Bestiaria Latina Blog: Round-Up: February 9

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. You can keep up with the latest posts by using the RSS feed, or you might prefer to subscribe by email. Plus, you can find some Latin "pipilationes" at my Proverbia Latina feed.

HODIE: ante diem quintum Idus Februarias. 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 FABLES: Here are today's fables from the Ictibus Felicibus project. These fables ALL have long marks, plus stress marks for easy reading, and the poems have meter marks, too, along with an easy-to-read prose presentation of the story:

Anseres et Grues, the story of what happened when the geese and the cranes were caught.
Accipitres et Columbae, the story of the doves who foolishly negotiated a peace between the hawks.
Testudo, the story of how the turtle got its shell.
Canis et Fur, the story of the thief who tried to bribe the watch-dog.
Raeda Publica et Musca, LaFontaine's elaborate version of the boastful fly.

I've picked out my favorite one, the story of the turtle's shell, Testudo, to share with you here in the blog - in some stories (read more), the turtle is happy to be able to move her house whenever she wants, but here her condition is a divine form of punishment!

Cum Iūpiter Iūnōnem dūxisset, invītāsse ad nuptiāle convīvium omnēs animantēs trāditur. Quae cum tempestīvē advēnissent, sōla cessāvit testūdo: dē quā cum causam morae sciscitārētur, rēspondit illa, suam cuique domum grātissimam esse. Itaque īrātus Iūpiter hāc eam poenā affēcit, ut affixam perpetuō sibi domum suam gestāre cōgerētur.

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: Sperandum (English: We must have hope - the whole meaning all in the wonderful Latin gerundive).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Otiositas inimica animae (English: Laziness is an enemy of the soul)

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Arcum nimia frangit intensio (English: Too much tension breaks the bow). 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: Consueta vitia ferimus, nova reprendimus (English: We put up with familiar vices, while we criticize the new ones).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Non curat numerum lupus (English: The wolf doesn't care about the number of flock - he'll take whatever he wants, no matter how carefully the shepherd keeps accounts; from Adagia 2.4.99).

For today's image, here is an illustration for the story of the dog and the thief, Canis et Fur: