Irenaeus Fable 95: Vulpes et Caput Humanum

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 De Vulpe et Capite humano, the story of a fox who found a human head (in this case, from a statue; in other versions, the fox finds an actor's mask). In Perry's indexing system, this is Perry 27.

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

Vulpes, sculptoris officinam ingressa, reperit caput humanum ex marmore singulari artificio elaboratum, quod pedibus anterioribus, quasi manibus, amplexans et curiosius contemplans, exclamavit, O quale sine cerebro caput, magno cum sensu ac ingenio fabricatum, sensus licet et ingenii expers. Tales sunt plerumque homines specie externa corporis, aut fortunae indulgentia, seu munere, sublimes, ingenio autem ac virtute, hominum larvae atque umbrae.

Vulpes,
sculptoris officinam ingressa,
reperit caput humanum
ex marmore
singulari artificio elaboratum,
quod
pedibus anterioribus,
quasi manibus, amplexans
et curiosius contemplans,
exclamavit,
O quale sine cerebro caput,
magno cum sensu ac ingenio
fabricatum,
sensus licet
et ingenii expers.
Tales sunt
plerumque homines
specie externa corporis,
aut fortunae indulgentia,
seu munere,
sublimes,
ingenio autem ac virtute,
hominum larvae atque umbrae.

Here's an illustration for the fable (image source) by Walter Crane:

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