Friday, February 7, 2014

Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: February 7

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, and so is Mille Fabulae et Una: 1001 Aesop's Fables in Latin.

HODIE (Roman Calendar): ante diem septimum Idus Februarias.

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows Leda and the Swan; 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: Lucernam olet (English: It stinks of the lamp. This is something like "burning the midnight oil," producing work in haste, at the last minute, of poor quality, just like the kind of writing students do when they pull an "all-nighter" - the Romans would say the result "stinks of the lamp").

3-WORD MOTTOES: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Post mala prudentior (English: Wiser after misfortune).

ANIMAL PROVERBS: Today's animal proverb is Vivis piscibus aqua, mortuis vinum (English: Water for the living fish, and wine for the dead ones).

POLYDORUS: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Discendum quam diu vivas (English: You should learn for as long as you live).

PROPER NAME PROVERBS: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Porro a Iove atque fulmine (English: Far from Jupiter, and from his lightning bolt - in other words, far from the high and the mighty; from Adagia 1.3.96).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Σίδηρον πλεῖν διδάσκεις (English: You're trying to teach iron to swim).

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


And here are today's proverbial LOLcats:



TODAY'S FABLES:

MILLE FABULAE: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Musca et Quadrigae, the story of a boastful fly.

FABULAE FACILES: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Ollae Duae, the story of an ill-conceived friendship between two mismatched pots (this fable has a vocabulary list).

ollae duae

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: Ἄκρον λάβε καὶ μέσον ἕξεις. Ut obtineas medium summum cape. Reach for the top and you'll have the middle.