Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Round-Up: August 30

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: ante diem tertium Kalendas Septembres.

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Leonidas, the famous story of the stalwart Spartans ready to fight, no matter how badly outnumbered, at Thermopylae.

VERBUM WIDGET: I don't have a new word today (so busy with school), but I can offer two words from the daily widget: PRAEDICO - which has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Audi quod dicis, operare quod praedicas, "Listen to what you say; practice what you preach." The second word is TRANSMITTO - which also has a brief essay. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Quo nequit ire Satan, transmittit saepe ministrum, "Where Satan cannot go, he often sends his minister."

FABULAE FACILES: The new easy-to-read fable is Leaena et Sus, a fable about quality, not quantity!

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Iuppiter et Olitoris Asinus, the sad story of a hard-working and unfortunate donkey.

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The latest fables with images are Scarabaeus et Apes, the story of a beetle who wanted to make honey like a bee, and Scarabaeus et Formica, the story of the beetle who made fun of the hard-working ant.

MILLE FABULAE: ILLUSTRATIONS: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Canis et Faber, a story about a dog's selective sense of attention!

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Dumesnil's Latin Synonyms and Black's Dictionary of Words Derived from the Latin.

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: Widgets available at Schoolhouse Widgets.

Tiny Proverbs: Today's tiny proverb is: Iuventus ventus (English: Youth is wind... although the charm of the Latin is in the sound-play).

3-Word Mottoes Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Libertas optima rerum (English: Freedom is the best of things).

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Quisquis amat ranam, ranam putat esse Dianam (English: He who loves a frog thinks that frog is the goddess Diana... and again, the charm of the Latin is in the rhyme!).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Mature fias senex, si diu velis esse senex (English: If you want to be old for a long time, get old early - which is to say, put a stop to your youthful exertions and ease into old age so that you can relax and enjoy it).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Pactoli opes (English: The wealth of the Pactolus; from Adagia 1.6.75 - this refers to the Pactolus river where King Midas supposedly washed off the golden touch, the origin of the gold later found in that river).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Ἐλέφας μῦν οὐ δάκνει (English: An elephant doesn't bite a mouse - in other words, don't sweat the small stuff!).

Here's the story of that poor donkey: 769. Iuppiter et Olitoris Asinus. Asinus olitoris, aegre sustinens laborem quo herus eum premebat, conqueritur de eo apud Iovem; supplicat alium sibi dari. Exaudit Iuppiter; iubet figulo veneat. Mutatur herus, sed non minuitur labor; immo augescit; semper lutum, tegulae, lateres, imbrices, dorso portandae. Iterum ad Iovem; Iuppiter, oratoris importunitate victus, dat coriarium. Statim expertus eum, omnibus quos unquam habuerat longe crudeliorem, apud se lamentans dicebat, “Heu me miserum, ut omnia mihi in deterius cedunt. Nam in eum incidi dominum, qui vivo non parcit, nec mortuo; ipse enim ubi corpus meum flagris exhauserit, in fine excoriabit.” (source - easy version)

Asinus et Iuppiter