Bern Riddle 7: De vesica
NEVILLEMOGFORD
Date: Thu 26 Nov 2020Matching Commentaries: Commentary for Bern Riddle 7: De vesica
Original text:
Teneo liquentem, sequor membrana celatum,
Verbero nam cursu, visu quem cernere vetor.
Impletur invisis domus, sed vacua rebus.
Permanet, dum cibum nullum de pondere gestat.
Quae dum clausa fertur, velox ad nubila surgit,
Patefacta nullum potest tenere manentem.
Translation:
I hold liquid and I follow that which is hidden by skin,
and on the road, I beat that which I am forbidden to see.
My home is filled by the unseen, but it is empty of stuff.
It endures when it holds a weightless citizen.
When it is sealed up, it rises swiftly to the clouds.
Opened, it can hold no leftovers.
Bladder
Notes:
This edition is based on Karl Strecker, ed., Poetae Latini aevi Carolini, Vol. 4.2 (Berlin, MGH/Weidmann, 1923), page 740.
A list of variant readings can be found in Fr. Glorie, ed., Variae collectiones aenigmatum Merovingicae aetatis, Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 133A (Turnhout: Brepols, 1968), page 553.
Tags: latin Bern Riddles