Fable of the peasant and the vine; gears for alternating motion
A short fable on ingratitude beside red-chalk gear studies
Oriented upside down and drawn in red chalk, the sheet combines a short fable with mechanical sketches. The fable tells of a peasant who, seeing how useful his vine had become, propped it up with many supports; but once he had gathered the fruit he pulled out the poles and burned them—the very supports that had held it. Around the text, per the e-Leo caption, are gear trains (ruotismi) for producing an alternating motion, continuing the mechanical series of the neighbouring folios. The drawings are in faint red chalk.
On this page
The peasant who burned the vine's supports
Seeing the usefulness that came from his vine, a peasant gave it many props to hold it up high; but once he had taken the fruit he pulled the poles away and let them fall, making firewood of his own supports. The little tale turns on ingratitude toward what has served us.
Gear trains for an alternating motion
The caption describes wheelwork (ruotismi) for producing an alternating motion. Oval toothed cams meshing with gears and a crank wheel are sketched around the text, in the same family as the drives on the preceding folios.
Producing a back-and-forth motion
The wheelwork is designed to turn a steady rotation into an alternating, reciprocating movement, the recurring aim of these H3 studies.