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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [B3r p21]

Ocni effigies, de his qui meretrici-
bus donant, quod in bonos
usus verti debeat.[1]

A representation of Ocnus. On those who give to whores what should be turned to good

Man plaiting rope, Ass eating it
[Click on image to enlarge]

Impiger haud cessat funem contexere sparto,
Humidaque artifici iungere fila manu:
Sed quantùm multis vix torquet strenuus horis,
Protinus ignavi ventris asella vorat.
Foemina iners animal, facili congesta marito
Lucra rapit, mundum prodigit inque suum.

Ocnus never stops busily plaiting rope from broom, joining the damp fibres with skilful hand. But what he manages to spin with great effort in many hours the she-ass, a beast with greedy guts, continuously consumes. - Woman, an idle creature, grabs the accumulated savings from her complaisant husband and squanders it on her own adornment.

Notes:

1.  The painting by Polygnotus depicting this scene is described in Pausanias, Periegesis 29.2. See also Propertius, Elegies 4.3.21; Erasmus, Adagia 383, Contorquet piger funiculum. Ocnus, idleness personified, was a proverbial example of wasted effort.

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  • shrubs (with NAME) [25G31(BROOM)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • whore, prostitute [33C520] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • marriage, married couple, 'matrimonium' [42D3] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Industriousness, Assiduity; 'Assiduit৬ 'Industria', 'Zelo' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54A11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Sluggishness, Inertia; 'Dapocaggine', 'Pigritia' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54AA11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Squandering, Extravagance, Prodigality, Waste; 'Prodigalitৠ(Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [55C11(+4):42D36] Search | Browse Iconclass

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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [A8v p16]

Amicitia etiam post mor-
tem durans.[1]

Friendship lasting even beyond death

Grape vine wound round a tree
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Arentem senio, nudam quoque frondibus ulmum,
Complexa est viridi vitis opaca coma.[2]
Agnoscitque vices naturae, & grata parenti
Officii reddit mutua iura suo.
Exemploque monet, tales nos quaerere amicos,
Quos neque disiungat foedere summa dies.

A vine shady with green foliage embraced an elm tree that was dried up with age and bare of leaves. The vine recognises the changes wrought by nature and, ever grateful, renders to the one that reared it the duty it owes in return. By the example it offers, the vine tells us to seek friends of such a sort that not even our final day will uncouple them from the bond of friendship.

Notes:

1.  See Erasmus’ famous variations on this theme in De copia (CWE 24. pp. 354-64).

2.  In ancient Italy young vines were often supported by elm trees. See Vergil, Georgics 1.2.

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