Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: September 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.

HODIE (Roman Calendar): ante diem sextum decimum Kalendas Octobres.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Penelope and the Suitors; 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: Litteras disce (English: Learn your letters).

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Nunquam non paratus (English: Never unprepared).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Unus interitus est hominis et iumentorum (English: Man and cattle have one and the same death).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: In qua mensura mensi fueritis metientur vobis alii (English: Others will measure out for you using the measure with which you have measured).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Mandrabuli more res succedit (English: The thing is going the way of Mandrabulus; from Adagia 1.2.58 - This refers to things that get steadily worse; a certain Mandrabulus once found a treasure and made an offering of a golden sheep to Juno the first year, a silver offering the next year, and bronze offering the year after that).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Χαλεπὸν τὸ εὖ γνῶναι (English: To understand something fully is difficult).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is Vita Aliena Magistra. 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 Oves Timidae et Pastor, a funny story about a shepherd who wanted to inspire his sheep to act courageously (this fable has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Mus, Catus, et Gallus, a great story about how appearances can be deceiving!

Feles, Gallus et Mus

Words from Mythology. For more about HERMES and the English word HERMETIC, see this blog post.