Monday, February 15, 2010

Round-Up: February 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 quintum decimum Kalendas Martias. 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 FABLES: Here are today's fables from the Ictibus Felicibus project. These fables ALL have long marks, plus stress marks for easy reading, and the poems have meter marks, too, along with an easy-to-read prose presentation of the story:
  • Lacerta et Testudo, Desbillons' delightful little poem about the contented turtle.
  • Luscinia et Accipiter, the sad story of the nightingale who was caught by a hawk.
  • Olea et Ficus, the story of the olive tree burdened by snow in the winter.
  • Lupus et Asinus, the story of a wolf who pretended - unsuccessfully - to be a doctor to the donkey.
  • Asinus Aegrotans et Lupi, a quite different little story about a sick donkey and the wolves who came to call on the patient.
I've picked out my favorite one, the story of the contented turtle, Lacerta et Testudo, to share with you here in the blog:
Lacerta testūdinī āiēbat mē miseret tuī, quae, quōcumque vādere libeat, ipsa cōgāris domum tuam tēcum ferre. Illa inquit: Quod ūtile, onus grave nōn est.
TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: You can get access to ALL the "proverb of the day scripts" (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.

3-Word Mottoes: Today's 3-word motto is Certum pete finem (English: Seek the goal that is sure).

3-Word Proverbs: Today's 3-word proverb is Aliena noli curare (English: Do not busy yourself in other people's affairs).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Dulcia praefatur, qui fallere praemeditatur (English: The person who speaks sweetly is planning to deceive you).

Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is In qua mensura mensi fueritis, metietur vobis (Matt. 7:2). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Taverner: Nemini fidas, nisi cum quo prius modium salus absumpseris: Trust no man, onles thou hast first eaten a bushel of salt with him. Without fayle it is harde at this day to mete with one, whom thou may trust in all thinges.

Today's Poem: Today's poem is one of the rhyming couplets collected by Wegeler, with a word list at NoDictionaries.com:
Dives eram dudum, fecerunt me tria nudum:
Alea, vina, Venus; tribus his sum factus egenus.
English: "Long ago, I was rich; three things have stripped me bare: dice, wine, and Venus: thanks to these three things I have become a beggar." (Notice the lovely rhymes: dudum-nudum and Venus-egenus.)

For an image today, here is an illustration for the story of the wolf who wanted to be a doctor, Lupus et Asinus:




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