Round-Up: May 4

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.

HODIE: ante diem quartum Nonas Maias. 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:

• Corvus, Columba et Pulli Columbae, the story of what happened when the crow caught one of the dove's chicks.
• Milvus et Perdices, the story of an overly ambitious kite!
• Grues et Anseres, the story of what happened to some sadly ponderous geese.
• Vir et Pisciciuli Interrogati, a hilarious little story about a man who wants to be served bigger fish for dinner.
• Canis Aquam Timens, a story of a dog "once bitten, twice shy" - although the dog was burned by hot water, not bitten.

I've picked out my favorite one, Vir et Pisciciuli Interrogati, to share with you here in the blog - it's long but a joke well worth reading!

Vir quīdam doctus ad convīvium cuiusdam principis accītus, et in ultimō locō discumbere iussus, tum cēterīs convīvīs magnī piscēs, sibi autem minūtulī appōnerentur, nullum edēbat: sed singulōs ōrī prius deinde auribus admovēns, tanquam aliquid ab eīs sciscitātūrus, in patinīs integrōs et illaesōs repōnēbat: interrogātus ā magistrō convīviī, cūr hoc faceret: meus, inquit, pater ante hoc biennium hīs regiōnibus naufragiō periit, nec quid dē eius cadāvere factum sit, posteā scīre potuī. Sciscitābat ergō ab hīs pisciculīs, an aliquid dē eō scīrent. Vērum hī eō tempore nondum sē nātōs fuisse rēspondent. Quārē māiōrēs interrogandī essent. Princeps audītō tam lepidō dictō, ipsī quoque māiōrēs iussit exhibērī, semperque eum posteā inter praecipuōs convīvās habuit.

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: Semper liber (English: Always free - definitely a motto that works for me!).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Anxia divitiarum cura (English: Concern for wealth is anxiety-producing)

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Echinus partum differt (English: The hedgehog postpones its giving birth). 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: Aliena nobis, nostra plus aliis placent (English: We like other people's things more, and others like ours more... which is one of the reasons why people are so often dissatisfied!).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Anus simia sero quidem capitur (English: The old monkey is caught, although it may take time; from Adagia 2.5.14).

For an image today, here is an illustration to the story of the geese and the cranes, Grues et Anseres: