Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)
31. RANA CREPANS. (Perry 376)
EXaequare Bovem, quem corpore vidit opimo,
Rana volens tali rem ratione gerit:
Incipit in rugas contractam tendere pellem
Ille suam, tauro par ita, dixit, ero.
Sic inflaret ubi iam sese, quaerit an aequet
Pene Bovem, soboles, fallere mater, ait.
Nondum aequata tibi Tauri quia maxima moles,
A qua te multum res sat abesse probat.
Rana tenax coepti tunc se vehementius inflat,
Iamque Bovem num sit pene secuta, rogat.
Unus ibi, quamvis mea te matercula rumpas,
Non tamen hunc aeques corpore, pullus ait.
Qui magis, ac valeant, excellere forte laborent.
Stulta sequi Ranae facta crepantis amant.
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. |
