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XXI

Caeca mihi facies atris obscura tenebris;
Nox est ipse dies nec sol mihi cernitur ullus;
Malo tegi terra: sic me quoque nemo videbit.

Peck:

Blinded my eyes, for I in darkness grow,
And night is day, the sun I do not know,
I like it in the ground, no one can find me so.

Ohl:

Blind is my face in dark shadows hid; the very day is night nor is any sun by me perceived; I prefer to be covered by clods: thus no one will see me either.

Editor's Additional Notes:

1 Caeca mihi facies: cf. Verg. G. I.183: aut oculis capti fodere cubilia talpae; Isid. Etym. XII.3.5: Talpa dicta, quod sit damnata caecitate perpetua tenebris. Est enim absque oculis, semper terram fodit, for which he is probably inebted to Plin. N. H. XXX.19. But Plin. N. H. X.191 claims that in compensation for lack of sight its hearing is unusually acute: liquidius audiunt talpae.

2 Nox est ipse dies: so Maximianus Eleg. I.149 says of blindness: Eripitur sine nocte dies.

3 Malo tegi terra: Plin. N. H. IX.17 remarks that moles live under­ground by preference, breathing air that penetrates the porous soil. His other remarks regarding this animal are less acute, e.g. N. H. XXX.20: dente talpae vivae exempto sanari dentium dolores adalligato adfirmant. As a remedy for scrofula he recommends ashes of burnt mole mixed with honey applied as a liniment, or, failing that, either the liver or right foot! N. H. IX.38

Ohl's Critical Notes on the Latin Text:

2 Non est αd; ipsa AB

3 Mallo Aβ; terra om. A; videbat αβ

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