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IMPOSSIBILE.
The impossible
Emblema. 59.
Abluis Aetiopem, quid frustra? ah desine, noctîs
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.
Notes:
1. This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 11.428. See also Aesop, Fables 11; Erasmus, Adagia 350, Aethiopen lavas.
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Link to an image of this page [H1v p114]
Lo impossible.
TERCETO.
Por que lavas el negro en vano? deja
De querer aclarar la noche escura,
Que ansi el proverbio viejo lo aconseja.[1]
Notes:
1. This is based on Anthologia graeca 11.428. See also Aesop, Fables 11; Erasmus, Adagia 350, Aethiopen lavas.
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