Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: March 22

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 undecimum Kalendas Apriles.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Clytemnestra; 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: Fatis imputandum (English: Blame it on the Fates).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Fortuna et labore (English: By luck and hard work).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Rana in paludem ex throno resilit auro (English: The frog leaps from the golden throne into the swamp - or, "you can take the frog out of the swamp, but you can't take the swamp out of the frog").

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Audiens sapiens sapientior erit (English: The wise man who listens will be wiser).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Lindii sacrum (English: A Lindian sacrifice; from Adagia 2.5.19 - Lindos is a village in Rhodes where the sacrifice in honor of Hercules involved abundant cursing and swearing, with a legend explaining that Hercules had grabbed an ox from a farmer's plough and eaten it whole, while the poor farmer stood by, cursing the hero; hence the proverb can stand for any extravagant verbal abuse).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Πόλλ' οἶδ' ἀλώπηξ, ἀλλ' ἐχῖνος ἓν μέγα (English: The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one great thing - a proverb made famous by Isaiah Berlin).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is Vultu Laeto. 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 Monachi et Abbates, a wonderful story about things that go from bad to worse (this fable has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Rusticus et Coluber, a warning about kindness to strangers, at least of the serpentine persuasion.

Greek Bible Art - and Latin and English, too. Below is one of my Greek Bible Art graphics; for the individual Greek, Latin and English versions of the graphic, see the blog post: ὁ κύριος εἶπεν τῷ Ιωβ ἐκ τοῦ νέφους. Respondens Dominus Job de turbine dixit. Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirlwind.