Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Round-Up: October 25

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 octavum Kalendas Novembres.

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Plutarchus et Servus Nequam, a very funny story about Plutarch and a slave who might remind people of the servus callidus of a Roman comedy.

SCALA SAPIENTIAE: Today you can find sayings that go up to Diederich frequency ranking 151 - so the proverbs contain nothing but words found among the 151 most commonly used words in Latin. Here is one of the items in today's list: Qui nihil amat, quid ei homini opus vita est? "If a person loves nothing, what need has he of life?"

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is RATIO - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Nunc est dicendum, nunc cum ratione silendum, "Sometimes you should speak, and sometimes you should purposefully keep silent."

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Asinus Animalia Fugans et Leo , a funny story about a self-important donkey.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Scarabaeus et Stercus, a funny story about a dung-beetle and his "home, sweet home."

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The NEW fables with images are Noctua et Sol, a story about the owl and its eyesight, and Columbae Pullus a Corvo Raptus, a story about a dove whose chick has been seized by a very cruel crow.

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Taurus et Culex , the story of a bull and a self-important gnat.

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Bland's Proverbs Chiefly Taken from the Adagia of Erasmus and Schottus' Paroimiai Ellenikai .

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: Widgets available at Schoolhouse Widgets.

Tiny Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is: Nil desperandum (English: We must never despair).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Post acerba prudenter (English: After bitter experiences, act cautiously).

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Tranquillo quilibet gubernator est (English: When it's calm, anybody can be the helmsman). 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: Iracundiam qui vincit, hostem superat maximum (English: If you tame your anger, you defeat your greatest enemy).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is Suo ipsius indicio periit sorex (English: The shrew-mouse perished by its own testimony - which is to say that it squeaked when it should have just kept quiet! - from Adagia 1.3.65).

For an image today, here is Cranach's Adam and Eve, accompanied by the Owen epigram which is an anagram about EVA-VAE-AVE (check the Disticha blog post for vocabulary, notes and more information):

Eva, parens mortis, malo te falsa fefellit,
Cumque tuum struet vae, tibi dixit ave.