Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Round-Up: September 15

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. You can keep up with the latest posts by using the RSS feed, or you might prefer to subscribe by email.

HODIE: ante diem septimum decimum Kalendas Octobres. You can add a Roman calendar as a widget in your blog or webpage, or display it as a Google Calendar: here's how.

TODAY'S POEM: Here is today's little poem, from the Poetry Widget. It's the moral to one of my favorite fables by Phaedrus, the story of The Priests and Their Donkey - here's the whole fable with a word list: Asinus et Galli Vocabulary.
Qui natus est infelix, non vitam modo
tristem decurrit, verum post obitum quoque
persequitur illum dura fati miseria.
English: "He who is born unlucky not only lives a sad life but in fact even after his death, the harsh misery of his fate pursues him." The story is about a donkey who is beaten by his owners, and after he dies, they make his hide into a drum and keep on beating him even then!

TODAY'S TWITTER:

Vita Caesaris: You can see my IVLIVS CAESAR feed with a sentence from Plutarch's Life of Caesar each day in Greek, Latin and English. Today's Latin portion describes how Clodius was discovered in the house during the goddess's rites: cum fores apertas offendisset ab ancilla rei conscia tuto introducitur. Haec dum ad Pompeiam accurrit rei indicandae causa et mora fit Clodius manere ubi relictus erat non sustinens, magna in domo hinc inde oberrat, lucem fugiens. In eum Aureliae pedisequa incidit, et mulierem rata ad colludendum inuitat, detrectantemque in medium protrahit, et quis atque unde esset percontatur.

Proverbiis Pipilo: You can see my Proverbia feed of Latin proverbs which I "tweet" while I am online each day (in English, too). Here's one from today about self-reliance: Cum tuus es, noli servire nisi tibi soli (English: Since you are your own person, do not serve anyone except yourself alone).

TODAY'S PROVERBS:

You can get access to all the proverb of the day scripts (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.

Audio Latin Proverb of the Day: Today's audio Latin proverb is Poma aut matura cadunt aut immatura leguntur (English: Fruits either fall when they are ripe or are gathered before they're ripe). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Scuto pacem petunt (English: They seek peace with a shield - which is to say, they send a mixed message, showing up at the peace treaty negotiations while bearing arms - you can find a similar saying in this form hastam simul et caduceum (mittere), "both a spear and a herald's staff").

Proverbium Perbreve of the Day: Today's two-word proverb is: Varietas delectat (English: Variety is pleasing - or, as we say in English, "variety is the spice of life").

Proverbium Breve of the Day: Today's three-word proverb is: Nemo nascitur artifex (English: No one is born a craftsman - a craft is something each person must learn).

Vulgate Verse of the Day: Today's verse is Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis (Ecc. 12:12). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Latin Animal Proverb of the Day: Today's animal proverb is Murem elephas non capit (English: An elephant does not catch a mouse - the idea being that a big elephant doesn't mess with the small stuff; it's not about elephants being, supposedly, afraid of mice).

Proper Name Proverb of the Day: Today's proper name proverb is Amare simul et sapere ipsi Iovi non datur. (English: To be in love and keep your wits at the same time is not possible even for Jupiter... as we know from many of his crazy love affairs).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Χαλεπὸν τὸ εὖ γνῶναι (English: it is a difficult thing to have clear understanding - even if you are not in love; cf. the preceding proverb).

TODAY'S FABLES:

Ictibus Felicibus: Today's fable with macrons and accent marks is Cervus in Boum Stabulo, the story of a stag who tried to hide in a stable.

Fable of the Day: Today's fable of the day from Barlow is DE CANE VETULO ET MAGISTRO, the story of an old dog and his thankless master.

Tar Heel Readers: Materials continue to accumulate at Tar Heel Reader (keep up with the latest items at the Libelli Latini blog). Today I decided to feature Rōmulus et Remus, a wonderful mythological storybook by Magister Gollan - with macrons.




Aesop's Fables in Latin now available at Amazon.com.