Dyalogus Creaturarum:
RENAISSANCE WOODCUTS & FABLES
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he owl, Bubo, has its name from the sound it makes, says Isidorus: a night bird who hunts mice and sucks out the eggs of the dove, drinks the oil from the lamps in church and makes a mess everywhere...
One day all the birds were having a party, and after dinner they took a peaceful break from all the festivities. The owl preened himself and said "I'm not given the place of honour which my noble birth demands, but now I'm going to put things right". He gathered around him the porphyry, the night jar, the bat, indeed, all the birds of the night, and they rushed in to take over the power from all the birds. But the birds fought back and beat them: and the story goes that it's because of this treachery that the owl is attacked by all the other birds, and doesn't dare to show himself in the daytime...
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Male levat se qui cadit |
perit & qui false tradit |