Aldhelm Riddle 43: Sanguisuga
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Tue 15 Mar 2022Original text:
Lurida per latices cenosas lustro paludes;
Nam mihi composuit nomen fortuna cruentum,
Rubro dum bibulis vescor de sanguine buccis.
Ossibus et pedibus geminisque carebo lacertis,
Corpora vulneribus sed mordeo dira trisulcis
Atque salutiferis sic curam praesto labellis.
Translation:
Sallow, I lurk in muddy swamp waters;
For fortune made for me a bloody name,
Because I am nourished by wet mouthfuls of red blood.
I lack bones, two feet, and arms,
But I bite fearful bodies with three-pronged wounds
And thus will I bestow treatment from my health-bringing lips.
Leech
Notes:
This edition is based on Rudolf Ehwald, ed. Aldhelmi Opera Omnia. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, 15. Berlin: Weidmann, 1919, pages 59-150. Available online here.
Tags: riddles latin Aldhelm