Friday, February 8, 2013

Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: February 8

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! Meanwhile, I'm slowly but surely adding poster images and English translations over at the Brevissima blog.

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

MYTHS and LEGENDS: The art image for today's legend shows The Abduction of Persephone; 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 - in other words, you've "been burning the midnight oil," and your work is not likely to be at its best).

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: Nulla dies sit sine linea (English: No day without a line - I always consider this one to be the blogger's motto).

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; from Adagia 1.3.96).

GREEK PROVERBS: Today's proverb is Κυνί δίδως ἄχυρα, ὄνῳ δ' ὀστέα (English: You're giving bran to the dog and bones to the donkey ... kind of like mixing apples and oranges - but worse!).

BREVISSIMA: The distich poster for today is Pro Tempore Cede. Click here for a full-sized view; the poem has a vocabulary list and an English translation, too.


And here is today's proverbial lolcat:


TODAY'S FABLES AND SONGS:

FABULAE FACILES: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Ceres et Rusticus, a fable of unintended consequences (this fable has a vocabulary list).

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

Musca et Quadrigae

GreekLOLz - and Latin and English, too. Below is one of my GreekLOLz; for the Latin and English versions of the graphic, see the blog post: Ἀεὶ γὰρ εὖ πίπτουσιν οἱ Διὸς κύβοι. Semper Iovis feliciter tali cadunt. Zeus is always lucky at dice.