Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: March 16

Here is a round-up of today's proverbs and fables - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. If you have not downloaded a free PDF copy of Brevissima: 1001 Tiny Latin Poems, it's ready and waiting, as is Mille Fabulae et Una: 1001 Aesop's Fables in Latin. If you prefer the heft of a book in your hand, you can get the books in printed form from Lulu.com.

HODIE (Roman Calendar): ante diem septimum decimum Kalendas Apriles.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Cadmus and the Dragon; you can also see the legends for the current week listed together here.

TODAY'S MOTTOES and PROVERBS:

TINY PROVERBS: Today's tiny proverb is: Gratia referenda (English: Favors must be returned).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Ex granis acervus (English: From the grains, a heap).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Nutrit et accipiter pullos suos (English: Even the hawk nurses its chicks).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Scriba doctus profert de thesauro suo nova et vetera (English: The scribe brings forth from his storehouse new things and old).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Semper feliciter cadunt Iovis taxilli (English: The dice always fall lucky for Jupiter; from Adagia 1.3.9).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Λύκου πτερὰ ζητεῖς (English: You're looking for wings on a wolf - a proverbial fool's errand, like looking for hen's teeth).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is Grata et Ingrata. Click here for a full-sized view; the poem has a vocabulary list and an English translation, too.

And here is today's proverbial lolcat:

TODAY'S FABLES AND SONGS:

FABULAE FACILES: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Oves Timidae et Pastor, the story of the shepherd who wanted to inspire courage in his sheep (this fable has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Lupus et Pastorum Convivium, in which a wolf observes shepherds eating a sheep.

GreekLOLz - and Latin and English, too. Below is one of my GreekLOLz; for the individual Greek, Latin and English versions of the graphic, see the blog post: Ἄλλοτε μητρυιὴ πέλει ἡμέρα, ἄλλοτε μήτηρ. Ipsa dies quandoque parens, quandoque noverca. Sometimes the day is your mother, sometimes your stepmother.