Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Illustrated: Olea et Cucurbita


M0715 - M0716 - M0717

716. Olea et Cucurbita. Olea admirabatur cucurbitam, iuxta se natam, brevi tantum crevisse, ut se esset longe altior, quae annos quamplurimos in eodem fuerat loco. Sed cum adventante hieme cucurbita exaruisset, “Minime,” inquit olea, “cito crescentibus est invidendum, quibus tam cito est paratus interitus.”


Cucurbita (1621)

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M0716 (not in Perry). Source: Abstemius 112. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; Perry omitted most of Abstemius’s fables. Compare the story of the dog who gives birth in a hurry, #343, or the fable of the empty ear of wheat, #737.