Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)
16. DE RANIS ET IOVE. (Perry 44)
A Iove cum peterent communi nomine Ranae,
Ut rex flumineis praeficeretur aquis.
Ille trabem medias vastam deiecit in undas,
Quo sonitu Ranas obstupuisse ferunt.
Quid tamen acciderit speculando scire laborant,
Nilque nisi lignum futile nare vident.
In quod subsiliunt tandem, regemque salutant,
Nec sine contemptu tale sequuntur opus.
Tunc immisit aquis gaudentem Iuppiter anguem,
Hydron ab hac causa lingua Pelasga vocat.
Coepit is assidue captas quia mandere Ranas,
Stultitiae sero paenituisse potest.
Libertatis iners dulcem qui respuit usum,
Servo more pati res erit aequa iugum.
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. |
