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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [M2v f77v]

EMBLEMA CXVIII.

In divites publico malo.

Those who grow rich out of public misfortune

Anguillas quisquis captat, si limpida verrat
Flumina, si illimes ausit adire lacus,
Cassus erit, ludetque operam: multum excitet ergo
Si cretae, & vitreas palmula turbet aquas,
Dives erit: sic iis res publica turbida lucro est,
Qui pace, arctati legibus, esuriunt.[1]

If anyone hunting eels sweeps clear rivers or thinks to visit unmuddied lakes, he will be unsuccessful and waste his efforts. If he instead stirs up much clay and with his oar churns the crystal waters, he will be rich. Likewise a state in turmoil becomes a source of profit to people who in peace go hungry, because the law cramps their style.

Das CXVIII.

Wider die so reich mit andern scha-
den werden.

Ein jeder der Ael fahen wil
So er die hellen Wasser stil
Fischt, und so er sich understeht
Und in die lautern gruben geht
Der schafft vergebns und sein müh ist
Umb sonst, so er aber mit list
Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [M3r f78r] Das Wasser trüb macht und darinn
Vil gmür auff rürt, hat er gut gwinn
Also ist auch die Policei nütz
Die mit vil auffruhr wirt verstürtzt
Denen die sonst im fried und ruh
Darben und haben nicht darzu.

Notes:

1.  Cf. Erasmus, Adagia, 2579 (Anguillas captare).

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    Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [O3r p213]

    Eloquentia fortitudine praestantior.[1]

    Eloquence superior to strength

    EMBLEMA CLXXX.

    Figure holding a bow and a club attached to a group of men by a string from his tongue to their ears.
    [Click on image to enlarge]

    Arcum laeva tenet, rigidam fert dextera clavam,
    Contegit & Nemeës corpora nuda leo.
    Herculis haec igitur facies? non convenit illud
    Quòd vetus, & senio tempora cana gerit.
    Quid quòd lingua illi levibus traiecta catenis,
    Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [O3v p214]Queis fissa facileis allicit aure viros?
    An’ne quòd Alciden lingua, non robore Galli
    Praestantem populis iura dedisse ferunt?
    Cedunt arma togae,[2] & quamvis durissima corda
    Eloquio pollens ad sua vota trahit.

    His left hand holds a bow, his right hand a stout club, the lion of Nemea clothes his bare body. So this is a figure of Hercules. But he is old and his temples grizzled with age - that does not fit. What of the fact that his tongue has light chains passing through it, which are attached to men’s pierced ears, and by them he draws them unresisting along? The reason is surely that the Gauls say that Alceus’ descendant excelled in eloquence rather than might and gave laws to the nations. - Weapons yield to the arts of peace, and even the hardest of hearts the skilled speaker can lead where he will.

    Notes:

    1.  This epigram is closely based on Lucian’s essay, The Gallic Hercules.

    2.  Cf. Cicero’s notorious line, Cedant arma togae, concedat laurea linguae, ‘Let weapons yield to the arts of peace, let laurels yield to eloquence’ (quoted in Quintilian, Institutio oratoria 11.1.24).

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    • extinct, 'historical' casino peoples (with NAME) [32B2(GAULS)] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • 'litterae', symbolic representations, allegories and emblems ~ literature; 'Lettere' (Ripa) [48C90] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • Power of Eloquence; 'Forza sottoposta all'Eloquenza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52D31(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
    • Strength, Power; 'Fortezza', 'Fortezza d'Animo e di corpo', 'Fortezza del corpo congiunta con la generosità dell'animo', 'Fortezza & valore del corpo congiunto con la prudenza & virtù del animo', 'Forza' (Ripa) [54A7] Search | Browse Iconclass

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