Eusebius Riddle 47: De scitali serpente
ALEXANDRAREIDER
Date: Mon 27 Dec 2021Original text:
Aspera orbiculis tergo scutalibus hirtis
Dorsa stupescentes trucidare solesco venenis.
Quos celeres cursu non coepi, capto colore.
Fervida natura, pressis hiemeque pruinis
Exuvias positura meas, brumalia calcans
Frigora. Continuis lucrabor nomina notis.
Translation:
I am accustomed to slaying with poisons those astonished
At my uneven back, with its rough, shield-shaped disks at the rear.
Those fast ones I could not lay hold of in their passage, I catch with colour.
In winter, when frost closes in, I—hot by nature—
Will molt my skin, trampling on the wintry
Cold. I get my names from my continuous markings.
On the scytale serpent
Tags: riddles latin Eusebius