The mountain was giving birth; it was shouting immensely and there was a great expectation on the earth.
But it gave birth to a mouse. This is written for you, who promise great things, but do not bring forth anything.
[Mons parturibat, gemitus immanes ciens,
Eratque in terris maxima...
He who brings help to the wicked, later regrets it.
A man picked up a snake frozen with cold and warmed it in his breast
mercifully, to his detriment, because the snake, when she recovered, immediately killed that man. Another snake asked her the reason for her evil deed, and she answered...
A man asked what cause had originated the lesbians and effeminate males. The old man explained: "It was Prometheus again, the creator of us, people of clay, those who, as soon as collide with fate, they fall apart. The parts of the sex, that modesty hides under a robe, Prometheus had molded...
A man complained of his fate; then Aesop, in order to console him, invented this story.
A ship was tossed about by a furious storm; among the passengers there were tears, and terror of dying; suddenly, the weather changes and clears up; the ship, now safe, begins to navigate driven by favorable...
The she-goats had obtained a beard from Jupiter, the goats then became indignant, deploring that the females had attained a dignity equal to their own.
"Let them enjoy a vain glory," said Jupiter, "and let them appropriate
of the insignia of your rank, so long as they are not equal to you in...
Of riches the man of valor cannot bear even the sight, and well rightly so, for the coffer full of treasures prevents true glory.
Hercules, welcomed into heaven for his virtue, greeted one by one all the gods who were celebrating him, but when Pluto, who is the son of Fortune, arrived, he...
Jupiter has placed two saddlebags on us: the one full of our vices behind our backs, the one heavy with the vices of others hung in front of us, on our chest.
For this reason we cannot see our own faults, but as soon as others make mistakes, we become censors.
[ Peras imposuit Iuppiter nobis...
The shrewd man, as soon as he runs into danger, tries to find escape at the
expense of others.
The fox had carelessly fallen into a well and was held captive there,
because the bank was quite high. A thirsty goat happened to be in the same place and immediately asked her if the water was...
Whoever tries to bite with cruel teeth one who can bite even more, will be portrayed in this apologue.
An adder entered a blacksmith's workshop. While he was feeling to see if there was anything to eat, he bit into a file. This, hard, in reply: "Silly, why do you try to hurt me with your teeth...
The boar, splashing about, muddied the puddle in which the horse used to quench his thirst. A quarrel ensued. The steed, furious with the beast, asked the man for help and taking him on his back, he went back to his enemy. The knight shot arrows at the boar, and, after killing it, it is told...
Driven by hunger, the fox was trying to take the grapes from a high vine, jumping with all his strength, but he could not touch it; then leaving he said:
"It is not yet ripe; I do not want to pick it unripe."
Whoever belittles in words what he is not able to do, will have to refer to himself...
Who is born unfortunate, not only spends a miserable life, but his cruel and unfortunate destiny haunts him even after death.
The Gauls of Cybele used to carry around a donkey loaded with baggage to go begging. When it died of fatigue and beatings, they skinned it and made drums out of its...
The peacock went to Juno, complaining that she had not attributed to him the voice of the nightingale; this, indeed, aroused the admiration of all the birds, while he was mocked as soon as he emitted his voice. Then the goddess, to console him, said: "But you win him in beauty, you win him in...
An Athenian saw Aesop playing walnuts in the midst of a crowd of little boys; he stopped and mocked him as if he were demented. The old man, more suited to the role of mocker than of mocked, as soon as he noticed it, loosened a bow and placed it in the middle of the road: "Hey!" he said. "I'm...
A cockerel was looking for something to eat in a dunghill, and found there
a pearl. "What an unworthy place you are in," he said, "precious as you are! If those who are greedy of your worth had seen you, you would already have returned to the splendor of your former time. But I have found you...
Friend is a usual word, but rare is a faithful friend.
Socrates (whose death I would not flee, so long as I attained a glory like
his, and would accept malevolence, to be absolved when I am dust),
Socrates was building himself a little house, when a commoner, I know not who, as it usually...
A man saw hanging in a butcher's shop, among various goods and foodstuffs, a monckey and asked what It tasted like. Then the butcher jokingly said: "As is the head, so is the taste".
I consider this joke more witty than true, because I have often found
bad, the good; and many bad looking ones...
An old woman saw lying on the ground an empty amphora which, because of the bottom of Falerno wine still remaining in its noble clay, diffused a delicious perfume around it. After having inhaled it greedily with all the strength of her nostrils, she exclaimed: "O sweet spirit! Who knows how good...
Two mules walked under the weight of the some: one carried baskets filled with money, the other one, sacks bulging with barley. The first one, the one with the precious load proceeded with his head held high and shook the jingling rattle with his neck; his companion followed with a calm and...
Against the powerful no one is sufficiently protected; if then one adds an evil counselor, all, that force and perversity attack, goes to ruin.
The eagle carried aloft a turtle. But this one had hidden the body in
his horn house, and thus holed up could not be harmed in any way.
Here comes...
