Eusebius Riddle 34: De flumine
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021Original text:
Pergo per innumera flexis discursibus arva,
Sed locus et specialis habet me semper et unus.
Cum duo nomina praecedat mea syllaba eadem,
Incipit hoc una nomen qua syllaba et illud.
Nomine cur isto brevis est et longa per illud?
Littera subtrahitur; post haec fulgebo per orbem.
Translation:
I make my way through innumerable fields with winding streams,
But a special and single place always holds me.
Because the same syllable in me begins two nouns, (1)
This and that noun begin with the one syllable.
Why is it short in this noun and long in that?
A letter is removed; afterwards I will shine throughout the world. (2)
On the river
Notes:
(1) Referring to flumen and fluvius, both Latin words for “river.”
(2) Flumen, minus “f,” becomes lumen (light).
Tags: riddles latin Eusebius