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Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)

135. ARANEA ET HIRUNDO. (Perry 0)

UT praedam Muscas captare soleret Hirundo,
Forsan Araneolum fama notasse refert.
Explicat impediant sua retia laxa volatum
Illius, effectu res tamen illa caret.
Hos impune volans casses quia rupit Hirundo,
Pene labore carens omne diremit opus.
Talibus usa videns hoc fertur Aranea verbis:
Non hanc, ceu Muscas, retia nostra tenent.
Non oppone tuas, prior est qui robore, vires,
Nil, his si careas ira, mineaque valent.

(no illustration)

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.