[An anecdote of Colet related in a letter written in 1523 to give a sketch of a friend lately dead. The date of the incident is uncertain; but Erasmus' description of himself in l. 22 as 'hominem infelicissimum' points rather to the year 1506, when he was still struggling and had not as yet obtained the leisure he desired for his studies.]

4. DE LANA CAPRINA] Cf. Hor. Ep. 1. 18. 15, 6:

Alter rixatur de lana saepe caprina,
Propugnat nugis armatus.

'a (tali) eventu natum apparet, contentiose decertantibus duobus utrum lanas haberet caper an setas.' Erasmus, Adagia.

DE ASINI … UMBRA] 'de re nihili.' Erasmus, Adagia.

7. GUILHELMUM] Warham; see XXII and XXIII.

9. ENOHIRIDIO] Cf. X. 54 n.