Eusebius Riddle 56: De ciconia avi
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021Porro, 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.
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.
Tags: riddles latin Eusebius