Bestiaria Latina Blog: Round-Up: April 1

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: Kalendae Apriles, the Ides of April. You can add a Roman calendar as a widget in your blog or webpage, or display it as a Google Calendar: here's how.

MORE 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:

Saga Damnata, the story of a witch who couldn't take care of herself.
Lupus et Mater, the story of a wolf who took a woman at her word.
Aquila et Monedula, the story of a jackdaw who thought she was an eagle.
Vulpes et Aquila, the story of what happened when the eagle abducted the fox's cubs.
Calvus et Crines, the story of a bald man who lost his toupée.

I've picked out my favorite one, the story about the condemned witch, Saga Damnata, to share with you here - it's a sharp jab at the hypocrisy of those who want to manage things for others but who can't take care of themselves:

Sāga quaedam et mulier dīvīnātrix āvertere sē deōrum īrās et plācāre infesta nūmina posse profitēbātur. Quam ream quīdam fēcēre, postulantēs impietātis; causāque iūdicibus probātā, cum ad supplicium illa damnāta abdūcerētur, dē turbā quīdam irrīdēns: Heus tū, inquit, quae pollicēbāre aliīs dīvīnae īrae prōcūrātiōnem, nōn potuistī hūmānam sententiam mītigāre?

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.

3-Word Mottoes: Today's 3-word motto is Spero et progredior (English: I hope and go forward).

3-Word Proverbs: Today's 3-word proverb is Frangit inertia vires (English: Laziness shatters strength... it sounds paradoxical - but you know that work makes work easier, while laziness just makes it harder!).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Quod male lucratur, male perditur et nihilatur (English: What is badly earned is badly lost and comes to nothing).

Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Non erit memoria sapientis, similiter ut stulti (Ecc. 2:16). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Taverner: Qui e nuce nucleum esse vult, frangit nucem: He that will eate the carnel out of the nutte, breaketh the nutte. He that loke for profite, may not flee labours. This Proverbe therfore is against idle personnes, whiche flee paines, who be very well resembled to cattes by the English Proverbe, saieng thus, The Catte wil fish eate, but she will not her feete wette.

Today's Poem: Today's poem is from the rhyming poetry collected by Wegeler, with a word list at NoDictionaries.com:

Ex nuce fit corylus, de glande fit ardua quercus,
Ex parvo puero saepe peritus homo.

English: "From a nut comes the hazel tree, from an acorn comes the lofty oak, from a little boy there often comes an experienced man." This is a wonderful metaphor, I think - we have lots of acorns around our house and the idea that the oak grows from that little seed really is amazing!

For an image today, here is an illustration of the story of the jackdaw and the eagle - you can see the eagle up in the sky, carrying off her prize, while the jackdaw is being captured below, Aquila et Monedula: