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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [X3r f163r]

IN RECEPTATORES SI-
cariorum.

Those who harbour cut-throats

Emblema. 52.

Actaeon changing into a stag and being attacked by his hounds
[Click on image to enlarge]

Latronum, furumque manus tibi saeva[1] per urbem
It comes, & diris cuncta [=cincta] cohors gladiis:
Atque ita te mentis generosum prodige censes,
Quod tua complures alicit olla malos.
En novus Actaeon, qui postquam cornua sumpsit,
In praedam canibus se dedit ipse suis.[2]

A fierce band of ruffians and thieves accompanies you about the city, a gang of supporters armed with lethal swords. And so, you wastrel, you consider yourself a fine lordly fellow because your cooking pot draws in crowds of scoundrels. - Here’s a fresh Actaeon - he, after he grew his horns, became the prey of his own hunting dogs.

Notes:

1.  Other editions read scaeva, ‘evil-minded’. The capital letter in some editions suggests that the Latin word could be taken as a proper name in the vocative case, i.e addressing one Scaeva.

2.  For the story of Actaeon turned into a stag and killed by his own hounds, see Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138ff. Similarly, the hangers-on will destroy the one who has fed them.

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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I4r p135]

Receptateurs d’homicides.

XCIIII.

A man with a stag's head and foot lies on the ground. Beside him is a spear and he is being attacked by three dogs.
[Click on image to enlarge]

Gents apres toy avec espees,
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I4v=p136] (Dont plusieurs ont gaigné le pendre,
Ou d’avoir oreilles couppees)
Te font cornes au chef estendre:
Mais il t’en pourra ainsi prendre,
En nourrissant tels ruffiens,
Qu’à Acteon, qui (faict Cerf tendre)
Fut mangé par ses propres chiens.[1]

commentaires.

Alciat a faict cest embleme contre un qu’il ap-
pelle Scaeva en son epigramme Latin. Il l’accompare
à Acteon, fils d’Aristee, lequel estant merveilleuse-
ment addonné à la chasse, nourrissoit plusieurs chiens
en sa maison. Un jour, apres s’estre bien lassé &
travaillé à la chasse, il arriva à une fontaine fort ca-
chee pour s’y laver & recreer. Mais de malheur il y
rencontra Diane, Deesse de la chasse, & de chasteté,
& amie de la solitude, accompagnee de quelques unes
de ses nymphes, qui se lavoyent toutes nues en ladite
fontaine. Estans irritees contre luy, de ce qu’il les a-
voit surprises ainsi nues, elles luy jecterent de l’eau,
peut estre non sans quelque imprecation, si que le
povre Acteon commença à prendre cornes & à de-
venir cerf tout à faict: tellement que voulant retour-
ner à sa maison, ses propres chiens le deschirerent &
devorerent. Ainsi void on souvent, que plusieurs s’e-
stiment grands Seigneurs, liberaux, & magnanimes,
pource qu’ils nourrissent, fomentent, & ont ordinai-
rement à leur suite des larrons, meurtriers, desloyaux,
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [I5r p137] & autres semblables garnements: mais tant s’en faut
que celà les annoblisse, qu’au contraire ils se peuvent
asseurer, que tost ou tard ces gents de meschante vie
les ruineront de corps & de biens, ne plus ne moins
que les chiens d’Acteon devorerent leur maistre.

Notes:

1.  For the story of Actaeon turned into a stag and killed by his own hounds, see Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.138ff. Similarly, the hangers-on will destroy the one who has fed them.

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