Alciato CLXXV: Alius peccat, alius plectitur

Alciato CLXXV: Alius peccat, alius plectitur



Arripit ut lapidem catulus, morsuque fatigat,
Nec percussori mutua damna facit,
Sic plerique sinunt veros elabier hostes
Et quos nulla gravat noxia, dente petunt.

This image comes from a 1621 edition of the emblems (click on the image for a larger view), and you can also read an English translation online. For help with the Latin, here is the poem presented in an easier-to-read format, with the word order rearranged (the word order in poetry often serves the sound more than the sense), and with the phrase segments clearly marked:

Ut catulus
arripit lapidem
et morsu fatigat,
et mutua damna
percussori non facit,
sic plerique
sinunt
veros hostes elabier
et dente petunt (hos)
quos
nulla noxia gravat.

This is one of the emblems of Alciato which made its way into Whitney's Choice of Emblemes, the first emblem book published in English. Below you can see some more images from other editions of Alciato's Emblemata:

Emblematum liber (1534), Augsburg

Emblematum libellus (1542), Paris

Emblemata (1550), Lyon