[34.] At play with nuts)—Ver. 2. It is thought by Schwabe that Phædrus wrote this Fable in defence of his early patron Augustus, against those who censured him for the levity of his conduct in his old age, as we learn from Suetonius that he amused himself with fishing, playing with dice, pebbles, or nuts with boys. —For some account of Roman games with nuts, see “The Walnut-tree,” a fragment of Ovid, in vol. iii. p. 491, of Bohn’s Translation of that author.
[35.] To a Lamb)—Ver. 1. Burmann suggests that this Fable is levelled against the cruelty of parents, who were much in the habit of exposing their children, who were consequently far from indebted to them. Schwabe conjectures that the system of employing wet-nurses is intended here to be censured.
[36.] Black or white)—Ver. 10. This, though disregarded by the mother, would be of importance to him, as the black lambs were first selected for sacrifice.
[37.] Pallas lately gave me)—Ver. 13. The Owl was sacred to Pallas.
[38.] So heaven help me)—Ver. 8. “Mehercule,” literally “By Hercules.” This was a form of oath used generally by men, and Phædrus has been censured for here putting it in the mouth of Minerva. Some Commentators also think that he is guilty of a slight anachronism in using the name of Hercules here to give emphasis to an asseveration; but there does not appear to be any ground for so thinking, as the choice must, of course, be supposed to have been made after his death and deification. In the Amphitryon of Plautus, Mercury is represented as swearing by Hercules before that God was born.
[39.] Vain is our glory)—Ver. 12. “Nisi utile est quod facimus, stulta est gloria.” This line is said to have been found copied on a marble stone, as part of a sepulchral inscription, at Alba Julia or Weissenburg, in Transylvania.
[40.] Seeking for fire)—Ver. 3. Fire was kindled in general by being kept smouldering in a log under the ashes, from day to day, for culinary purposes; or else it was begged from a neighbour, as we learn from the Aulularia of Plautus, A. I., Sc. ii., l. 12 et seq.; and so generally was this done that we find it stated in the Trinummus, A. II., sc. ii., l. 53, that it was the custom not to refuse fire when asked for even to an enemy.
[41.] In search of a man)—Ver 9. Meaning that he did not deem the enquirer to be a man. The same story is told in Diogenes Laertius, of Diogenes the Cynic.
[42.] This and the following Prologue seem better suited to their present places than to the close of the Fourth Book, where in most of the editions they appear.
[43.] Of a wearied life)—Ver. 15. It is impossible to say with any certainty to what he refers; but the most probable conjecture is that he has again got into trouble through his compositions, and is begging Eutychus, in some public capacity, immediately to give a favourable decision in his behalf. That “Languens ævum” means a life worn out with misfortune, and does not refer to himself as sinking, in want, under old age, is evident from the next line. It has been conjectured by some that Phædrus wrote these lines in prison, where he had been thrown through the malice of his enemies.