[1.] Is anything else)—Ver. 2. Burmann thinks that the object of the Author in this Prologue is to defend himself against the censures of those who might blame him for not keeping to his purpose, mentioned in the Prologue of the First Book, of adhering to the fabulous matter used by Æsop, but mixing up with such stories narratives of events that had happened in his own time.
[2.] Persevering industry)—Ver. 5. “Diligens industria.” An industry or ingenuity that exerts itself in trying to discover the meaning of his Fables.
[3.] Of the sage)—Ver. 8. Meaning Æsop.
[4.] To insert something)—Ver. 9. He probably alludes to such contemporary narratives as are found in Fable v. of the present Book; in Fable x. of the Third; in B. IV., Fables v., xxi., xxiv.; and B. V., Fables i., v., vii.
[5.] Modesty in want)—Ver. 12. Martial has a similar passage, B. iv., Epig. 9:—
“Semper eris pauper, si pauper es, Æmiliane,
Dantur opes nulli nunc nisi divitibus.”
[6.] Of middle age)—Ver 8. It has been a matter of doubt among Commentators to which “ætatis mediæ” applies—the man or the woman. But as she is called “anus,”
“an Old Woman,” in the last line, it is most probable that the man is meant.
The Latin language had two unrelated words spelled “anus”. The one referenced here is “anūs” with long final u.