Phryx Aesopus (Osius, 1574)
65. DE MENDACE PUERO. (Perry
210)
POscit opem custos Ovium clamore colonos
Voce Lupos fingens forsan adesse puer:
Hi quam ferre citi frustra cum saepe venirent,
Utilis auctori non iocus ille fuit.
Quos toties pueri vox cum frustata fuisset,
Re poscente suam nemo ferebat opem.
Nam tandem grassante Lupo lacrimosa lacessit
Auxilium vox huic, sed caret illa fide.
Clamantem velut ante rati lusisse coloni
Neglexere, suo quas dedit ore, preces.
Sic grassata Lupi tunc est impune tyrannis,
Hoc indefensos dilaniante greges.
Hoc, quos mendaces temere iuvat esse, merentur,
Ut careant, dicant quae quoque vera, fide.
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. |
