| John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919. |
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| NUMBER: | 8584 |
| AUTHOR: | Horace (65 B.C.–8 B.C.) |
| QUOTATION: | The mountains will be in labour; an absurd mouse will be born. 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Ars Poetica. 139. |
| BIOGRAPHY: | Columbia Encyclopedia. |
| | Note 1.
A mountain was in labour, sending forth dreadful groans, and there was in the region the highest expectation. After all, it brought forth a mouse.—Phædrus: Fables, iv. 22, 1.
The old proverb was now made good: “The mountain had brought forth a mouse.”—Plutarch: Life of Agesilaus II. [back] |
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