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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [N7v p206]

In vitam humanam.

On human life

Two men sitting at a table, one crying, the other laughing.
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Plus solito humanae nunc defle incommoda vitae
Heraclite, scatet pluribus illa malis.
Tu rursus, si quando aliās, extolle cachinnum
Democrite, illa magis ludicra facta fuit.
Intereą haec cernens meditor, qua denique tecum
Fine fleam, aut tecum quomodņ splene iocer.[1]

Weep now, Heraclitus, even more than you did, for the ills of human life. It teems with far more woes. And you, Democritus, if ever you laughed before, raise your cackle now. Life has become more of a joke. Meanwhile, seeing all this, I consider just how far I can weep with you, how laugh bitterly with you.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [N8r p207]

De la vie humaine.

Plores plus que onques tu ne feis
Heraclite, il en est saison.
Les gens sont en tous maulx confis.
Vertus nont ca bas plus maison.
Democrite ris, tu as raison.
Car chascun veult fol demourer:
Tandis penseray la choison,
Si je debvray rire, ou plorer.

Notes:

1.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 9.148. For Heraclitus, cf. [A50a016]. For the contrast between the despairing tears of Heraclitus (who withdrew from human society) and the sardonic laughter of Democritus when faced with the folly of men, see, among many sources, e.g. Juvenal, Satires 10, 28ff.

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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [X8r f168r]

EI QUI SEMEL SUA PRO-
degerit, aliena credi non oportere.

Others’ property should not be entrusted to a person who has once squandered his own

Emblema. 54.

Bird flying towards statue of mother killing her child with a sword
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Colchidos in gremio nidum quid congeris? heu
Nescia cur pullos tam male credis avis?
Dira parens Medea suos saevissīma natos
Perdidit, & speras parcat ut illa tuis?[1]

Why do you build your nest in the bosom of the woman from Colchis? Alas, ignorant bird, why do you entrust your nestlings so mistakenly? That frightful mother, Medea, in her savagery slew her own children. Do you expect her to spare yours?

Notes:

1.  This is based on Anthologia graeca 9.346, a much-translated epigram, on the subject of a swallow that built her nest on a representation of Medea. Colchidos, ‘of the woman from Colchis’, refers to Medea, from Colchis on the Black Sea, who slew her children by Jason, leader of the Argonauts, to avenge his unfaithfulness. See further [A15a078].

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  • Squandering, Extravagance, Prodigality, Waste; 'Prodigalitą' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [55C11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Misplaced Trust, False Confidence, 'Pax Falsa'; 'Speranza fallace' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56D29(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass

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