Irenaeus Fabula 56. Talpa et Mus.

I've embarked on a new Latin fable project here at the Latin Via Fables blog: digitizing the 300 fables in the Mithologica sacro-profana, seu florilegium fabularum by P. Irenaeus, published in 1666, which has recently become available at GoogleBooks. For a complete index of the fables in the book, with links to the fables I've digitized so far, check out the Aesopus wiki page at Aesopus.PBwiki.com.

Today's fable is Talpa et Mus, the story of the mouse and the mole. This is not a fable I've seen before - does anybody know of an earlier source for it?

To make reading the fable easier, I've provided a segmented version of the story below.

Talpam caecum animal oculorum omnino expers, aut si habet, habet membrana quadam insidente obstructos, ut nil videat, ferunt aliquando gloriatum adversus Murem de praestantia oculorum et visus. Cui Mus: Egregios sane oculos habes, sed unde videas, non habes. Notans caecitatem mentis, plerumque graviorem multorum, qui caeci cum sint, acutius aliis videre se iactant et putant.

Talpam
caecum animal
oculorum omnino expers,
aut si habet,
habet
membrana quadam insidente
obstructos,
ut nil videat,
ferunt aliquando
gloriatum
adversus Murem
de praestantia oculorum et visus.
Cui Mus:
Egregios sane oculos habes,
sed unde videas, non habes.
Notans caecitatem mentis,
plerumque graviorem multorum,
qui caeci cum sint,
acutius aliis videre
se iactant et putant.

Here's an illustration for the fable (image source), showing a mole:

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Aesop's Fables in Latin now available at Amazon.com.