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Aesop's Fables: Steinhowel

6.1. De aquila et corvo
(Perry 2)

[See an illustration from a 1501 edition.]

Aquila celsa ex rupe evolans, agnum ex omni grege arripuit, quam rem cum corvus conspicatur emulatione motus vehementi cum crepitu ac stridore devolat in arietem, atque ungues in arietis vellus ita implicat, quod inde etiam motu alarum se explicare non potest; hunc pastor cum ita implicitum videt, accurrens corvum comprehendit atque alarum pennis incisis pueris suis pro ludibrio dedit. Verum enim cum quispiam corvum rogaret, que nam volucris esset, corvus ait: Prius equidem quoad animum aquila fui, nunc vero me corvum esse certo cognosco. Fabula significat, quod qui supra vires quippiam audet, hoc solum efficit, quod in adversa sepius incidit ac se vulgo ridiculum exhibet.


Steinhowels Asop, ed. Hermann Osterley (1873). Some of these fables have digitized text; others have only page images. The digital page images are from Google Books. You can also consult the illustrated 1501 edition of Steinhowel's Aesop. Note that Book 7 contains poems from Avianus, so there is no text or page image for the fables in Book 7.