Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ornithologiae tomus alter - 1600
Liber
Decimusquartus
qui
est
de Pulveratricibus Domesticis
Book
14th
concerning
domestic
dust bathing fowls
transcribed by Fernando Civardi - translated by Elio Corti
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[272]
AENIGMATA. |
RIDDLES |
Poetarum
nostri aevi coryphaeus Scaliger de Gallina bina haec condidit aenigmata:
quorum primum tale est. Cui
lux ante diem, tenebrae sunt ante tenebras, Sic
{utrunque} <utrumque> simul sedula segnis erit. Quaerere
posterius, natone, priusve parente Possumus, hoc quod nunc est quod et ante fuit. Fit melior peior, generique tuoque suoque: Sed
peior melior post modo vita tibi est. |
Giulio
Cesare Scaligero She
who has the light before the day, has the darkness before the darkness, Thus
she will be at the same time both zealous and lazy. We
can wonder if the parent was born before or after, This
that now is there has been also before. The
worse becomes better, both for your and her offspring: But
at least afterwards the worse life for you is the better. |
Etsi
in primis Gallo istaec omnia, ac ea in primis, quae priori disticho
dicuntur, competant, maluit tamen poeta id de Gallina dixisse, quod ea,
non autem Gallus ad mensas lautiores saginetur. Est vero primi distichi
sensus: Cum hoc animal lucem ante diem, et noctem ante noctem agnovit,
non tamen ante lucem ad pastum, nec ante noctem ad quietem sese recipit;
ad utrumque opus merito deses dicitur: etsi alias naturaliter sedula,
quo enim noctu in tenebris sese recipiat? Cur longe ante noctem vesperi
cubitum eat? Secundum ad communem eam tritamque quaestionem, quam nos
etiam antea[1]
obiter attigimus, alludit, nempe num Gallina prius, an ovum extiterit.
Tertium mea quidem sententia ita intelligendum: Quae Gallina pinguior,
et esui aptior est, ea tuo, suoque generi, hoc est, soboli nasciturae,
quae tam tua est, quam eius, peior est aliis, quia scilicet Gallinam
occidendo spem futurae prolis auferas: atque ita haec suae, tuaeque
proli peior est, et tibi melior postea vita, quoniam scilicet tam lauto
cibo nutritus vitae tuae incolumitati consulas. |
Although
before everything else all these things, and especially those which are
said in the first couplet, are concerning the rooster, nevertheless the
poet preferred to say this about the hen, since she and not the rooster
is fattened for lavisher tables. In truth the meaning of the first
couplet is as follows: Since this animal recognized the light before the
day and the night before the night, nevertheless she is not devoting
herself to the food before the light, nor to the rest before the night,
she is rightly said lazy in regard to both deeds: even if for other
reasons the animal is zealous for nature, for what a purpose does she
take refuge at night-time in darkness? Why does she go to roost at
twilight very before the night? The second couplet alludes to that
common and trite question which also before we have incidentally touched,
and that is, if existed first hen or egg. The third couplet in my
opinion must be understood this way: That hen who is fatter and more
suited to be eaten, she is worse than others for your and her offspring,
that is for offspring that is to be born, which is as much yours as it
is hers, since it is clear that killing the hen you are nullifying the
hope of a future offspring: and so she is worse for her and your
offspring, and afterwards for you the life will be better, since it is
obvious that nourished by a so lavish food you can provide for the
safety of your life. |
aliud Magnanimam
gentem imbelli de pectore promet. Tantum
posteriora piger tibi textor habeto Quae
tamen ut sapido lucro tibi prima putabit. Magnanimam
Ť
Galli. Posteriora Ť
Lina. Prima Ť
posteriora Gallinae. |
Second
riddle She
will draw out of an unwarlike heart a magnanimous progeny. Lazy
weaver, hold only for you the posterior parts Which
nevertheless she will judge as first fruits because of a savory profit
for you. Magnanimous
= of the rooster. Posterior parts = linen. First fruits = posteriors of
the hen. |
EPITAPHIUM. |
EPITAPH |
In
Gallinaceum Anytes epitaphium in epigrammati{bu}s Graecis[2]. Οὐκ ἔτι μ’ὡς τὸ πάρος πυκιναῖς πτερύγεοσιν
ἐρέοσων Ὄρσεις
δ’Εὐνῆς,
ὄρθριος
ἐγρόμενος. Ἧ γὰρ σ'ὑπνώοντα
σίνις
λἀτρηδὸν
ἐπελθὼν Ἔκτεινεν
λαιμῷ ῥίμφα
καθεὶς ὄνυχα. |
Epitaph
by Anyte Ouk éti m'hřs tň páros
pykinaîs pterýgessin eréssřn Órseis ex Eunęs, órthrios
egrómenos. Ę gŕr s'hypnřonta sínis
lathrëdňn epelthřn Ékteinen
laimři rhimpha katheěs řnycha. You
don't awake any longer so early, you don't beat with thick wings | as
before and you frighten me up from the bed: Ah! | A thief killed you,
who furtively approached you when sleeping and | suddenly he flung his
fingernails in your throat. |
APOPHTHEGMATA. |
MAXIMS |
Platonem
legimus hominem definivisse animal {biceps} <bipes>[3]
sine plumis: Diogenem vero Cynicum irridendi gratia in academiam eius
Gallinaceum deplumatum immisisse, hunc hominem Platonis esse
inclamitando, quare postea Platonem
πλατυόνυχον, id est latis unguibus
praeditum, differentiae causa addidisse. |
We
read that Plato |
Diogenes
Cynicus {citharaedum} <citharoedum>, qui quoties canebat, ab
auditoribus deserebatur, obvium ita salutabat; Salve Galle. Quum ille
offensus salutationis novitate diceret, Quid ita? Quoniam, inquit, cantu
tuo excitas omnes. Iocum captavit ex ambiguitate verbi Graeci. Ἀναγείρειν enim dicitur, et qui excitat dormientem, quod solent Galli Gallinacei
male canentes, et qui sedentem excitat, ut surgat, ut ille solet. |
Diogenes
the Cynic thus greeted a lyre player who was abandoned by his listeners
every time he was singing: Hi rooster. Therefore he, struck by the
novelty of greeting manner, would have said: Why this way? Diogenes said:
because with your song you wake everybody. He deduced the joke from the
ambiguity of a Greek word. For anageírein is said either when
someone awakes a sleeper, as are accustomed to do badly singing roosters,
or when someone makes standing up a sitting person, as he – the lyre
player - is accustomed to do. |
C.
Iulius Hel<v>io (alii apophthegma hoc Crasso ascribunt) mancipi
saepius obstrepenti sibi dixit, etiam ostendam qualis sis: et
Hel<v>io instanti, ut ostenderet, qualis esset, Iulius digito
demonstravit Gallum in Mariano scuto Cimbrico depictum, nodis distortum,
erecta lingua, buccis fluentibus, cui manceps tunc simillimus est visus.
Taberna autem erat apud forum, ac scutum illud signi gratia positum[4].
Ingens omnium risus {consequutus} <consecutus> est. |
Caius Julius Caesar |
[1] A pagina 219.
[2] L. 3 sect. 24.
(Aldrovandi) - Vedere Antologia Palatina. § Lo stesso epigramma č
riportato da Conrad Gessner Historia animalium III (1555) a pagina 407
:
Epitaphium Anytes in gallinaceum, Epigrammatum Graecorum lib. 3. sect. 24. Οὐκ ἔτι μ’ὡς τὸ πάρος
πυκιναῖς
πτερύγεοσιν
ἐρέοσων | Ὄρσεις δ’Εὐνῆς,
ὄρθριος
ἐγρόμενος. |
Ἧ γὰρ σ'ὑπνώοντα
σίνις
λἀτρηδὸν
ἐπελθὼν |
Ἔκτεινεν
λαιμῷ ῥίμφα
καθεὶς ὄνυχα.
[3] Conrad Gessner Historia
Animalium III (1555), pag. 407: Platonem legimus hominem definivisse
animal bipes, sine plumis: et cum Diogenes Cynicus irridendi gratia in
academiam eius gallinaceum deplumatum immisisset, hunc hominem Platonis esse
clamitans, illum postea platyónychon, id est latis unguibus
praeditum, differentiae causa addidisse.
[4] Cicerone De
Oratore II,266: Valde autem
ridentur etiam imagines, quae fere in deformitatem aut in aliquod vitium
corporis ducuntur cum similitudine turpioris: ut meum illud in Helvium
Manciam "iam ostendam cuius modi sis," cum ille "ostende,
quaeso"; demonstravi digito pictum Gallum in Mariano scuto Cimbrico sub
Novis distortum, eiecta lingua, buccis fluentibus; risus est commotus; nihil
tam Manciae simile visum est; ut cum Tito Pinario mentum in dicendo
intorquenti: "tum ut diceret, si quid vellet, si nucem fregisset."
- Quintiliano
Institutio
oratoria VI,3,38: Rarum
est ut oculis subicere contingat, ut fecit C. Iulius: qui cum Helvio Manciae
saepius obstrepenti sibi diceret: "iam ostendam qualis sis", isque
plane instaret interrogatione qualem tandem se ostensurus esset, digito
demonstravit imaginem Galli in scuto Cimbrico pictam, cui Mancia tum
simillimus est visus: tabernae autem erant circa forum ac scutum illud signi
gratia positum.