846. Auceps et Fringilla. Auceps tetenderat volucribus retia largamque illis in area effuderat escam, pascentes tamen aves non capiebat, quia sibi videbantur paucae. Quibus pastis ac avolantibus, aliae pastum adveniunt quas quoque propter paucitatem capere neglexit. Hoc per totum diem ordine servato, ac aliis advenientibus, aliis abeuntibus, illo semper maiorem praedam exspectante, tandem advesperascere coepit. Tunc auceps, amissa spe multas capiendi, cum iam tempus esset quiescendi, attrahens retia, unam tantum fringillam, quae infelix in area remanserat, cepit. Haec fabula indicat qui omnia comprehendere volunt, saepe pauca vix capere posse.
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SLIDESHOW of all the Bewick images. Although this illustration was not intended to accompany this particular fable, I think it makes a good match!
M0846 (not in Perry). Source: Abstemius 39. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog; Perry omitted most of Abstemius’s fables. For a human variation on this story, see La Fontaine’s fable of the proud young woman, #950, or the story of the man looking for wood, #832.