Sunday, December 4, 2011

Round-Up: December 4

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: pridie Nonas Decembres, the day before the Nones of December.

GAUDIUM MUNDO: Here are some Latin holiday songs for you to enjoy - Aquifolia Ornate (a Latin version of "Deck the Halls"), Angeli Canunt Praecones (a Latin version of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"), and Puer Nobis Nascitur (a 15th-century Latin hymn).

OWEN'S EPIGRAMS: The two new Owen epigrams, with Harvey's English versions, are Patientia Amatoria, Vis voto potiaris amans? Patiaris: oportet, / Si vis in dulci vivere pace, pati.; and Prudens Simplicitas, Ut nulli nocuisse velis, imitare columbam, / Serpentem, ut possit nemo nocere tibi. (They each come a vocabulary list!)

CAMERARIUS'S EMBLEMS: The two new emblems are Vita Tamen Superest, Vivacis succi ut plantam hanc mirantur et ornant, / Sic homines praestant dotibus ingenii.; and Aeque Tandem, Tardigrada assequitur cygnos testudo volucres; / Assiduus quo non scit penetrare labor? (These have vocabulary too!)

SCALA SAPIENTIAE: Today you can find sayings that go up to Diederich frequency ranking 193 - so the proverbs contain nothing but words found among the 193 most commonly used words in Latin. Here is one of the items in today's list: Res ipsa loquitur, "The thing speaks for itself."

VERBUM WIDGET: The word from the daily widget is SUB - which also has a brief essay at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in that essay: Sub sole nihil perfectum, "There is nothing perfect under the sun."

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Tappan's Folk Stories and Fables and Walsh's International Encyclopedia of Prose and Poetical Quotations.

TODAY'S FABLES & STORIES:

ANECDOTE OF THE DAY: Today's anecdote is Nasica et Ennius, a funny little story about the poet Ennius and an unwelcome visit from Scipio Nasica.

FABULAE FACILES: The NEW easy-to-read fable is Gallus et Ancillae, a great story about a rooster, some maids, and unintended consequences (and the fable comes with a vocabulary list).

FABULAE FACILES WIDGET: The fable from the Fabulae Faciles widget is Ursa et Vulpes, a story about a fox and a hypocritical bear (this one also has a vocabulary list).

MILLE FABULAE: The "chunk" of Mille Fabulae et Una today is Fable 121 through Fable 130, including Simiae Saltantes, a story about the king of Egypt and his dancing monkeys.

NEW MILLE FABULAE: The NEW fables with images are Heros in Somnio, a story about a man who is making excessive religious sacrifices, and Rusticus, Canis, et Iurisconsultus, a story about a farmer who tries, and fails, to get the better of a very slick lawyer.

MILLE FABULAE WIDGET: The fable from the Mille Fabulae et Una widget is Larus et Milvus, a story about an unfortunate seagull.

AESOP IN ENGLISH VERSE: Today's fable from the English verse widget is The Ass Carrying Relics, a funny story about a self-important donkey.

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS:

Tiny Proverbs: Today's tiny proverb is: Roma aeterna (English: Rome is eternal).

3-Word Mottoes Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less motto is Fideliter et diligenter (English: Faithfully and diligently).

Latin Animal Proverb: Today's animal proverb is Si fuit hic asinus, non ibi fiet equus (English: If he was a donkey here, he will not become a horse there).

Proverbs of Polydorus: Today's proverb from Polydorus is: Homo sapiens tacebit usque ad tempus (English: A man who is wise will be silent until the right time).

Greek Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is Μωμήσεται μᾶλλον ἢ μιμήσεται (English: It's easier to criticize than imitate - and note the nice play on words in the Greek: μωμήσεται and μιμήσεται).

Proper Name Proverb from Erasmus: Today's proper name proverb from Erasmus is Alterum pedem in cymba Charontis habet (English: He's got the other foot in the skiff of Charon - meaning, he's all but dead; from Adagia 2.1.52). For an image to go with Erasmus's proverb, here's Michelangelo's Charon: OUCH!