Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)
34. VESPERTILIO TRANSFUGA. (Perry
566)
CUM grege pennigero bellum crudele gerebant,
Ut premerent hostes cetera bruta suos.
Gens avium fore visa suis erat hostibus impar,
Hinc Vespertilio transfuga facta fuit.
Eventum exspectans ea neutram callida partem
Iuverat, at iungi nunc fuit ausa feris.
Sed quia iam volucres Aquilae virtute triumphant,
Coepit ad illarum mox revolare gregem.
Quae nudata suis ideo ceu transfuga pennis,
A convictu avium iure repulsa fuit.
Estque ad nocturnos merito damnata volatus,
Perfidiae poenas has dare fertur avis.
Deficit a sociis quisquis desertor ad hostes,
Quem fugias omni tempore, dignus erit.
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. |
