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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [f5v p90]

Maturandum.

Making good speed

LII.

A fish twined round an arrow
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Maturare iubent properè & cunctarier omnes,
Ne nimium praeceps, neu mora longa nimis.
Hoc tibi declaret connexum Echeneide[1] telum.
Haec tarda est, volitant spicula missa manu.

Everyone tells us to deal with things quickly, but they also tell us to hold back - not to be impetuous, nor yet to wait too long. A missile linked with a sucking-fish can demonstrate this for you: the fish is slow, but arrows fly fast when they leave the shooter’s hand.

COMMENTARIA.

Trito vulgo proverbio dicitur maturan-
dum quidem esse & accelerandum, paulatim
tamen & praemeditatè: ut dicunt, festina lente,
ne nimia festinatio parum considerata & pe-
riculosa, neve perlonga tarditas perniciosa sit
futura, sed mediocritas & modus in omni re
servetur: quod eleganter hac figura significa-
tur. Echeneis telo connexa, quid enim telo ve
locius? Echeneis verò pisciculus est supra
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [f6r p91]modum tardus, de quo prolixius suprà in 49.
Emblemate. Fit igitur ex his medium.

Notes:

1.  ‘linked with a sucking fish’. The sucking-fish (echeneis or remora) was a creature believed by the ancients to have the power of slowing the course of ships to which it attached itself. See Pliny, Natural History 32.1.2-6. He describes it as about six inches long and like a slug. See also [A56a049].

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  • Maturity (+ emblematical representation of concept) [51FF511(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Swiftness, Speed; 'Agilit�', 'Celerit�', 'Velocit�' (Ripa) (+ symbolical representation of concept) [51M11(+3)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Swiftness, Speed; 'Agilit�', 'Celerit�', 'Velocit�' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [51M11(+4):51MM11(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Slowness, Tardiness; 'Tardit�' (Ripa) (+ symbolical representation of concept) [51MM11(+3)] Search | Browse Iconclass

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IUSTA ULTIO.

Just revenge

Emblema 171

A bird on the branch of a tree holding a scorpion in its beak.
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Raptabat volucres captum pede corvus in auras
Scorpion, audaci praemia parta gulae.
Ast ille infuso sensim[1] per membra veneno
Raptorem in stygias compulit ultor aquas.
O risu res digna. aliis qui fata parabat,
Ipse perit, propriis subcubuitque dolis.[2]

A raven was carrying off into the flying winds a scorpion gripped in its talons, a prize won for its audacious gullet. But the scorpion, injecting its poison drop by drop through the raven’s limbs, despatched the predator to the waters of the Styx and so took its revenge. - What a laughable thing! The one who was preparing death for others himself perishes and has succumbed to his own wiles.

Notes:

1.  Corrected by hand in the Glasgow copy.

2.  This is a fairly free translation of Anthologia graeca 9.339. See Erasmus, Adagia 58, Cornix scorpium, where the Greek epigram is again translated.

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