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 p54  XXII

Provida sum vitae, duro non pigra labore,
Ipsa ferens umeris securae praemia brumae;
Nec gero magna simul, sed congero cuncta vicissim.

Peck:

Most provident am I, in toil delight,
My food I store against the winter's blight,
Not all at once, I bring it mite by mite.

Ohl:

Provident am I of my livelihood, to hard work not averse, bearing on my own shoulders stores for a winter freed from care. Nor do I heave great loads all at once, but heap up much bit by bit.

Editor's Additional Notes:

Formica: the ant was frequently cited as an instance of wisdom, foresight, patient accumulation, etc. See passages given below, also Cic. N. D. III.21; Proverbs VI.6; etc. Note the humorous line of Plaut. Curc. 576: ego te faciam ut hic formicae frustillatim differant. Plin. N. H. XI.111 tells the curious tale of Indian ants' gold (Sans. pippilaha), to which reference is (p55)made in Prop. XIII.5.

1 Provida sum vitae: cf. Hor. S. I.1.33 ff.:

sicut

Parvola, nam exemplo est, magni formica laboris

ore trahit quodcumque potest atque addit acervo

quem struit, haud ingnara ac non incauta futuri

Verg. G. I.186: inopi metuens formica senectae.

duro non pigra labore: Ov. Met. VII.656 ff.:

parcumque genus patiensque laborum

quaesitique tenax et quod quaesita reservet.

2 Ipsa ferens umeris: cf. the well-known simile of Verg. Aen. IV.401 ff., esp. 405:

pars grandia trudent

obnixae frumenta umeris.

Pliny, in his chapter on ants, says (N. H. XI.108): Ac si quis conparet onera corporibus earum, fateatur nullis portione vires esse maiores. Gerunt ea morsu; maiora aversae postremis pedibus moliuntur umeris obnixae.

3 Nec gero magna simul: cf. Ov. Ars Am. I.93 ff.:

ut redit itque frequens longum formica per agmen,

granifero solitum cum vehit ore cibum

Phaed. IV.24.16: Ego granum in hiemem cum studiose congero; Hor. l.c. c32: congesta cibaria. On the word-play (gero . . . congero) see note on aenig. IX.3; cf. also LVI.3 and LIX.3.

Ohl's Critical Notes on the Latin Text:

1 dura β1; labori BD (sed -e I)

2 humeris Dβ; umeris vel secure A; humeris pro duro mense brŭmali β

3 multa cuncta v. A; cuncta Baehr.

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