Bestiaria Latina Blog: Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: May 14

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.

HODIE (Roman Calendar): pridie Idus Maias, the day before the Ides of May.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Odysseus and Eurycleia; 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: Omnia praetereunt (English: All things pass away).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Veritate et iustitia (English: With truth and justice).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Vacca, quae multum boat, parum lactis habet (English: A cow who moos a lot has little milk).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Arcta est via, quae ducit ad vitam (English: Narrow is the way which leads to life).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Fuimus Troes (English: We were the Trojans; from Adagia 1.9.50 - a tragic perfect tense, since the Trojans are, present tense, no more; the words are those of Aeneas in Vergil's Aeneid 2).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Μὴ παιδὶ μάχαιραν (English: Do not give a sword to a child - with the verb "give" implied by the context).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is Amicitia. Click here for a full-sized view.

And here are today's proverbial LOLcats:

TODAY'S FABLES:

FABULAE FACILES: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Galerita Laqueo Capta, in which a crested lark laments her lost freedom (this fable has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Vulpecula et Tintinnabulum, the story of a fox fooled by the sound of a drum.