¶ Lac gallinaceum, Ὀρνίθων γάλα, id est gallinarum lac. dicitur in opulentos, et quibus quidvis rerum suppeditat, ut illud Copiae cornu. Aut de raris inventu, atque ob id pretiosis: ut sit hyperbole significans [457] nihil omnino deesse. Plinius in praefatione historiae mundi, irridens Graecorum deliciosas quasdam et magnificas inscriptiones: {Cerion} <Cerium - Κηρίον>[1] (inquit) inscripsere, quod volebant intelligi favum: alii κέρας {ἀμαλθείας} <Ἀμαλθείας>, quod copiae cornu, velut lactis gallinacei sperare possis in volumine haustum. Ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐδ’ἂν ὀρνίθων γάλα | Ἀντὶ τοῦ βίου λάβοιμ’ἂν οὗ με νῦν ἀποστερεῖς, Aristophanes in Vespis, (in Acharnensibus[2],) id est, Non lac hercle gallinaceum, | Hacce pro vita capiam, quam mi adimis in praesentia. Eustathius in quartum Odysseae, citat hoc adagium ex Anaxagorae fabula, cui titulus Ὠά, (decipitur Erasmus, aut Eustathius ex quo citat: lege, Anaxagorae Physicis.) Rursum Aristophanes Comicus in Avibus[3], Δώσομεν ὑμῖν | Ἀυτοῖς, παισί, παίδων παισίν | Πλουθυγίειαν, εὐδαιμονίαν, | Βίον, εἰρήνην, νεότητα, γέλωτα, | Χορούς, θαλίας, γάλατ’ὀρνίθων. | Ὤστε παρέσται ὑμῖν κοπιᾷν | Ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν. id est, Dabimus vobis ipsis, filiis, filiorum filiis, opulentiam bonae valetudinis, felicitatem, facultates, pacem, iuventam, risum, choros, festa, lac gallinarum, ut sitis prae bonorum copia laboraturi. Strabo Geographiae lib. 14. narrat de Samiorum agris, quod essent omnium rerum ampliter feraces, illud vulgo iactatum esse, quod lac etiam ferrent gallinaceum. Idem testatur hoc adagium apud Menandrum comicum inveniri[4].

¶ Milk of hen, Orníthøn gála, that is, milk of hens. It is said towards the rich people and for those having anything superabundant, as that cornucopia. Or it is said about rarely found things, and then precious: as if it were a hyperbole meaning that nothing at all is lacking. Pliny, in the preface of world’s history, deriding some delicious and marvelous titles of Greeks says: They gave the title këríon because they wanted to indicate the honeycomb, others kéras Amaltheías - the horn of the goat Amalthea - which is the cornucopia, so to let you hope that in that book you can drink milk of hen. Egø gàr oud’àn orníthøn gála | Antì toû bíou láboim’àn oû me nûn apostereîs, Aristophanes in Wasps (in Acharnians - mistake!), that is, By Hercules, I won’t take milk of hen for this life, of which you now deprive me. Eustathius in the commentary to 4^th book of Odyssey quotes from a tale of Anaxagoras this adage, whose title is Øá, The eggs (Erasmus from Rotterdam is mistaken, either Eustathius whence the former is quoting: read About nature of Anaxagoras). Still Aristophanes the comic in Birds: Døsomen hymîn | Autoîs, paisí, paídøn paisín | Plouthygíeian, eudaimonían, | Bíon, eirënën, neótëta, géløta, | Choroús, thalías, gálat'orníthøn. | Øste paréstai hymîn kopiâ_in | Hypò tôn agathôn. That is: We shall give you yourselves, children, children of children, an abundance of conditions of good health, happiness, wealth, peace, youth, laughter, dances, feast days, milk of hens, so that you will grow weary of abundance of good things. Strabo in the 14^th book of Geography relates about the fields of Samians, and since they were extremely fruitful in every kind of products, everywhere they were boasting about the fact that they also produced milk of hen. There is proof that this adage is also found in the comedy writer Menander.

Athenaeus lib. 9. Dipnosoph.[5] ex mediae comoediae scriptore quodam Mnesimacho senarios hos adducit, καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον, | Σπανιώτερον πάρεστιν ὀρνίθων γάλα, | Καὶ φασιανός ἀποτετιλμένος καλῶς. id est. Et quod dicit proverbio, Lac suppetit res rara gallinaceum, ac | Plumis revulsis phasianus adprobe. Rursum lib. 9. adducit ex {Numenio} <Nicandro>[6], Ἠδ’ὅπερ ὄρνιθος καλέεται γάλα. id est Atque quod gallinae dicitur lac, Erasmus. Anaxagoras in Physicis scribit id quod gallinae lac vocatur, album in ovis liquorem esse. Animalibus viviparis cibus, qui lac vocatur, in mammis parentis paratus est: sed contra quam homines putant et Alcmaeon Crotoniates ait. non enim albumen ovi lac est, sed vitellus. hic enim pullis pro cibo est. illi albumen pro cibo esse existimant, propter coloris affinitatem, Aristot. de generat. anim. 3. 2[7]. Καταστήσω σ’ἐγὼ | Τύραννον, ὀρνίθων παρέξω σοι γάλα, Pisthetaerus Herculi in Avibus Aristophanis.[8]

Athenaeus in 9^th book of Deipnosophists quotes these senarii from Mnesimachus, a writer of middle comedy: kaì tò legómenon, | Spaniøteron párestin orníthøn gála, | Kaì phasianós apotetilménos kalôs. That is: To say this with a tale, As a rare thing it is enough the milk of hen, and a pheasant with very well plucked feathers. And still in 9^th book he quotes from Nicander - not from Numenius of Heraclea, Ëd’hóper órnithos kaléetai gála. That is: Also that which is said milk of hen, Erasmus from Rotterdam. Anaxagoras in About nature writes that what is said milk of hen is the white liquid present in the eggs. The food, which is called milk, by viviparous animals is prepared in the breasts of the parent: but contrary to what men think and Alcmaeon of Croton says. For the albumen is not the milk of the egg, but milk is the yolk. For this acts as a food for chicks: those learned men think the albumen acts as a food because of similarity in color, Aristotle in De generatione animalium III,2. Katastësø s'egø | Týrannon, orníthøn paréxø soi gála, I will make you sovereign, I will give you hens' milk, Pisthetaerus  turned to Hercules in Birds of Aristophanes.

Scholiastes Aristoph. in Acharn. hoc proverbium locum habere ait in iis qui admodum fortunati sunt, et nihil non possident, ita ut etiam circa res impossibiles aliquid lucrentur, impossibile enim est ut unquam lac e gallinis habeatur. at fortunati homines id quoque si voluerunt comparare sibi possunt. Meminit et Suidas. Βούλοιντο μὲν ἂν καὶ τῶν ὀρνίθων γάλα παραχεῖν, Synesius in epistolis. De herba quam {ornithógala} <ornithógalon> Graeci vocant, scripsimus in Gallo a.

The scholiast of Aristophanes' Acharnians says that this proverb fits those who are quite fortunate and possessing everything, so much as they succeed in drawing something also from impossible things, in fact it is impossible that milk from hens is drawn. But fortunate men could get also this if they whished. Also the lexicon Suidas mentions this. Boúlointo mèn àn kaì orníthøn gála paracheîn, If in fact they want to pour on also the hens' milk, Synesius of Cyrene in the letters. About the herb called by Greeks ornithógalon - hen's milk, Ornithogalum - I wrote in the Cock at the paragraph a.

¶ Germanica proverbia nonnulla etiam extant, a gallinis facta, ut sunt: Per messem ferociunt gallinae, In der ärn sind die hüner raub. hoc est, Satietas ferociam parit. Gallinis caudam religare meditaris: Du wilt den hüneren den schwantz ausbinden: non diverso sensu ab isto, Aquilam volare doces. Cum alienis gallinis ova in nidum parere. Wit anderen hüneren ins nest legen: ut apud Latinos, Alienum arare fundum, quod est cum alienis uxoribus rem habere.

¶ There are also some German proverbs drawn from hens, as for example: During the harvesting the hens become aggressive, In der ärn sind die hüner raub. That is, the abundance produces ferocity. You meditate to tie the tail to the hens: Du wilt den hüneren den schwantz ausbinden. It doesn't have a different meaning from this: You teach to an eagle to fly. To lay the eggs in the nest of hens of other people: Wit anderen hüneren ins nest legen. As for Latins: To plough the farm of other people, that means to entertain relationships with the wives of others.

¶ proverbia ab ovis. Ovum adglutinas, Ὠόν κολλήεις, (si recte legitur. malim κολλᾷς,) id est, Ovum glutino compingis. refertur a Diogeniano[9]. Ridicule laborat, qui fractum ovi putamen glutino farcire et coagmentare conetur, Erasmus.

¶ Proverbs drawn from the eggs. You glue an egg, Øón kollëeis (if it is exactly read, I would prefer kollâis), that is, You weld the egg with glue. It is reported by Diogenianus of Heraclea. He who would try to patch up and rejoin with glue a broken eggshell is performing a labor in a ridiculous way, Erasmus from Rotterdam.

¶ Ab ovo usque ad mala, proverbiali figura dixit Horatius in Sermonibus Sat. 3.[10] pro eo quod est, ad initio convivii usque ad finem. Si collibuisset (inquit) ab ovo | Usque ad mala citaret, io Bacche modo summa | Voce, modo hac resonat quae chordis quatuor ima. Antiquitus enim coenam ab ovis auspicabantur, malis finiebant. Erit venustius, si longius trahatur, ab ovo usque ad mala: id est, toto colloquio, tota navigatione, aut toto opere. Qui rem altius repetunt quam oportet, notatur illo versu Horatiano[11], Nec gemino bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo, Erasmus.

¶ From egg to apples - from hors d’oeuvre to fruit - said Horace proverbially in a figurative way in 3^rd Satira to indicate from the beginning at the end of a banquet. He says: If he was in the proper mood he would have begun to sing "hurray Bacchus" from egg to apples, now with the whole voice he possesses, now with this lowest note resounding with the tetrachord. In fact in antiquity they began the banquet with eggs and ended with apples. It will be more pleasant the longer it is extended, from egg to apples: that is, for the whole conversation, for the whole navigation, or for the whole activity. Those who go back to a thing more far off than necessary, they are branded by this verse of Horace: Nor we must begin to speak of the Trojan war starting from the twin egg - that with two yolks from which Helen was born, Erasmus

¶ Ex ovo prodiit, Ἐξ ὠοῦ ἐξῆλθεν, aiunt dici solitum de magnopere formosis ac nitidis: quasi neges communi hominum more natus, sed ex ovo, more Castoris et Pollucis. Siquidem est in poetarum fabulis Ledam {Tyndari} <Thestii>[12] filiam, ex Iovis concubitu duo peperisse ova, e quorum altero prodiere gemini Castor et Pollux, insigni forma iuvenes: ex altero nata est Helena, cuius forma literis omnium est nobilitata, Erasmus.

¶ He came forth from an egg, Ex øoû exêlthen, they say that it is usually said of very beautiful and attractive young people: as if you were denying that they are born in the usual way for humans, but rather from an egg as Castor and Pollux. Since in the fables of the poets it is found that Leda, daughter of Thestius - wife of Tyndarus, from an intercourse she had with Jupiter gave birth to two eggs, from one of which the twins Castor and Pollux were born, boys of outstanding beauty: from the other one Helen was born, whose appearance has been extolled by literary works of everybody, Erasmus.

¶ Ovo prognatus eodem. hoc fortassis simpliciter dictum est ab Horatio[13]. Quandoquidem ad fabulam respicit Ledae, quae gravida ex Iove in cygnum converso, ovum peperit, unde gemini prognati Castor et Pollux. Id ovum Pausanias in Laconicis[14] refert. ostendi apud Lacedaemonios suspensum taeniis a testudine templi. Verum si quis hoc dictum deflectat ad iisdem natos parentibus, aut ab eodem eruditos praeceptore, aut ita consimilibus ingeniis, ut eodem ovo nati videri possint, nihil aeque fuerit proverbiale. veluti si dicas: Vultus, ingenium, mores, facta, ac prorsus omnia sic huic cum hoc conveniunt, ut iures eodem prognatos ovo. Aristoteles[15] quidem ostendit iuxta naturam fieri posse, ut ex eodem ovo duo pulli nascantur, Erasmus.

¶ Born from the same egg. This proverb perhaps has been said only by Horace. Since it concerns the fable related to Leda who, made pregnant by Jupiter who had turned himself into a swan, gave birth to an egg from which the two twins Castor and Pollux were born. Pausanias reports this egg in Laconia. It is exposed among Spartans suspended with bandages down from the vault of a temple. In truth if someone were changing this axiom into born from the same parents, or educated by the same tutor, or into so similar for temperament that it could be thought that they were born from the same egg, it would be equivalent as proverb, as if you should say: Face, temperament, behavior, deeds, and in short for all the characteristics they are corresponding each other to such an extent that you would be ready to swear that they were born from the same egg. For Aristotle shows that according to nature it can happen that from a same egg two chicks are hatched, Erasmus.

¶ Extant apud authores aliquot similitudinis adagia, quorum de numero est, Non tam ovum ovo simile, de rebus indiscretae similitudinis. Vides ne ut in proverbio sit ovorum inter se similitudo? Tamen hoc accepimus, Deli fuisse complure{i}s salvis rebus illis, qui gallinas alere quaestus causa solerent. Ii cum ovum inspexerant, quae id gallina peperisset dicere solebant. Neque id est contra nos. Nam nobis satis <est> ova <illa non> internoscere, Cicero 2. Academic.[16] Idem proverbium refertur et a F. Quintiliano. Usurpatur et a Seneca in libello[17], quem in Claudium Imperatorem lusit, Erasmus. Ovorum inter se miram ac prope indiscretam similitudinem, saepe numero apud animum meum non sine stupore perpendi. Alterum enim alteri si compares, fallitur examen, hebescitque intuentis obtutus: tanta prorsum parilitas est, tantaque geminitudo, Caelius.

¶ There are extant among authors some adages referring to the similarity, to the crowd of which is belonging this one: After all an egg is not so similar to an egg, concerning things of an indistinguishable similarity. Are you aware how the likeness of one egg to another is proverbial? Nevertheless we have been told what follows, that at Delos, without damage for those things, a great number of people were in the habit of keeping large numbers of hens for profit purposes. Whenever they looked at an egg they used to tell which hen laid it. Neither this is against us. In fact for us it is enough to don't distinguish those eggs, Cicero in Academica II. The same proverb is reported by Marcus Fabius Quintilian. It is also employed by Seneca in a satirical pamphlet - Apocolocyntosis - he delighted in writing toward the emperor Claudius, Erasmus. Very often I have meticulously weighed in my mind not without amazement the astonishing and almost perfect similarity of the eggs each other. In fact if you compares them each other the needle of the balance is deceived and the sight of whom is looking is weakened: absolutely so great is their likeness and so great is their equivalence, Lodovico Ricchieri.

Huic simile est aut idem potius apud Germanos, Tappio referente, Eyer sind eyern gleych. et hoc, Wär er einem [458] hasen so änlich als einem narren / die hund hetten in langst zerrissen.

Among Germans it is similar to the following one, or rather, it is identical, on the basis of what Eberhard Tappe is referring: Eyer sind eyern gleych. et hoc, Wär er einem  hasen so änlich als einem narren / die hund hetten in langst zerrissen.