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 speaking to you smartass, explain the reason for my gesture". People rush in. He rambles on for a long time and does not understand the reason of the proposed problem. In the end he gives up. Then the wise man, victorious: "You will soon break the bow if you always keep it tense, but if you keep it loose, you can use it whenever you wish. Thus, from time to time, you must let your mind wander, so that it may return to you more ready when you need to think."
[ Puerorum in turba quidam ludentem Atticus
Aesopum nucibus cum vidisset, restitit
Et quasi delirum risit. Quod sensit simul
Derisor potius quam deridendus senex,
Arcum retensum posuit in media via:
«Heus!» inquit «sapiens, expedi quid fecerim!»
Concurrit populus. Ille se torquet diu
Nec quaestionis positae causam intellegit.
Novissime succumbit. Tum victor sophus:
«Cito rumpes arcum, semper si tensum habueris;
At si laxaris, cum voles erit utilis.
Sic lusus animo debent aliquando dari,
Ad cogitandum melior ut redeat tibi»]
[ Puerorum in turba quidam ludentem Atticus
Aesopum nucibus cum vidisset, restitit
Et quasi delirum risit. Quod sensit simul
Derisor potius quam deridendus senex,
Arcum retensum posuit in media via:
«Heus!» inquit «sapiens, expedi quid fecerim!»
Concurrit populus. Ille se torquet diu
Nec quaestionis positae causam intellegit.
Novissime succumbit. Tum victor sophus:
«Cito rumpes arcum, semper si tensum habueris;
At si laxaris, cum voles erit utilis.
Sic lusus animo debent aliquando dari,
Ad cogitandum melior ut redeat tibi»]
