Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Round-Up: July 21

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. I'm posting at Twitter again now, too! :-)

HODIE: ante diem duodecimum Kalendas Augustas (and yes, you can have your own Roman Google Calendar).

LATIN AND ENGLISH FABLES: Here are today's fables in Latin AND English from the English Aesop project.
I've picked out my favorite one to share with you here in the blog, the one about the cynical donkey, The Donkey and the Calf = Asinus et Vitulus:
There was a donkey and a calf who were feeding together in the same meadow. From the sound of the bells ringing, they became aware that an enemy army was approaching. The calf said, "Let's get out of here, my companion." The donkey replied, "You better run, since the enemy are in the habit of killing and eating creatures like you. For donkeys like me, it doesn't make any difference since we are always carrying loads, whoever is in charge."

Asinus et Vitulus, in eodem pascentes prato, sonitu campanae hostilem exercitum adventare praesenserant. Tum Vitulus "Fugiamus hinc, O sodalis," inquit, "ne hostes nos captivos abducant." Cui Asinus "Fuge tu," inquit, "quem hostes occidere et esse consueverunt. Asini nihil interest, cui ubique eadem ferendi oneris est proposita conditio."
TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: Widgets available at SchoolhouseWidgets.com.

Tiny Proverbs: Today's tiny proverb is: Crasso nummatior (English: With more money than Crassus - he's even on Wikipedia's list of top ten historical rich men, along with the Romanovs and the Rothschilds!).

3-Word Mottoes Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Dux mihi veritas (English: Truth is my guide).

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Ex ovis pravis non bona venit avis (English: From bad eggs no good bird comes - not only is it an animal proverb, but it rhymes, too!).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Fundum alienum arat, incultum familiarem deserit (English: He ploughs another's farmland, and leaves his family farm untended - although not as many people are farmers nowadays, there are still plenty of busybodies who could take a good lesson from this fable!).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Ne e quovis ligno Mercurius fiat (English: You can't make a statue of Mercury out of just any block of wood; from Adagia 2.5.47).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἡ κύων ἐν φάτνῃ (English: This is the proverbial dog in the manger who, even though he cannot eat the straw himself, keeps the oxen away from their food).

For an image today, here is a bust of Crassus, in honor of the proverb cited above (image source):