Collections of Mediæval Epigrams are both numerous and lengthy and not infrequently their comparative value depends largely on the translator’s learning or talent.
For instance a distich of Plato’s is thus translated by Coleridge,
THE THIEF AND THE SUICIDE
Jack, finding gold, left a rope on the ground;
Bill, missing his gold, used the rope which he found.
and is thus rendered by Shelley,
A man was about to hang himself,
Finding a purse, then threw away his rope;
The owner, coming to reclaim his pelf,
The halter found and used it. So is Hope