
XXXIII.
INGRATITUDINE LANGUET
amicitia.
SI amare nihil aliud est, nisi perpetuō consentiens voluntas
& desiderium procurandi quae necessaria sunt, aut utilia no-
stris amicis, nullo nobis emolumento proposito, quod ad nos
redeat, eos qui sordida ingratitudine sua commoda tantųm
quaerunt in amicitia, captantes quavis occasione, tempore, &
loco sua lucra, neque reciprocam in commune conferunt vo-
luntatem & studium, dicemus falsō usurpare tam sanctum &
laudabile nomen amicitiae. Nihil est tam inhumanum, tam
immane, tam tetrum, quām committere ut beneficio non di-
cam indignus. sed victus esse videare. Neque solųm gratus de-
bet esse, qui accepit beneficium, verum etiam is cui potestas
accipiendi fuit. Eodem animo debetur beneficium, quo da-
tur. Improbus est homo, qui beneficium scit sumere, & redde-
re nescit. Nihil enim magis alienum ab humanitate, & ea mo-
rum comitate, quae inter bonos esse debet, quām benefactis a-
lienis rem suam cumulare, nec quicquam cuiquam reddere, si
reddendi facultas adsit. At cui gratia referri non potest quan-
ta debetur, habenda tamen est, quantam maximam animi no-
stri capere possunt. Cųm amici, de quo benč[1] meritus esse videris, fa-
cultates ita tenues sunt & exiguae, ut par pari referre non
possit, voluntatem sinceram pro facto
accipere viri boni
est.

XXXIII.
Stephano Saugeto Vesuntino.[2]
INGRATITUDINE LANGUET AMICITIA.[3]
Friendship grows weary through ingratitude
OFficium ingratus nullo qui foenore pensat,
Orchomeni faciles non habet ille Deas.
Sed cribro similis: per aperta foramina cuius
Integra si fundas flumina, tota fluent.
The ungrateful man who repays a service without any interest, does not have the favour of the goddesses of Orchomenus.* Rather he is like a sieve: though the open holes of which if you pour entire rivers, they will flow right away.
* The Charities or Graces, who had a cult at Orchomenus
1. Corrected from the Errata where the wrong line number (16) is given, and there is a misprint bemč for benč.
2. Etienne Sauget, a poet from Besanįon, a friend from Boissard’s early days. See Boissard 1588, no. 22 ([FBOa022]).
3. Cf. Alciato 1584, emblem 140,‘In desciscentes’ (On those who turn traitor; [FALc140]).
Related Emblems
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- adult woman (+ four persons) [31D15(+74)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arch, archivolt ~ architecture [48C162] Search | Browse Iconclass
- container of ceramics: jar, jug, pot, vase [41A773] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown [41D211] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Graces (Charites), generally three in number; 'Gratie' (Ripa) [92D3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- kitchen-utensils (with NAME) [41C27(SIEVE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- pouring [41C122] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sorting, selecting of material by sieving, sifting, screening [47C141] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Squandering, Extravagance, Prodigality, Waste; 'Prodigalitā' (Ripa) [55C11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- standing figure [31A231] Search | Browse Iconclass
- water (one of the four elements) [21D] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Action; 'Operatione manifesta' (Ripa) [54D2] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Favour; 'Favore' (Ripa) [53D12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Friendship; 'Amicitia' (Ripa) [56F23] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Ingratitude; 'Ingratitudine' (Ripa) [57AA8] Search | Browse Iconclass
- interest (~ commerce) [46B4711] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Rewarding Goodness [57B11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Service [53CC11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Weakness, Powerlessness, Helplessness; 'Infermitā' (Ripa) [54AA7] Search | Browse Iconclass
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