Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Praedae Spes Vana Capit

Here is today's emblem and distich by Joachim Camerarius, 4:30. As you can see, there are lines with hooks dangling from the gourds which are set adrift in the water and then pulled in on a single line.

Praedae Spes Vana Capit
Pisciculos viden' ut pomposa cucurbita fallat?
Nil solidi illa tamen, sed tegit insidias.



Here is the vocabulary:

praeda - booty, loot, plunder
spes - hope
vanus - empty, vain
capio - catch
pisciculus - little fish
video - see
-ne - question particle
ut - as, so
pomposus - pompous, solmen
curcurbita - gourd
fallo - deceive, disappoint
nil - nothing
solidus - solid, dense
ille - that, that one
tamen - however
sed - but
tego - cover
insidiae - ambush, plot, snare