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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [O2v p92]

XLVI.

NULLI PRAESTAT VELOX FOR-
tuna fidem.

VAria est vitae commutabilisque ratio, vaga volubilisque
fortuna. Nihil est tam contrarium rationi, & constantiae,
quàm fortuna. Ea enim non solùm caeca est, sed etiam plerun-
que efficit caecos, quos complexa est. Qui fortuna aspirante ex-
tolluntur, saepe efferuntur fastidio & contumacia. Nihil est
insipiente fortunato intolerabilius: Caeca quoque dicitur,
quòd nihil cernat quò sese applicet. Saepius sua indignis largi-
tur munera. Insanam illam quoque vocarunt antiqui, quia a-
trox, varia, incertaque sit, & instabilis. Dat quodcunque libet
fortuna, rapitque. Brevis est magni fortuna favoris. Ea vitrea
est, & cùm maximè splendet, frangitur. Citiùs fortunam inve-
nias, quàm retineas. Nunquam enim magis constans est, quàm
in sua inconstantia & volubilitate. Fortunae muneribus uten-
dum, non fidendum. Quicquid in altum fortuna tulit, ruitura
levat. Fortunae saevo laeta negotio, & ludum insolentem lude-
re pertinax, transmutat incertos honores, nunc mihi nunc alii
benigna.[1] Et cùm blanditur, tum maximè metuenda est. Qua-
re oblatam utramvis fortunam, iuxta suscipere di-
scat, qui animo esse tranquillo
cupit.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [O3r p93]

XLVI.

Dionysio Lebaeo Bathillio.[2]

NULLI PRAESTAT VELOX FORTUNA FIDEM.

Fleeting fortune shows faith to no-one

Woman, naked except for cloak, ball at her feet, handing over money and a crown to a man, accompanied by two others. All standing by the edge of the sea, town on shore.
[Click on image to enlarge]

DUm nobis fortuna favet, blanditur, & offert
Subsidium, nobis est metuenda magis.
Illiusque bonis, dum arridet laeta, fruamur:
Hanc reperire quidem non retinere licet.

While fortune favours us, is agreeable to us and offers us help, we should fear her more. While she smiles at us happily, we should enjoy the good things which she brings: however it is allowed to find fortune but not to keep it.

Notes:

1.  ‘Fortuna saevo ... benigna’, a quotation from Horace, Odes, 3.29.49-52.

2.  Denis Lebey de Batilly, the emblematist, previously the dedicatee in emblem 18 ([FBOb018]).

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