Hirundo et Aves Aliae (Nequam)

This project has evolved to a new blog - ICTIBUS FELICIBUS - so please check there for more poems. Here I will finish up publishing the longer poems, but all the shorter poems, with macrons and meter marks, will be found at Ictibus instead. :-)

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Source: The fables of the medieval scholar and poet Alexander Nequam are available in several different editions at GoogleBooks.

Other Versions: See Perry 39.

Nequam 18: DE RUSTICO ET PROGNE

Rusticus in culto · linum cum severet agro,
sollers progne videns || rettulit hoc avibus,
Et monet evelli · nocituri semina lini.
Contempsere leves || consilium volucres.
Nata seges fuerat, · rursus persuadet hirundo
evelli segetem || pennigeris nocuam,
Ne de maturo · facientes retia lino
fallaces homines || decipiant volucres.
Incaute referuntur aves · risisse, nec ullam
curam venturis || opposuisse malis
Retia progne timens, · volucrum consortia fugit
humanasque domos || absque timore colit.
Eius consilium · quia despexere salubre
retibus incaute || decipiuntur aves.
Sic mala qui nolunt · sibi praemonstrata cavere,
quando superveniunt, || sero cavere volunt.

Prose paraphrase:

Cum rusticus
in agro culto
linum severet,
progne sollers
hoc videns
avibus rettulit
et monet
lini nocituri semina evelli.
Volucres leves
consilium contempsere.
Seges
nata fuerat,
rursus
hirundo
pennigeris persuadet
segetem nocuam evelli,
ne homines fallaces,
de lino maturo
retia facientes
volucres decipiant.
Aves referuntur
incaute risisse,
et non curam ullam
malis venturis opposuisse.
Progne,
retia timens,
volucrum consortia fugit
et absque timore
domos humanas colit.
Quia
eius consilium salubre despexere
aves
incaute retibus decipiuntur.
Sic qui nolunt
mala sibi praemonstrata cavere,
quando superveniunt,
sero cavere volunt.

Image. Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) by the French illustrator Aractingy:


Word list thanks to NoDictionaries.com:

Coming soon.

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Aesop's Fables in Latin now available at Amazon.com.