In English: The master's footstep is the best fertilizer.
I decided to post this as the saying for today since it provides a good thematic follow-up to the similar saying, Dominus habet oculos centum, "The master has a hundred eyes," which I wrote about last time. I have had a great fondness for this saying ever since it caused a moment of complete hilarity in a Latin class many years ago.
As you can guess, this is a saying that, out of context, is fraught with considerable peril. The word stercus is already a problem - the word "shit" is a vital part of English vocabulary, but with all kinds of dangerous connotations, and the safer translation, "manure," is not a word much used in English anymore, since we are not busy hauling our manure to our fields to fertilize them these days.
But the real problem is the word dominus. For students who have done some reading in the Bible or who pray in Latin, the temptation to translate dominus as "Lord" (with a capital L), is often irresistible, and they often even go one step further and say "God." So, a very nice Catholic student in my class, stammering with embarrassment, provided the translation, "God's track is the best shit" (clearly hoping that the Latin "shit" might have the same weird slang meaning as English does in phrases like "this is damn good shit"). The intonational question mark at the end of his statement let everyone know that he was not very confident about this, and the whole class burst into very long laughter about the whole thing.
Yet when I asked if anybody could figure out how this proverb worked and what it meant, I got no takers out of a room of thirty people. That happened quite often, though, whenever a proverb depended on some kind of agricultural metaphor that was just not part of their everyday thinking. For myself, I had vivid memories (including vivid olfactory memories) of the days when the folks on the farm where I lived in Poland would put handkerchiefs over their noses and mouths and load up wagons full of manure to haul it to the fields for fertilizer, even emptying the outhouse for that purpose (we did not have running water, so the outhouse was a fully functioning establishment).
So, given that I could immediately associate stercus with one of its main uses (perhaps its only real "use"), the proverb was easy for me to understand. For things to go well on a farm, the most important thing is for the master to walk around and see for himself what is going on. His pacing about the farm and the footsteps he leaves as he goes about his rounds would do even more to make the farm prosper than the use of manure thickly spread on the ground for fertilizer. In other words, very much the same message as in dominus habet oculos centum.
There are a host of other Latin sayings that express this same idea: Fertilissimus in agro oculus domini, "The master's eye is most productive in the field" (i.e. not sitting at home, ignorant of what is happening), Oculi et vestigia domini, res agro saluberrimae, "The eyes and steps of the master are things most beneficial for the field," and - another one of my favorites for its weirdly graphic quality - Optimus est fimus, qui cadit de calceis domini in agrum, "The best manure is that which falls from the heels of the master in the field."
So, hoping that nothing important in your household has escaped your watchful eye, here is today's proverb read out loud:
248. Stercus optimum vestigium domini.
The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.
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January 20, 2008
January 18, 2008
Dominus habet oculos centum
In English: The master has a hundred eyes.
This is a proverb that you can find in many variants: Dominus videt plurimum in rebus suis, "The master sees the most when it comes to his own business," or Dominus videt multum in rebus suis, "The master seems much when it comes to his own business," etc. I definitely prefer this hyperbolic vision of the master having one hundred eyes, however - kind of like the mythological Argos Panoptes! (You can see some wonderful depictions of Argos here at theoi.com.)
There's actually an Aesop's fable that illustrates this saying very nicely - here's the version from Barlow's Aesop:
1334. Dominus habet oculos centum.
The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.
If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.
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This is a proverb that you can find in many variants: Dominus videt plurimum in rebus suis, "The master sees the most when it comes to his own business," or Dominus videt multum in rebus suis, "The master seems much when it comes to his own business," etc. I definitely prefer this hyperbolic vision of the master having one hundred eyes, however - kind of like the mythological Argos Panoptes! (You can see some wonderful depictions of Argos here at theoi.com.)
There's actually an Aesop's fable that illustrates this saying very nicely - here's the version from Barlow's Aesop:
Persecutus a Canibus, Cervus ad stabulum Bovium confugiebat et ibi totum corpus, praeterquam cornua, abscondebat. Adibat stabulum Servus et ille, oscitanter et negligenter huc et illuc oculos circumferens, mox decessit. Fortunae suae nimis applausit laetabundus Cervus et sese tutissimum autumabat. Sed statim, ipso Hero ingrediente locum et rebus curiosius perlustratis, cornua Cervi detexit et fustibus cum Vicinis adoriebatur.So, hoping you are enjoying the benefits of many-eyed vigilance of your own affairs, here is today's proverb read out loud:
Chased by dogs, a stag fled into a stable of oxen, and there he his entire body, except for his horns. A servant entered the stable but he soon went out, having sleepily and carelessly cast his eyes here and there. The stag rejoiced and applauded overmuch his good luck, and declared he was completely safe. But soon the master himself entered the place, and when things have been inspected more attentively, he uncovered the horns of the stag, and then with his neighbors he attacked the stag with sticks.
1334. Dominus habet oculos centum.
The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.
If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.
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January 13, 2008
Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt.
In English: When fools try to avoid errors, they run into the opposite errors.
I'm having a difficult time finding an elegant way to express this lovely Latin sentence in English! There is wonderful sound-play in the Latin, with vitant...vitia and in contraria currunt. The idea, of course, is that a foolish person, in trying to avoid one kind of defect, goes to the opposite extreme. I chose this proverb to be something to keep in mind at the beginning of the new school semester. I am always one for continual self-improvement, fixing mistakes in my courses, trying to compensate for problems I've had with the classes in the past, etc. In my zeal to improve things, I don't want to tip the balance and end up making mistakes in the opposite direction!
The saying is one that can be found in one of Horace's Satires. After citing this maxim, Horace goes on to give some funny examples of one extreme, and the other: Maltinus tunicis demissis ambulat, est qui / inguen ad obscaenum subductis usque facetus, "Maltinus walks around in baggy clothes, while this joker wears his clothes so short you can see his ugly crotch;" pastillos Rufillus olet, Gargonius hircum, "Rufillus stinks of peppermint candies, while Gargonius smells like a goat." Two thousand years later, the baggy pants and skimpy clothes still bedevil us, along with people wearing obnoxious perfume or smelling of too much sweat.
Horace then concludes with this sad observation about how things seem to go in his day: nil medium est, "Nothing is in the middle." In other words, there is nothing in moderation, no "happy medium," as we might say in English. This is a popular theme in Roman proverbs, of course! For another saying on this theme, see my previous post about aurea mediocritas, the "golden mean."
Meanwhile, hoping you are happily standing on middle ground, here is today's proverb read out loud:
2037. Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt.
The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.
If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.
Keep up with the latest posts... Subscribe by Email. I also post a daily round-up of all the Bestiaria Latina blogs: fables, proverbs, crosswords, and audio.
I'm having a difficult time finding an elegant way to express this lovely Latin sentence in English! There is wonderful sound-play in the Latin, with vitant...vitia and in contraria currunt. The idea, of course, is that a foolish person, in trying to avoid one kind of defect, goes to the opposite extreme. I chose this proverb to be something to keep in mind at the beginning of the new school semester. I am always one for continual self-improvement, fixing mistakes in my courses, trying to compensate for problems I've had with the classes in the past, etc. In my zeal to improve things, I don't want to tip the balance and end up making mistakes in the opposite direction!
The saying is one that can be found in one of Horace's Satires. After citing this maxim, Horace goes on to give some funny examples of one extreme, and the other: Maltinus tunicis demissis ambulat, est qui / inguen ad obscaenum subductis usque facetus, "Maltinus walks around in baggy clothes, while this joker wears his clothes so short you can see his ugly crotch;" pastillos Rufillus olet, Gargonius hircum, "Rufillus stinks of peppermint candies, while Gargonius smells like a goat." Two thousand years later, the baggy pants and skimpy clothes still bedevil us, along with people wearing obnoxious perfume or smelling of too much sweat.
Horace then concludes with this sad observation about how things seem to go in his day: nil medium est, "Nothing is in the middle." In other words, there is nothing in moderation, no "happy medium," as we might say in English. This is a popular theme in Roman proverbs, of course! For another saying on this theme, see my previous post about aurea mediocritas, the "golden mean."
Meanwhile, hoping you are happily standing on middle ground, here is today's proverb read out loud:
2037. Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt.
The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.
If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.
Keep up with the latest posts... Subscribe by Email. I also post a daily round-up of all the Bestiaria Latina blogs: fables, proverbs, crosswords, and audio.
January 10, 2008
Bos currum trahit, non bovem currus
In English: The ox pulls the cart, not the cart the ox.
I thought this would be a fun proverb to do today, since the fable of the day today is also about a cart (although it's a different story - the squeaky wheel wanting the grease). Today's proverb is one that is best known in English as "putting the cart before the horse" - something that the Latin proverb plainly tells you will not work!
There are many variations on the Latin saying. The version I have given here comes from Manutius's additions to Erasmus's Adagia. Another version is Currus bovem trahit, "The cart is pulling the ox," or Plaustrum bovem trahit, "The plow is pulling the ox," which is to say that something ridiculous is going on!
The form Plaustrum bovem trahit is the verison which appears in Erasmus's Adagia. Here are Erasmus's own comments on the saying: De re, quae praepostere geritur. Veluti, si uxor praescribat marito, si discipulus reprehendat praeceptorem, si populus imperet principi, si ratio pareat affectui, "This saying is used about something which is being done backwards-forwards, as if a wife were to give orders to her husband, or a student were to correct his teacher, or if the people were to command their ruler, or if reason were to obey emotions."
Erasmus's comments here are very revealing, aren't they? I am used to seeing this proverb applied to very obviously impractical situations: you are putting the cart in front of the ox when you build a new sports stadium before a team has even agreed to play there (if you build it, they will not necessarily come!). Erasmus, though, lists a whole series of situations that are not inherently absurd, but which are absurd based on the values of a particular society. Every single one of the examples he has listed here are things that we really do not consider preposterous at all these days: wives often do make decisions for their husbands, students are encouraged to correct their teachers when their teachers are wrong, the people are supposed to participate in their own governance, and as latter-day Romantics we often seek to involve the element of emotion, in addition to the claims of reason.
So, hoping anyway that your life is not too backwards-forwards or topsy-turvy at the moment, here is today's proverb read out loud:
1907. Bos currum trahit, non bovem currus.
The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.
If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.
Keep up with the latest posts... Subscribe by Email. I also post a daily round-up of all the Bestiaria Latina blogs: fables, proverbs, crosswords, and audio.
I thought this would be a fun proverb to do today, since the fable of the day today is also about a cart (although it's a different story - the squeaky wheel wanting the grease). Today's proverb is one that is best known in English as "putting the cart before the horse" - something that the Latin proverb plainly tells you will not work!
There are many variations on the Latin saying. The version I have given here comes from Manutius's additions to Erasmus's Adagia. Another version is Currus bovem trahit, "The cart is pulling the ox," or Plaustrum bovem trahit, "The plow is pulling the ox," which is to say that something ridiculous is going on!
The form Plaustrum bovem trahit is the verison which appears in Erasmus's Adagia. Here are Erasmus's own comments on the saying: De re, quae praepostere geritur. Veluti, si uxor praescribat marito, si discipulus reprehendat praeceptorem, si populus imperet principi, si ratio pareat affectui, "This saying is used about something which is being done backwards-forwards, as if a wife were to give orders to her husband, or a student were to correct his teacher, or if the people were to command their ruler, or if reason were to obey emotions."
Erasmus's comments here are very revealing, aren't they? I am used to seeing this proverb applied to very obviously impractical situations: you are putting the cart in front of the ox when you build a new sports stadium before a team has even agreed to play there (if you build it, they will not necessarily come!). Erasmus, though, lists a whole series of situations that are not inherently absurd, but which are absurd based on the values of a particular society. Every single one of the examples he has listed here are things that we really do not consider preposterous at all these days: wives often do make decisions for their husbands, students are encouraged to correct their teachers when their teachers are wrong, the people are supposed to participate in their own governance, and as latter-day Romantics we often seek to involve the element of emotion, in addition to the claims of reason.
So, hoping anyway that your life is not too backwards-forwards or topsy-turvy at the moment, here is today's proverb read out loud:
1907. Bos currum trahit, non bovem currus.
The number here is the number for this proverb in Latin Via Proverbs: 4000 Proverbs, Mottoes and Sayings for Students of Latin.
If you are reading this via RSS: The Flash audio content is not syndicated via RSS; please visit the Latin Audio Proverbs blog to listen to the audio.
Keep up with the latest posts... Subscribe by Email. I also post a daily round-up of all the Bestiaria Latina blogs: fables, proverbs, crosswords, and audio.
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