Saturday, December 31, 2011

Round-Up: December 31

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. There are notices also at Twitter - look for Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: pridie Kalendas Ianuarias (I just now updated the calendar so that it is ready to go for 2012 - a bit tricky, since it is a leap year, but I just added a day "ante diem septimum decimum Kalendas Martias" in the countdown to the Kalends of March).

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are the last Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy for the month of December - In Dulci Iubilo (a wonderful medieval son by the German mystic Heinrich Suso), Auld Lang Syne (a Latin version of the song, just in time for New Year's celebrations), and In Hoc Anni Circulo (a song for rounding out the year).

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Catonis Disticha Moralia et Lilii Monita Paedagogica and La Faye's Breviarium Saeculare Universae Historiae.

MYTHS & LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows the Sabine women making peace (the famous painting by Jacques-Louis David); you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.


TODAY'S EMBLEMS & DISTICHS:

OWEN'S DISTICHS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are De Vita et Morte, Una via est vitae, moriendi mille figurae. / Est bene: nam mors est res bona, vita mala; and Ultima Linea, Ultimus est vitae mors actus amara iocosae. / Cuius vita fuit seria, mors iocus est. (These come with vocabulary, too.)

ROLLENHAGEN'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Perit Quod Elapsum Est,
Continuo fugit hora; perit de tempore quantum / Elapsum est: parcus temporis esto tui
; and Omnis Caro Faenum, Omnis homo faenum, quod mane virescit et aret / Discendente die, crescit ut intereat. (These come with vocabulary lists.)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Vita Mihi Mors Est, Ex se ipsa nascens, ex se reparabilis ales, / quae exoriens moritur, quae moriens oritur - with a phoenix in the emblem, and Fert Omnia Secum, O felix, secum sua quicumque omnia portat, / Fortunae vivens liber ab arbitrio - with a snail in the emblem, as you can see below. (These also have vocabulary lists.)



TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Ita vita (English: Such is life).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Non nobis solum (English: Not for ourselves alone).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Dum stertit cattus, numquam sibi currit in os mus (English: When the cat is snoring, a mouse never runs into its mouth).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Omnia probate, quod bonum est, tenete (English: Try all things; what is good, keep).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Aiacis risus (English: The laugh of Ajax; from Adagia 1.7.46 - this was a mad and crazy laugh, the laugh of a man who rejoices in bloodthirsty pleasures although he is about to die, as Ajax in his madness).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Λύκω συννόμω καὶ ἵππω· λέοντέ γε μὲν οὐκέτι (English: Two wolves can feed together, as can two horses, but two lions not so).

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Cybeles Festa et Sacerdotes, an account of the goddess Cybele and her ecstatic priests.

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 211, Mus et Rusticus, through Fable 220, Asellus et Rivus, including Mus Uxorem Quaerens, one of my favorite folktales of all time - and an ancient one, going back to the Indian Panchatantra tradition.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Fur et Sicarius, a story about quarreling criminals, and Sol, Mons, et Vallis, a fable in praise of the humble life and the emptiness of lofty achievements.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Canes Duo, Venaticus et Domesticus, a story about a hard-working hunting dog and an indolent house dog.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Lazy Housemaids, a fantastic fable about unintended consequences.

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Canis in Praesepe et Bos, the famous story of the dog in the manger (this one also has a vocabulary list).

For an image, here is that miserly dog: 357. Canis in Praesepi et Bos. In praesepi faeni pleno decumbebat canis. Venit bos ut comedat faenum, cum canis, confestim sese erigens, tota voce elatravit. Cui bos, “Dii te, cum ista tua invidia, perdant,” inquit, “nec enim faeno ipse vesceris, nec me vesci sines.” (source - easy version)