HODIE: ante diem undecimum Kalendas Ianuarias. 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. This is one of the tiny iambic fables by Desbillons, with a word list at NoDictionaries.com as usual:
Tui me miseret, aiebat TestudiniEnglish: "The lizard said to the turtle, 'I feel sorry for you, since wherever you might want to go, you are forced to carry your house with you;' - 'Something useful is not a heavy burden,' said the turtle in reply." The motif of the turtle who carries her house with her is a popular subject for Aesop's fables, as in the story of how the turtle got her shell to begin with.
Lacerta; quae, quocumque libeat vadere,
Tuam ipsa tecum ferre cogaris domum.
Quod utile, inquit illa, non grave est onus.
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 portion starts up with Caesar's war against the Helvetii and Tigurini: Primum bellum Gallicum ei contra Heluetios fuit & Tigurinos qui quum suas urbes numero duodecim ac uicos quadringentos combussissent, per Galliam Romanis subditam procedebant, quemadmodum olim Cimbri ac Teutones; quibus neque audacia inferiores uidebantur itemque trecenta hominum millia erant, atque ex his centum nonaginta millia ad pugnam apti.
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 subjective memories: Memoria beneficiorum fragilis est, iniuriarum tenax (English: The memory of good deeds is fleeting, but the memory of wongs is tenacious).
TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS
You can get access to all the proverb of the day scripts (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.
Tiny Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is: Cogito (English: I think - a motto made even more famous by Descartes's declaration: Cogito, ergo sum).
3-Word Mottoes: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Libertas pretiosior auro (English: Freedom is more precious than gold).
3-Word Mottoes: Verbs: Today's 3-word motto with verb is Quod potes, tenta (English: What you are able to do, go for it!).
2-Word Proverbs: Today's 2-word proverb is: Utere loris (English: Use the reins - and watch out for that sneaky imperative form of the deponent verb uti, "to make use of" something).
3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Beati mundo corde (English: Blessed are those with a pure heart - which also happens to be a very nice use of the Latin ablative as a mode of describing someone or something; we might say "pure-hearted" in English).
3-Word Proverbs: Nouns: Today's 3-word proverb with verb is Necessitas feriis caret (English: Necessity knows no holidays... so, if you get a big snowstorm on Christmas day, you're going to have to shovel that snow, whether it's a holiday or not!).
Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas (English: The censor forgives the crows and harasses the doves). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.
Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Piscium vita haec, minorem maior ut devoret (English: This is the life of the fishes: that the greater should gobble up the smaller).
Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Quisquis amat ranam, ranam putat esse Dianam (English: He who loves a frog thinks that frog is the goddess Diana... although, alas, "frog" and "Diana" do not rhyme in English like the Latin rana-Diana).
Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Quam miserum auxilium est, ubi nocet, quod sustinet (English: How wretched is the assistance which harms what it should help!).
Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Patres comederunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupuerunt (English: The fathers eat the bitter grape, and the teeth of their sons grow numb).
Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Comede in laetitia panem tuum et bibe cum gaudio vinum tuum (Ecc. 9:7). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.
Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Exspectat bos aliquando herbam (English: The ox hopes for grass to eat, sooner or later - as all of us who pull the plough, real or metaphorical, expect our reward; from Adagia 3.4.80).
Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Inelegantior Libethriis (English: More clumsy than the Libethrians; from Adagia 1.6.48 - the Libethrians, a Thracian people, were proverbially uneducated, enemies of all art and music; according to some sources, the Libethrians were the people who slew the musician Orpheus).
Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Conybeare: Tollere cristas: To set up the creaste. Applied to them that be proude or arrogant, and do stretche upp there browes with a disdaynefull countenance.
Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἅπας μήν ἀὴρ ἁετῲ περάσιμος· ἅπασα δὲ χθὼν ἀνδρὶ γενναίῳ πατρίς (English: All the air is open to the eagle, and all the earth is a homeland for the man who is noble).
TODAY'S FABLES:
Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Lupus et Vulpis Iudice Simio, the story of the wolf and the fox who took their court case to the monkey judge.
Gaudium Mundo: Today's Latin holiday songs from the Gaudium Mundo blog are: O Parve Vice Bethlehem, a Latin version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," along with Magi, omnis orbis reges, a Latin version of the Polish carol, "Mędrcy świata, monarchowie."
