Weaving of cobwebs, which persons are said to do, who waste their time and money in frivolous pursuits; in procuring what will be of no use when obtained; in collecting butterflies, cockle-shells, etc. «et stultus labor est ineptiarum», and such like fooleries. Laws also, which by the great are easily evaded, and which seem only made entrap the poor, are, by common consent, called cobweb contrivances. They were so called by Anarcharis. «They catch», he said, «small flies, but wasps and hornets break them with impunity». «Hence little villains oft submit to fate, That great ones may enjoy the world in state».
Fuente: Erasmo, 347.