Concessas etiam perdit avarus opem.
Divitias nimium cumulandi caeca cupido,
Noxia ni certa lege regatur, erit.
Immodice flagrans amor est frenandus habendi,
Contentumque suis vivere quemque decet.

The same image occurs at Fable 188, where it also fits.


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.