HODIE: ante diem quartum Idus Novembres. You can add a Roman calendar as a widget in your blog or webpage, or display it as a Google Calendar: here's how.
TODAY'S POEM: Here is today's little poem, from the Poetry Widget. Today's poem is one of the iambic fables by Desbillons, with a word list at NoDictionaries.com as usual:
Ova Crocodili Gallina olim reperit,English: "A chicken once found the eggs of a crocodile and she sat on them until she hatched the chicks, but scarcely had the chicks begun to enjoy the gift of life when they killed their foster mother with gruesome bites." Ouch! For the story of the rooster who found something far less dangerous that crocodile eggs, see the fable of the day below. If you're interested in iambic meter, this little poem is a great one to practice with; the only line with anything unusual is that first line; just syncopate crocodili to make it three syllables and you'll be fine!
Et incubavit, dum fetus excluderet:
At illi vita vix incoeperunt frui,
Altricem diris enecarunt morsibus.
TODAY'S TWITTER:
Vita Caesaris: You can see my IVLIVS CAESAR feed with a sentence from Plutarch's Life of Caesar each day in Greek, Latin and English. Today's Latin portion explores the enmity between Caesar and Cato: Catonem his ausum contra contradicere, Caesar in carcerem abripuit, existimans eum tribunos plebis appellaturum.
Proverbiis Pipilo: You can see my Proverbia feed of Latin proverbs which I "tweet" while I am online each day (in English, too). Here's one from today about the dangers of the high life: Quo quisque est altior, eo est periculo proximior (English: The higher anyone is, the closer he is to danger).
TODAY'S PROVERBS:
You can get access to all the proverb of the day scripts (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.
Audio Latin Proverb of the Day: Today's audio Latin proverb is Non mare transisset, pavidus si nauta fuisset (English: The sailor would not have crossed the sea, if he had been afraid). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.
Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Solet hora, quod multi anni abstulerunt, reddere (English: Often a single hour restores when many years had taken away).
Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb in Leonine verse form is: Nulla valet vita, nisi sit virtute polita (English: No life is worthwhile unless it is polished by virtue).
Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Homo ad laborem nascitur (English: Man is born to labor).
Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is: Aeternitatem cogita (English: Ponder what is eternal).
Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Florebo quocumque ferar (English: I will flourish wherever I am carried).
Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Ne mittatis margaritas vestras ante porcos (Matt. 7:6). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.
Latin Animal Proverb of the Day: Today's animal proverb is Canes plurimum latrantes raro mordent (English: The dogs who bark most rarely bite).
Latin Animal Proverb of the Day from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb is Si vultur es, cadaver expecta (English: If you're a vulture, wait for the corpse; from Adagia 1.7.14 - a saying suited for those human "vultures" who are hoping to inherit from an old relative).
Proper Name Proverb of the Day from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb is Thesssala mulier (English: A woman of Thessaly - in other words, a witch; from Adagia 1.3.12).
Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Χαλεπὸν χορίου κύνα γεύειν (English: It is bad news when a dog has tasted the afterbirth... you want the dogs to herd the sheep, not eat them, after all; this is a saying you can find one of the idylls of Theocritus).
TODAY'S FABLES:
Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Rana et Bos, the story of the frog with a puffed-up sense of herself, so to speak.
Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow is DE GALLO GALLINACEO, the story of the rooster who found a precious gem in the dungheap.
In honor of Thessalian witches, I thought I would include this medieval image depicting the most famous of all Thessalian witches, Erichtho, from Lucan's Pharsalia:
