
Captivus ob gulam.
Caught by greed
Regnator penus, & mensae corrosor[1] herilis
Ostrea mus summis vidit hiulca labris.
Queis teneram apponens barbam falsa ossa momordit,
Illa recluserunt[2] tacta repentè domum.
Deprensum & tetro tenuerunt carcere furem,
Semet in obscurum qui dederat tumulum.[3]
A mouse, king of the pantry, nibbler at the master’s table, saw oysters with their shells just slightly open. Applying his sensitive whiskers, he nibbled the deceptive bone. The oysters, when touched, suddenly slammed shut their house and held the thief, caught red-handed, in a noisome prison, a thief who had put himself into a lightless tomb.

Prins pour la gueule.
Une huitre en son escaille estant,
Entreouverte (comme il advient)
Fut ung jour la souris sentant,
Qui pour sa chair ronger survient.
Lors de sestraindre luy souvient.
La souris est au groing surprise.
Tel chastoy aux gloutons convient,
Qui tousjours font chatte entreprise.
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- rodents: mouse (+ animal(s) being hit, shot, caught) [25F26(MOUSE)(+621)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- molluscs (+ shell, snail-shell etc.) [25F72(+36)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- molluscs: oyster (+ animal with prey) [25F72(OYSTER)(+452)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees [25G3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rocks [25H112] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beach [25H133] Search | Browse Iconclass
- bush, shrubs ~ forest [25H153] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clouds [26A] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Gluttony, Intemperance, 'Gula'; 'Gola', 'Ingordigia', 'Ingordigia overo Avidità', 'Voracità' (Ripa) ~ personification of one of the Seven Deadly Sins [11N35] Search | Browse Iconclass
- cat [34B12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- law and jurisprudence (+ imprisonment) [44G(+56)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Intemperance, Immoderation (+ emblematical representation of concept) [54AA43(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Impossibile.
The impossible
Abluis Aethiopem quid frustrà? ah desine, noctis
Illustrare nigrae nemo potest tenebras.[1]
Why are you washing an Ethiopian in vain? Oh, do stop. No one can turn the shades of black night into light.

Impossible.
Il est ung milier de negoces,
Ou lon ne peult remede mettre.
Et quoy que ardemment ten courrouces,
Si nen seras tu ja le maistre.
Parquoy si tu quiers hors blasme estre,
Ne prans peine a blanchir ung More.
En la nuict, ne peult clarte naistre.
Ung vice invetere demoure.
1. This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 11.428. See also Aesop, Fables 11; Erasmus, Adagia 350, Aethiopen lavas.
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- ornamental fountain [25I151] Search | Browse Iconclass
- leaning forward [31A2321] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting on an elevation [31A2352] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head bent forward; bowing (+ standing) [31A244(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head bent forward; bowing [31A2445] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm raised upward (+ holding something) [31A2511(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward [31A2512] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm held downwards [31A2515] Search | Browse Iconclass
- gripping someone by the arm [31A2541] Search | Browse Iconclass
- brush, sponge, etc. (toilet articles) [31A5462] Search | Browse Iconclass
- towel [31A5463] Search | Browse Iconclass
- washing and bathing - AA - in the open air [31AA54] Search | Browse Iconclass
- looking downwards [31B6212] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult man (+ three persons) [31D14(+73)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult man (+ nude human being) [31D14(+89)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- white races and peoples (+ men) [32B31(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- African negroes (with NAME) (+ men) [32B321(ETHIOPIAN)(+51)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- African negroes (with NAME) [32B321(MOOR)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- jug and basin; wash-basin [41A2415] Search | Browse Iconclass
- container of ceramics: jar, jug, pot, vase [41A773] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clothing for the upper part of the body (+ men's clothes) [41D223(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- barefoot [41D2339] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- (personifications of) 'Vanitas', the vanity of human life; Fragilit� humana, Fugacit� delle grandezze & della gloria mondana, Meditatione della morte, Opera vana, Piacere vano, Vana gloria, Vanit� (Ripa) [11R5] Search | Browse Iconclass
- day and night [23R] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Impossibility (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52BB42(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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