RIDDLE POSTS BY ARCHIVE DATE: DEC 2021

Eusebius Riddle 51: De scorpione

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Vermibus ascriptus nec non serpentibus atris,
Quislibet utrorum sociatus, ab ore solesco
Armari bino; quod vulnere corpore caudae
Inficiens, virum diffundo. (1) Hinc Grece vocabor,
Et, reliquos mordens artus, non vulnero palmas.

Translation:

Ascribed the status of worms and also of deadly serpents,
Allied with either of them, I am typically armed
With a second mouth; because, poisoning the body with a wound
From my tail, I pour out into the man. From this I get my name in Greek,
And, biting other limbs, I do not wound the palms.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the scorpion


Notes:

(1) Other editions read virus (poison), but virum (man) is the reading in both manuscripts and makes a kind of sense.



Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 52: De cymera

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Porro, triforme ferum vel monstrum fingor inorme.
Setiger aptavit leo rictibus ora nefandis;
Postremas partes draco diras indidit atrox;
Cetera formae membra dedit fera caprea velox,
Cum filologi me dicunt considere montem
Nunc Cilicum, capreasque leones atque chelidros
Gignentem. Studio virtuteque Bellerofontis
Sic velut occisus dicor, cum nunc habitari
Illius ingenio possum fortique labore.

Translation:

Next, I am represented as a tri-form or an enormous monster. 
A hairy lion fitted out my face with wicked jaws;
A fierce dragon equipped me with my fearful posterior parts;
A swift wild doe gave the other parts of my figure,
Though scholars now say that I am considered a Cilician
Mountain, begetting goats and lions
And snakes. By the zeal and bravery of Bellerephon
I am thus said to have been slain, so to speak, for now I can be
Inhabited through his skill and great labour.

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On the chimera


Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 53: De ypotoma pisce

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Nomen imago dedit servandum voce Pelasga.
Narratur mihi quod dorsum, iuba, hinnitus aeque
Assimilatus equo, sed rostrum vertit aduncum
Ad frontem versus, mordens ceu dentibus apri.
Rorifluo cunctos degens in gurgite phoebos, 
Rura per umbriferas depascor florida noctes.

Translation:

My appearance gave me my name preserved in the Pelasgian tongue.
It is said that my back, mane, and neighing too
Are compared to a horse, but my hooked snout turns
Toward my forehead, biting with teeth as would befit a wild boar.
I spend all my days in the flowing river, 
And through the shadowy nights I feed on flowery fields.

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On the hippo-potama fish


Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 54: De oceano pisce

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Forma manet tenuis cum semipedalis imago est
Et tamen immensas solus retinebo liburnas
Sic tantum (1) haerendo. Licet irruat aequora ventus,
Saeviat aut pelagus validis motabile flabris,
Ceu radicata ratis perstans at cernitur undis,
Inde meumque “moram” nomen dixere Latini.

Translation:

My appearance remains small for my image is half-a-foot long,
And yet alone I hold back immense ships
By clinging so much thus. Even if wind should rush onto the seas
Or the moving waves should rage under strong gales, 
The ship is seen nevertheless to stand, as if rooted to the waves.
And from that the Latins called my name “delay.”

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On the ocean fish


Notes:

(1) The manuscripts read tamen, but tamen also appears in the previous line—other editors have also emended it.



Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 55: De torpedine pisce

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Corpora si viva tangam torpescere faxo.
Propter hoc opus infantum, mihi nomen adhesit.
Quin magis: Indicus etsi me generamine Pontus
Ediderit, validi qui tunc me forte lacerti
Longius attingerint, contis seu qualibus hastis,
Torpescerent, et veloces vincire pedestres
Possum – vel potius sic vis mea tanta videtur
Aura mea afficiat sanos quo corporis artus.

Translation:

If I touch living bodies, I will numb them.
Because of this unspeakable act, my name stuck.
Not just that, but more: although the Indian Ocean birthed me, 
Strong arms which then by chance 
Touch me from farther away, with pikes or some kind of spear,
Are numbed, and I can bind those swift of foot – 
Or rather my strength seems so great
That my breath affects healthy limbs of the body.

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On the electric eel


Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 56: De ciconia avi

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Porro, soni crepitus proprii me fecit habere
Nomen, nam quatiente ferensque crepacula rostro,
Nuntia sum veris, multis stipata catervis.
Hostis chelidri, nullum vitabo venenum.
Quin, potius, pulli pascentur carne colubri.
Aequora transcendens, me ducet praevia cornix.
Lata cibabit multigenas has Asia turmas,
Quas ego rorifluis collecta per agmina limphis
Ut comites iteris habeo. Sic sollicitudo
Circa communis cunctis stat tam pia multos
Natos, sic ut alentes hos, vestimine carnes
Nostras nudemus. Sed quanto tempore nostras
Progenies nutrimus, sic et alemur ab illis.

Translation:

Next, the noise of my own voice made me have 
My name, for by rattling as I shake my beak,
I am the messenger of spring, attended by many crowds.
Enemy of the snake, I dodge no poison.
No, rather, my young feed on serpent’s flesh.
Crossing the seas, a crow goes ahead, leading me.
Wide Asia feeds these many crowds,
Whom, gathered by troops from the flowing waters,
I have as companions on my journey. Thus such loyal solicitude
Around our many children stands shared by all,
To the point that, in so feeding them, we strip our flesh
Of its covering. But for such time that we nurse
Our progeny, thus are we nourished by them.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the stork-bird


Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 57: De strutione

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Infandus volucer sum et nomen habeo Pelasgum.
Et pennas velut usurpans avis, advolo numquam
Altius a terra, et conceptum neglego foetum
Forte fovere meum, sed foetu pulveris ova
Sparsa foventur, vel potius animantur in illo.

Translation:

I am an unspeakable winged thing and I have a Greek name.
Though I pretend to wings like a bird, I never fly
Higher from the ground, and I fail to care for my offspring 
Conceived casually, but by dust’s incubation are the scattered eggs
Kept warm, or rather, in it are they infused with life.

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On the ostrich


Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 58: De noctua

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Garrula, nigriferas noctis discurro per umbras,
Vitans luciflui suffundi lumine Phoebi.
Nomen habens furvum, visus habitatus ob ortam
Titanis lucem, at Cretensis tellus habere
Sola nequibit me, potius, aliunde relata,
Extemplo austriferi patior discrimina loeti.

Translation:

Noisy, I run through the night’s dark-bearing shadows,
Avoiding suffusion with the light of shining Phoebus.
I have a nocturnal name, my vision weakened by the rising
Light of Titan, but the land of Crete alone
Will never hold me, but rather, brought here from elsewhere, 
I immediately suffer the crises of violent death brought on the south wind.

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On the night owl


Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 59: De psittaco

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

India litoribus propriis me gignit amoenam,
Collum nam torques ruber emicat, ala colore
Tam viridi decorata est, et mea latior instat
Lingua loquax reliquis avibus. Hinc verba sonabo,
Nomina et humanae reddam de more loquelae,
Nam natura mihi “Ave!” est vel iam dicere “Care!”
Cetera per studiam depromam nomina rerum.

Translation:

India begets lovely me (1) within her own shores,
For a red torc shines on my neck, and my wing is
Highly decorated with a green color, and my chattering tongue
Goes on more extensively than that of other birds. Hence I speak words,
And I give names in the manner of human speech,
For it is my nature to say “Hail!” or now “Greetings!” (2)
I declare other names through the study of things.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the parrot


Notes:

(1) Or, it could be “lovely India.” The grammar does not work perfectly in either instance.
(2) This is a Latin transcription of the Greek Χαίρε.



Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius 

Eusebius Riddle 60: De bubone

ALEXANDRAREIDER

Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021
Original text:

Ignava volucris, venturi nuntia luctus,
Pigraque preseverans vertor prepondere plumae,
Noctibus et phoebis, latitans, tam foeda, sepulchris,
Furva per umbriferas semper constabo cavernas
Atque sono vocis nomen tractabo vocandum.

Expliciunt enigmata Eusebii.

Translation:

A lazy bird, messenger of grief to come,
I turn, continuing sluggishly because of the weight of my wings,
Night and day, hiding, very ugly, in tombs, 
I will always stay, gloomy, in the shadowy caves,
And with the sound of my voice I will make to my name.

Here end the riddles of Eusebius.

Click to show riddle solution?
On the owl


Notes:

Both of the manuscripts give the solution De bubalo, but, cute though it is, that word does not exist.



Tags: riddles  latin  Eusebius