similar , given the bucolic subject matter : the birth and achievements of the rustic deity , Pan .
Frequentes in Germaniae civitatibus atque oppidis Coriaceae illae Fistulae sunt , quas apud nos rusticani homines fere usurpant , qualis forte σῦριγξ Theocriti εἰδ . λβ fuerat . Ego in hoc poemate ipsos illos Theocriti modos aemulor . Est enim quisque versus Dactylicus , proportione tamen alii aliis una syllaba contractiores . Deinde cum istiusmodi fistulae quandam certae lagenae speciem prae se ferant , adeoque ipsi Germani splendide bibant , inter bibendum vero non utantur modo fistulatore , sed etiam sonos illos inflent quibus minus minusque vini superesse cognoscas ; operae praetium duxi Germano homini strenam dare , quae tam Pastoriciae fistulae , quam lagenae vinariae formam exhiberet . Ille perhumaniter accepit , & emblematum libro , qui Germanis vnus e millibus placet , inscribi iussit . Tanti in poetica refert praeter aetatem , atque indolem , regionis quoque morem contueri . Nam ceterae gentes de hoc genus facetiis longe aliter & sentiunt & loquuntur .
( Common in the cities and towns of Germany are leather pipes of this sort , such as , possibly , Theocritus ’ Syrinx ( Idyll 32 ) was ; among us for the most part only country-folk use them . In this poem I imitate those very rhythms of Theocritus . For all the lines are dactylic , but in proportion getting shorter each time by one syllable . Further , since pipes of that kind bear some resemblance to a certain type of flagon ; and since the Germans themselves are such splendid drinkers , and indeed in the course of their drinking not only employ a piper , but also blow such notes that from them you would know that increasingly less of the wine remains , I have thought it worthwhile to give to a German man a New Year gift which would equally exhibit the shape of a shepherd ’ s pipe and of a wine flask . He received it with very great courtesy , and gave instructions for it to be inscribed in his Album Amicorum , the only book out of thousands which is pleasing to the Germans . So important is it in poetry , as well as someone ’ s age and character , to consider also a region ’ s tradition . For all other races both feel and speak far differently about playful compositions of this kind .)
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