
Spes certa.
Secure hope
Passim mortales spe seducuntur inani,
Luditur & vanis non temeranda fides.
Quid magis est ovis dubium, sint candida quamvis,
Nónne movent stomachum, damnaque saepe ferunt?
Si Gallina tamen genitali his[1] incubet igni,
Ac foveat praesens subdita dona calor,
Certius an quidquam pullis, & foenore vivo,
In tutis igitur spemque decusque loca.
Mortals everywhere are seduced by vain hope, and good faith, not to be descecrated, plays tricks on the foolish. What is more doubtful than an egg? For all their whiteness, do they not move the gorge, and cause frequent harm? But if a hen lies on them with her genital fire, and constantly warms the gifts on which she rests, is there anything more certain than chicks, and living interest: in certainties, then, place your hope and glory.
1. Corrected from the Errata (from hîc).
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- adult man [31D14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm held downwards [31A2515] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward (+ holding something) [31A2512(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clouds [26A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- fence, wall, paling [41A54] Search | Browse Iconclass
- fowl (cock, hen, chicken, etc.) (+ female animal) [34B232(+52):34B232(+9412)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- fowl (cock, hen, chicken, etc.) (+ young animal) [34B232(+53):34B232(+9411)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- gear for legs and feet [41D233] Search | Browse Iconclass
- groups of plants (herbs) [25G13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head-gear and clothing for the upper part of the body [41D22] Search | Browse Iconclass
- mountains [25H11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- prospect of city, town panorama, silhouette of city [25I12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- river [25H213] Search | Browse Iconclass
- standing on one leg, the other leg held sideways, bent [31A26242] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Relating to the text:
- brooding, hatching «« KEY (412) TO 25F animals [25F(+412)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Certainty (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52B41(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Damage, Disservice; 'Danno' (Ripa) [54BB31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Delusion, Fallacy; 'Prima Impressione' (Ripa) [52AA522] Search | Browse Iconclass
- eggs, egg-dishes [41C642] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Faith, 'Fides'; 'Fede', 'Fede catholica', 'Fede christiana', 'Fede christiana catholica' (Ripa) ~ one of the Three Theological Virtues [11M31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Faithfulness, 'Bona Fide' [57A614] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Honour, Glory; 'Ampiezza della Gloria', 'Gloria', 'Gloria de prencipi', 'Gloria & Honore', 'Honore', 'Sublimatà della Gloria' (Ripa) [59B31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Hope, 'Spes'; 'Speranza divina e certa' (Ripa) ~ one of the Three Theological Virtues [11M32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Hope; 'Speranza', 'Speranza delle fatiche' (Ripa) [56D1] Search | Browse Iconclass
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