英语词汇virgil-s fly的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

Virgil’s fly; Virgil’s gnat. According to an old legend the Ro- man poet Virgil’s (70–19 b.c.) “pet housefly” was given a funeral that cost over $100,000. Musicians, mourners, and eulogists were hired and Virgil’s mansion was declared the fly’s mausoleum. Later it was discovered that Virgil buried the fly so that he could prevent the state from confiscating his estate and distributing it to war veterans as payment for service—all family cemetery plots and mausoleums being exempt from such confiscations. History confirms that Virgil’s property was confiscated and that he got it back, but tells us nothing about his pet housefly. Many medieval legends arose about Virgil, and though this story may be partly true, it probably is an exaggerated version of Virgil’s real troubles with his property, plus a tale that he allegedly wrote called the “Culex.” Spenser wrote a poem called “Virgil’s Gnat,” based on the “Culex,” in which a sleeping shepherd is stung by a gnat, which has bitten him only to warn him that he is about to be at- tacked by a serpent. The shepherd kills that gnat and then slays the serpent, but the next night the gnat reproaches him for his cruelty and the remorseful shepherd builds a monument honor- ing the gnat.

词汇	virgil-s fly
词源	Virgil’s fly; Virgil’s gnat. According to an old legend the Ro- man poet Virgil’s (70–19 b.c.) “pet housefly” was given a funeral that cost over $100,000. Musicians, mourners, and eulogists were hired and Virgil’s mansion was declared the fly’s mausoleum. Later it was discovered that Virgil buried the fly so that he could prevent the state from confiscating his estate and distributing it to war veterans as payment for service—all family cemetery plots and mausoleums being exempt from such confiscations. History confirms that Virgil’s property was confiscated and that he got it back, but tells us nothing about his pet housefly. Many medieval legends arose about Virgil, and though this story may be partly true, it probably is an exaggerated version of Virgil’s real troubles with his property, plus a tale that he allegedly wrote called the “Culex.” Spenser wrote a poem called “Virgil’s Gnat,” based on the “Culex,” in which a sleeping shepherd is stung by a gnat, which has bitten him only to warn him that he is about to be at- tacked by a serpent. The shepherd kills that gnat and then slays the serpent, but the next night the gnat reproaches him for his cruelty and the remorseful shepherd builds a monument honor- ing the gnat.
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