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.”
Click here for a
SLIDESHOW of all the Alciato images.
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.
