Monday, July 11, 2011

Image: Iuppiter et Nux


M0771 - M0772 - M0773

772. Iuppiter et Nux. Nux, ramis ornata in orbem circinatis et ad cacumen suum sensim sese componentibus, habebat quod satis recrearet intuentium oculos adspectu lepido, at sterilis erat. Iovem igitur hoc orabat ut ex opprobrio ipsam eripere vellet. Precibus importunis cedens, Iuppiter fecunditatem tribuit et, sortem futuram recogitans, “Nunc quod impetrasti te iuvat,” ait, “nunc, sed postea nocebit.” Etenim cum illa fructus et bonos et plurimos protulisset, feminae statim et viri, pueri et puellae miseram petunt fustibus saxisque, perticisve longis verberant.



M0772 (not in Perry). Source: Desbillons 12.34 (adapted into prose). This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; it appears original to Desbillons, as he cites no source. For another story about the nut tree, see #717, and for a story of the revenge of the nut itself, see #965.