In English: Not new things, but in a new way.
I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, since they share a similar (and very interesting!) grammatical structure. In yesterday's proverb, the adverbial multum, "much," was praised instead of the neuter plural, multa, "many things." So too with today's proverb, where the adverbial nove, "in a new way," is preferred to the neuter plural, nova, "new things."
This is a saying you can find in a variety of different forms, such as si non nova, saltem nove, "if not new things, at least in a new way," or antiqua nove, "old things in a new way."
As you can guess, this is a saying that is near and dear to my heart, since I am great believer in studying the old traditions - proverbs and fables, traditional myths and legends, ancient languages - but doing so in new ways, with new technology, taking what is old and giving it a new lease on life.
In my Mythology and Folklore online course, the students do semester-long projects, taking traditional myths and legends and telling them in new ways - and the results are fantastic. There is no problem with writer's block, since the story materials are old and ready to go. So, with all the raw materials already assembled, the students can let their creativity run wild as they tell the old stories in new ways. That means both new styles of storytelling but also using a new technology to share the stories, publishing them as online websites.
So, since the projects are online, I can share some of them with you here! At this point in the semester, the projects are about half-way done; between now and the end of the semester, the students will be adding two more stories to the ones they have already published. They work on mythology traditions from all over the world, and not surprisingly many of them choose Greek and Roman topics. So, for example, you can see what happens when Athena's owl pays a visit to a psychiatrist! Another student is telling stories from the perspective of Heracles's trusty sword! I'm actually a big fan of these stories told with surprising narrators, which gives a really modern twist to traditional stories. One student, for example, is telling stories about sewing and spinning where the stories are told by pin cushions, spinning wheels and so on.
I've been teaching online courses for five years now, and the newness and creativity of the students' projects makes every semester a delightful adventure. I never get bored - in fact, I get more and more excited, because the growing gallery of previous projects actually inspires the students to more and more creative experiments with each passing semester. It's a wonderful example of non nova sed nove, where the old stories comes alive with new infusions of creativity and digital technology!
So, thanks to that same digital technology, here is today's proverb read out loud:
62. Non nova sed nove.
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.
March 31, 2007
March 30, 2007
Multum, non multa
In English: Much, not many.
Like yesterday's proverb, today's proverb focuses on the idea of Latin multum, "much." The message of today's proverb is "much," instead of "many things," multa. In English, we might express this as the difference between "depth, not breadth," the idea being that it is better to focus in on something in a thorough way, rather than spreading yourself thin with many things.
This is a saying that can be applied to all kinds of endeavours, including education! A fuller form of this saying emphasizes the connection of this saying to the learning and education: multum non multa scire sapientis est, "it is the habit of a wise man to know something deeply, not to know many things." Although there are risks to specialization and narrowness of knowledge, I do tend to agree with this sentiment, and I have a special respect for the kind of wisdom that comes from long years of study of a particular topic, rather than a superficial flitting from one topic to another.
In one of Pliny the Younger's letters, he associates today's saying with a strategy for reading: Aiunt enim multum legendum esse, non multa, "they say that you should read much, but not many things." John Harmer's Praxis Grammatica explains in more detail: Legendo multum, non multa, quotidie proficies, "By reading much, but not many things, each day you will make progress."
Over at the Memoria Press website, you can find an article reproduced from The Classical Teacher: "Multum non Multa," by Andrew Campbell. In this article, Campbell argues in favor of promoting only a few subjects in the curriculum with a deep focus on those subjects (that's the "much," multum), as opposed to lots and lots of different, separate subjects (that would multa, "many").
From my own experience as a teacher, I would interpret today's saying in very technological terms: focus, don't multi-task! Students, especially online students, have a very bad tendency to multitask on their computers. They are instant messaging, listening to music, monitoring their cell phone, listening to TV... all while they are "studying." It's a recipe for failure and wasted time, since it's not likely that anything accomplished in that chaotic environment can really stick in the mind and persist over time. There was a great article in the New York Times this week on exactly this topic: "Slow Down, Brave Multitasker, and Don’t Read This in Traffic." It reports on the results of some interesting studies about the kinds of interference caused by typical multitasking scenarios, such as a brief delay in the sequencing of a particular task (a sobering thought when that task might be maneuvering your car on the road!).
So, hoping you are not talking on the cellphone while you listen to today's saying, here is today's proverb read out loud:
61. Multum, non multa.
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.
Like yesterday's proverb, today's proverb focuses on the idea of Latin multum, "much." The message of today's proverb is "much," instead of "many things," multa. In English, we might express this as the difference between "depth, not breadth," the idea being that it is better to focus in on something in a thorough way, rather than spreading yourself thin with many things.
This is a saying that can be applied to all kinds of endeavours, including education! A fuller form of this saying emphasizes the connection of this saying to the learning and education: multum non multa scire sapientis est, "it is the habit of a wise man to know something deeply, not to know many things." Although there are risks to specialization and narrowness of knowledge, I do tend to agree with this sentiment, and I have a special respect for the kind of wisdom that comes from long years of study of a particular topic, rather than a superficial flitting from one topic to another.
In one of Pliny the Younger's letters, he associates today's saying with a strategy for reading: Aiunt enim multum legendum esse, non multa, "they say that you should read much, but not many things." John Harmer's Praxis Grammatica explains in more detail: Legendo multum, non multa, quotidie proficies, "By reading much, but not many things, each day you will make progress."
Over at the Memoria Press website, you can find an article reproduced from The Classical Teacher: "Multum non Multa," by Andrew Campbell. In this article, Campbell argues in favor of promoting only a few subjects in the curriculum with a deep focus on those subjects (that's the "much," multum), as opposed to lots and lots of different, separate subjects (that would multa, "many").
From my own experience as a teacher, I would interpret today's saying in very technological terms: focus, don't multi-task! Students, especially online students, have a very bad tendency to multitask on their computers. They are instant messaging, listening to music, monitoring their cell phone, listening to TV... all while they are "studying." It's a recipe for failure and wasted time, since it's not likely that anything accomplished in that chaotic environment can really stick in the mind and persist over time. There was a great article in the New York Times this week on exactly this topic: "Slow Down, Brave Multitasker, and Don’t Read This in Traffic." It reports on the results of some interesting studies about the kinds of interference caused by typical multitasking scenarios, such as a brief delay in the sequencing of a particular task (a sobering thought when that task might be maneuvering your car on the road!).
So, hoping you are not talking on the cellphone while you listen to today's saying, here is today's proverb read out loud:
61. Multum, non multa.
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.
March 29, 2007
Si satis est, multum est
In English: If it is enough, it is a great deal.
This is a proverb which has a lot in common with yesterday's proverb: Longa est vita si plena est, "Life is long, if it is full." Both proverbs are a hypothetical statement based on the Latin si, "if."
Today's proverb can apply to all kinds of hypothetical situations. If you have enough, satis, of something, then that is a lot, multum! So if you have enough money - count yourself rich: enough money is a lot of money. And if you have enough food for dinner, that is plenty of food. And so on.
You could call this the opposite of the "super-size-me" philosophy. Instead, this is the "satisfy me" philosophy. If you have enough to satisfy, satis, then that is plenty.
Latin satis, often abbreviated simply as sat, can be seen at work in many English words, such as "satisfaction," "satisfactory," "satiate," "satisfy," and so on (along with their opposites: dissatisfaction, unsatisfactory, etc.). It is also lurking in the etymology of the English word "asset," which comes originally from the Latin phrase ad satis.
Here's a surprise, though: another English word related to the Latin word satis is the English word "sad." You can see that this could be true phonetically: sat and "sad" are very close indeed. Yet the meaning seems to be the opposite: how could something satisfactory make you sad? Here's how that happened! The English word "sad," sæd, meant "sated," in the sense of full, satisfied. Then, from this sense of full it came to mean "heavy, weighty," and from "heavy" it moved to "burdened, tired," and then to the modern meaning of "sad."
I was really surprised when I found this out, but the Oxford English Dictionary provides all kinds of fascinating citations for the history of the English word "sad," showing clearly that it has meant "sated, heavy, full," etc. My favorite citation is this one, from 1638: "To those that..tell you..I am but as a feather, I shall be found sadder than lead," i.e. heavier than lead.
So, hoping that you really are feeling light as a feather instead of sadder than lead, here is today's proverb read out loud:
60. Si satis est, multum est.
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.
This is a proverb which has a lot in common with yesterday's proverb: Longa est vita si plena est, "Life is long, if it is full." Both proverbs are a hypothetical statement based on the Latin si, "if."
Today's proverb can apply to all kinds of hypothetical situations. If you have enough, satis, of something, then that is a lot, multum! So if you have enough money - count yourself rich: enough money is a lot of money. And if you have enough food for dinner, that is plenty of food. And so on.
You could call this the opposite of the "super-size-me" philosophy. Instead, this is the "satisfy me" philosophy. If you have enough to satisfy, satis, then that is plenty.
Latin satis, often abbreviated simply as sat, can be seen at work in many English words, such as "satisfaction," "satisfactory," "satiate," "satisfy," and so on (along with their opposites: dissatisfaction, unsatisfactory, etc.). It is also lurking in the etymology of the English word "asset," which comes originally from the Latin phrase ad satis.
Here's a surprise, though: another English word related to the Latin word satis is the English word "sad." You can see that this could be true phonetically: sat and "sad" are very close indeed. Yet the meaning seems to be the opposite: how could something satisfactory make you sad? Here's how that happened! The English word "sad," sæd, meant "sated," in the sense of full, satisfied. Then, from this sense of full it came to mean "heavy, weighty," and from "heavy" it moved to "burdened, tired," and then to the modern meaning of "sad."
I was really surprised when I found this out, but the Oxford English Dictionary provides all kinds of fascinating citations for the history of the English word "sad," showing clearly that it has meant "sated, heavy, full," etc. My favorite citation is this one, from 1638: "To those that..tell you..I am but as a feather, I shall be found sadder than lead," i.e. heavier than lead.
So, hoping that you really are feeling light as a feather instead of sadder than lead, here is today's proverb read out loud:
60. Si satis est, multum est.
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.
March 28, 2007
Longa est vita si plena est
In English: Life is long, if it is full.
I chose this proverb as a follow-up to yesterday's proverb, Iucunda poma, si procul custodia, because they have a structural similarity: ___, if ____.
Today's proverb is so simple grammatically that it is the kind of thing that could be introduced on the first day of a Latin class. After all, it consists just of a plain first-declension noun, vita, and two matching adjectives, longa...plena, all in the nominative case. The grammar is absolutely simple, but the thought is quite profound!
In the news recently, we've been hearing about two people prominent in American political life, Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow, who are dealing with recurrences of cancer. Just in the past week, I've learned about a good colleague at my university who is battling cancer. Of course, that could be any one of us tomorrow, since there is no span of life guaranteed to any one under any circumstances. You can choose a healthy lifestyle, you can study the statistics, but there is no way to achieve any certainty about the length of your life, how longa it will be. The fullness of life, however, is in your hands each and every day.
This Latin saying can be found in one of the letters of the philosopher Seneca. Here is the context in which he makes the statement: Non ut diu vivamus curandum est, sed ut satis; nam ut diu vivas Fato opus est, ut satis, animo. Longa est vita si plena est; impletur autem cum animus sibi bonum suum reddidit et ad se potestatem sui transtulit, "We should not worry about how long we live but rather how satisfactorily; for in order to live a long time, you only require Fate, but in order to live satisfactily requires understanding. Life is long if it is full."
Later in the letter, Seneca elaborates on this idea and makes a subtle and powerful distinction: Quamdiu sim, alienum est: quamdiu ero ut sim, meum est, "How long I might exist is beyond my control; how long I will be as I am, is up to me." Unlike today's proverb, this statement features some very tricky, but very expressive, Latin grammar. How long Seneca might exist, subjunctive mood (sim), is beyond his control; that is under the control of Fate alone. Yet how long Seneca will live as he is, indicative mood (ero), is something that is up to him. In other words: you are alive in the present moment, and as the future unfolds you choose what that life will be, filling that life with a richness of experience, or standing idle and leaving your life empty.
So, hoping you had a day that was indeed full of good things, here is today's proverb read out loud:
8. Longa est vita si plena est.
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 chose this proverb as a follow-up to yesterday's proverb, Iucunda poma, si procul custodia, because they have a structural similarity: ___, if ____.
Today's proverb is so simple grammatically that it is the kind of thing that could be introduced on the first day of a Latin class. After all, it consists just of a plain first-declension noun, vita, and two matching adjectives, longa...plena, all in the nominative case. The grammar is absolutely simple, but the thought is quite profound!
In the news recently, we've been hearing about two people prominent in American political life, Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow, who are dealing with recurrences of cancer. Just in the past week, I've learned about a good colleague at my university who is battling cancer. Of course, that could be any one of us tomorrow, since there is no span of life guaranteed to any one under any circumstances. You can choose a healthy lifestyle, you can study the statistics, but there is no way to achieve any certainty about the length of your life, how longa it will be. The fullness of life, however, is in your hands each and every day.
This Latin saying can be found in one of the letters of the philosopher Seneca. Here is the context in which he makes the statement: Non ut diu vivamus curandum est, sed ut satis; nam ut diu vivas Fato opus est, ut satis, animo. Longa est vita si plena est; impletur autem cum animus sibi bonum suum reddidit et ad se potestatem sui transtulit, "We should not worry about how long we live but rather how satisfactorily; for in order to live a long time, you only require Fate, but in order to live satisfactily requires understanding. Life is long if it is full."
Later in the letter, Seneca elaborates on this idea and makes a subtle and powerful distinction: Quamdiu sim, alienum est: quamdiu ero ut sim, meum est, "How long I might exist is beyond my control; how long I will be as I am, is up to me." Unlike today's proverb, this statement features some very tricky, but very expressive, Latin grammar. How long Seneca might exist, subjunctive mood (sim), is beyond his control; that is under the control of Fate alone. Yet how long Seneca will live as he is, indicative mood (ero), is something that is up to him. In other words: you are alive in the present moment, and as the future unfolds you choose what that life will be, filling that life with a richness of experience, or standing idle and leaving your life empty.
So, hoping you had a day that was indeed full of good things, here is today's proverb read out loud:
8. Longa est vita si plena est.
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.
March 27, 2007
Iucunda poma, si procul custodia
In English: Fruits are sweet if the guard is far away.
Since I've posted two proverbs based on the Latin word procul recently (Procul a Iove, procul a fulmine, and Procul ex oculis, procul ex mente), I thought this would be a good follow-up saying. The idea, of course, is that the value of something depends on its context. The question is not so much whether the fruits are sweet in and of themselves. Instead, the fruits are sweet if you can get at them, safe from the interference of someone or something that might be protecting those fruits from your predations!
There is a famous Aesop's fable about "sour grapes" which illustrates exactly the opposite idea. Here is a version of the story by Phaedrus:
The most famous guarded fruits in mythology would be the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides, protected by a hundred-headed dragon who was always awake. You can read about this famous dragon, named Ladon, at wikipedia.
So, hoping the produce section in your supermarket is not guarded by any kind of dragon, here is today's proverb read out loud:
115. Iucunda poma, si procul custodia.
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.
Since I've posted two proverbs based on the Latin word procul recently (Procul a Iove, procul a fulmine, and Procul ex oculis, procul ex mente), I thought this would be a good follow-up saying. The idea, of course, is that the value of something depends on its context. The question is not so much whether the fruits are sweet in and of themselves. Instead, the fruits are sweet if you can get at them, safe from the interference of someone or something that might be protecting those fruits from your predations!
There is a famous Aesop's fable about "sour grapes" which illustrates exactly the opposite idea. Here is a version of the story by Phaedrus:
Fame coacta vulpes alta in vineaSo, fruits are sweet if the guard is far away, but if the fruits are out of reach, you might be tempted, like the fox, to say that they are sour!
uvam adpetebat, summis saliens viribus.
Quam tangere ut non potuit, discedens ait:
"Nondum matura es; nolo acerbam sumere."
Qui, facere quae non possunt, verbis elevant,
adscribere hoc debebunt exemplum sibi.
Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine, leaping with all her strength. As she couldn't manage to reach the grapes, she went away and said: "You aren't even ripe yet! I don't eat sour grapes." People who speak disparagingly of things that they cannot attain should apply this instructive little story to their own lives.
The most famous guarded fruits in mythology would be the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides, protected by a hundred-headed dragon who was always awake. You can read about this famous dragon, named Ladon, at wikipedia.
So, hoping the produce section in your supermarket is not guarded by any kind of dragon, here is today's proverb read out loud:
115. Iucunda poma, si procul custodia.
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.
March 26, 2007
Procul a Iove, procul a fulmine
In English: Far from Jupiter, far from his thunderbolt.
This is another proverb following the same pattern as the previous proverb, procul ex oculis, procul ex mente, "out of sight, out of mind." This proverb uses the same type of repetition to make its point: procul...procul..., "if you keep far away from Jupiter, you will be far away from the danger of his thunderbolt."
There is a variant form found in Erasmus's Adagia, 1.3.96, Procul a Iove pariter atque a fulmine, "Far from Iupiter equally far from the thunderbolt too." In his commentary on the saying, Erasmus explains, Admonet, non esse agendum cum praepotentibus, qui nutu possint perdere si quando libeat, maxime cum regibus, ac tyrannis. Habent enim fulmen, quando commoveantur., "This warns us not to get involved with people who are extremely powerful, who can with a mere nod destroy us whenever it pleases them; in particular have nothing to do with kings and with tyrants, for they do have a thunderbolt, whenever they are aroused."
Jupiter, or to use his Greek name, Zeus, is not just the king of us mortals but the king even of the gods. He was also a sky god, a lord of the thunder and lightning, and the thunderbolt, Latin fulmen, was his special attribute. From this Latin word, we get the English word "fulminate," meaning literally "to explode with a loud noise" (as thunder does) but also "to attack verbally; to condemn, denounce."
And Zeus did indeed use that thunderbolt as a weapon. Consider for example, the story of Salmoneus. Salmoneus was the king of Elis, a powerful warrior and the ruler of a prosperous people. Yet instead of being thankful to the gods, Salmoneus was boastful, and acted as if he himself were able to rival the gods. He commanded that his people call him with the name of "Zeus" and to offer sacrifices in his honor. He hung copper kettles from his chariot so that he would make a clanging noise like thunder when he rode, and the people were supposed to shout, "The thunder of Zeus!" as he rode by. Salmoneus would throw burning torches from the chariot, and the people were supposed to shout, "The lightning of Zeus!" Needless to say, Zeus did not like this one bit, so he blasted Salmoneus with a real thunderbolt, killing on the spot. At that moment, the people shouted, "This is the thunderbolt of Zeus for real!"
So, keeping an eye out for the thunderbolts of tyrants large and small, here is today's proverb read out loud:
399. Procul a Iove, procul a fulmine.
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. You can also hear this saying read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).
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.
This is another proverb following the same pattern as the previous proverb, procul ex oculis, procul ex mente, "out of sight, out of mind." This proverb uses the same type of repetition to make its point: procul...procul..., "if you keep far away from Jupiter, you will be far away from the danger of his thunderbolt."
There is a variant form found in Erasmus's Adagia, 1.3.96, Procul a Iove pariter atque a fulmine, "Far from Iupiter equally far from the thunderbolt too." In his commentary on the saying, Erasmus explains, Admonet, non esse agendum cum praepotentibus, qui nutu possint perdere si quando libeat, maxime cum regibus, ac tyrannis. Habent enim fulmen, quando commoveantur., "This warns us not to get involved with people who are extremely powerful, who can with a mere nod destroy us whenever it pleases them; in particular have nothing to do with kings and with tyrants, for they do have a thunderbolt, whenever they are aroused."
Jupiter, or to use his Greek name, Zeus, is not just the king of us mortals but the king even of the gods. He was also a sky god, a lord of the thunder and lightning, and the thunderbolt, Latin fulmen, was his special attribute. From this Latin word, we get the English word "fulminate," meaning literally "to explode with a loud noise" (as thunder does) but also "to attack verbally; to condemn, denounce."
And Zeus did indeed use that thunderbolt as a weapon. Consider for example, the story of Salmoneus. Salmoneus was the king of Elis, a powerful warrior and the ruler of a prosperous people. Yet instead of being thankful to the gods, Salmoneus was boastful, and acted as if he himself were able to rival the gods. He commanded that his people call him with the name of "Zeus" and to offer sacrifices in his honor. He hung copper kettles from his chariot so that he would make a clanging noise like thunder when he rode, and the people were supposed to shout, "The thunder of Zeus!" as he rode by. Salmoneus would throw burning torches from the chariot, and the people were supposed to shout, "The lightning of Zeus!" Needless to say, Zeus did not like this one bit, so he blasted Salmoneus with a real thunderbolt, killing on the spot. At that moment, the people shouted, "This is the thunderbolt of Zeus for real!"
So, keeping an eye out for the thunderbolts of tyrants large and small, here is today's proverb read out loud:
399. Procul a Iove, procul a fulmine.
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. You can also hear this saying read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).
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.
March 23, 2007
Procul ex oculis, procul ex mente
In English: Far away from the eyes, far away from the mind.
Instead of having a thematic connection to yesterday's proverb, cito maturum, cito putridum, today's proverb has a structural connection. Both proverbs are built on a parallel structure with a repeated adverb: cito...cito and procul...procul. Parallelisms is one of the hallmarks of proverbial style, and this is especially true in Latin, where parallelism is a strongly preferred style in all forms of expression, not simply proverbs.
You can see this same kind of parallelism at work in the English equivalent to this proverb, "out of sight, out of mind." There is no verb in either the Latin or the English proverb, but it's easy to supply a verb by applying the proverb to a particular situation. The verb might be about being in love, for example; when you are in love with someone, if you keep the person's picture around, it will drive you crazy, but if you get rid of the picture and don't have any opportunity to see the person, you will forget about her. "Out of sight, out of mind."
Of course, the saying does not have to be applied to situations of love; it can work with all kinds of emotions. If you are afraid of something, then not looking at it is best. Just close your eyes and don't look when the movie gets too scary! Procul ex oculis, procul ex mente.
An animal emblem for this saying would be the ostrich who hides its head in the sand. According to the ancient Romans, however, the ostrich did not hide its head in the sand but in a bush. Pliny actually makes fun of the ostrich for this stupid behavior: stoliditas in tanta reliqui corporis altitudine, cum colla frutice occultaverint, latere sese existimantium. , "Their stupidity is shown when they hide their head in a bush, thinking that they are invisible, when the rest of its very tall body is sticking out."
So, hoping you can apply today's proverb more wisely than the ostrich, here is the proverb read out loud:
370. Procul ex oculis, procul ex mente.
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.
Instead of having a thematic connection to yesterday's proverb, cito maturum, cito putridum, today's proverb has a structural connection. Both proverbs are built on a parallel structure with a repeated adverb: cito...cito and procul...procul. Parallelisms is one of the hallmarks of proverbial style, and this is especially true in Latin, where parallelism is a strongly preferred style in all forms of expression, not simply proverbs.
You can see this same kind of parallelism at work in the English equivalent to this proverb, "out of sight, out of mind." There is no verb in either the Latin or the English proverb, but it's easy to supply a verb by applying the proverb to a particular situation. The verb might be about being in love, for example; when you are in love with someone, if you keep the person's picture around, it will drive you crazy, but if you get rid of the picture and don't have any opportunity to see the person, you will forget about her. "Out of sight, out of mind."
Of course, the saying does not have to be applied to situations of love; it can work with all kinds of emotions. If you are afraid of something, then not looking at it is best. Just close your eyes and don't look when the movie gets too scary! Procul ex oculis, procul ex mente.
An animal emblem for this saying would be the ostrich who hides its head in the sand. According to the ancient Romans, however, the ostrich did not hide its head in the sand but in a bush. Pliny actually makes fun of the ostrich for this stupid behavior: stoliditas in tanta reliqui corporis altitudine, cum colla frutice occultaverint, latere sese existimantium. , "Their stupidity is shown when they hide their head in a bush, thinking that they are invisible, when the rest of its very tall body is sticking out."
So, hoping you can apply today's proverb more wisely than the ostrich, here is the proverb read out loud:
370. Procul ex oculis, procul ex mente.
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.
March 20, 2007
Cito maturum, cito putridum
In English: Quickly ripe, quickly rotten.
After the previous saying in praise of getting an early start on things, I thought it would be a good idea to include a proverb that warns of the dangers of being too hasty about things! I'm not sure if today's saying is really true of fruit (is a piece of fruit that is quickly ripe really quickly rotten?), but it is certainly true of many kinds of human endeavour, where something peaks quickly, and then falls off just as quickly. We all need to pace ourselves!
The Latin word maturus gives us the English word "mature," which we tend to use much more narrowly to refer to psychological and spiritual conditions rather than to physical ones, as when we praise someone for acting "maturely," i.e., wisely, prudently, and so on. There's also that great euphemism, of course, where pornography is considered "adult video" for "mature audiences," where mature does not have any of those positive connotations. Yet we also still use "mature" for some agricultural products, like wine or cheese that mature as part of their aging process.
In Latin, however, the word maturus was still strongly connected with the world of nature and agriculture, as you can see from today's saying. The translation "ripe" is entirely appropriate, given that "ripe" is a word still strongly associated with the world of agriculture, although we also apply this to the human sphere in that wonderful saying, "a ripe old age." Of course, English "ripe" can also mean "stinky," as in the Latin word putridus from today's saying, showing that there is a fine line indeed between maturus and putridus, given that the English word "ripe" encompasses both meanings!
The Latin maturus is commonly encountered in its adverbial form, mature, meaning "in season, at the right time, opportunely." Yet there is a secondary meaning of this adverb as well: "quickly, speedily, soon." In fact, this sense of "quickly, speedily, soon" can even start to mean "too quickly, too soon," so that the word mature can actually mean "untimely, prematurely." In other words, just as there is a fine line between ripe-nice and ripe-stinky in English, there is also a fine line between mature as quickly and too-quickly in Latin!
In sum, I think this conglomeration of sayings and metaphorical meanings all provide a good lesson for language learners: do not worry about being in a hurry when it comes to learning languages! Learning a language comes in time, and you cannot force it; trying to do it quickly may become a case of too-quickly. Soon ripe, soon rotten.
So, hoping you will take your time pondering your Latin language adventures today, here is today's proverb read out loud:
57. Cito maturum, cito putridum.
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.
After the previous saying in praise of getting an early start on things, I thought it would be a good idea to include a proverb that warns of the dangers of being too hasty about things! I'm not sure if today's saying is really true of fruit (is a piece of fruit that is quickly ripe really quickly rotten?), but it is certainly true of many kinds of human endeavour, where something peaks quickly, and then falls off just as quickly. We all need to pace ourselves!
The Latin word maturus gives us the English word "mature," which we tend to use much more narrowly to refer to psychological and spiritual conditions rather than to physical ones, as when we praise someone for acting "maturely," i.e., wisely, prudently, and so on. There's also that great euphemism, of course, where pornography is considered "adult video" for "mature audiences," where mature does not have any of those positive connotations. Yet we also still use "mature" for some agricultural products, like wine or cheese that mature as part of their aging process.
In Latin, however, the word maturus was still strongly connected with the world of nature and agriculture, as you can see from today's saying. The translation "ripe" is entirely appropriate, given that "ripe" is a word still strongly associated with the world of agriculture, although we also apply this to the human sphere in that wonderful saying, "a ripe old age." Of course, English "ripe" can also mean "stinky," as in the Latin word putridus from today's saying, showing that there is a fine line indeed between maturus and putridus, given that the English word "ripe" encompasses both meanings!
The Latin maturus is commonly encountered in its adverbial form, mature, meaning "in season, at the right time, opportunely." Yet there is a secondary meaning of this adverb as well: "quickly, speedily, soon." In fact, this sense of "quickly, speedily, soon" can even start to mean "too quickly, too soon," so that the word mature can actually mean "untimely, prematurely." In other words, just as there is a fine line between ripe-nice and ripe-stinky in English, there is also a fine line between mature as quickly and too-quickly in Latin!
In sum, I think this conglomeration of sayings and metaphorical meanings all provide a good lesson for language learners: do not worry about being in a hurry when it comes to learning languages! Learning a language comes in time, and you cannot force it; trying to do it quickly may become a case of too-quickly. Soon ripe, soon rotten.
So, hoping you will take your time pondering your Latin language adventures today, here is today's proverb read out loud:
57. Cito maturum, cito putridum.
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.
March 17, 2007
Qui primus venerit, primus molet
In English: He who arrives first, will grind first.
I thought that after the previous proverb about the beginning of a task, this would be a good follow-up proverb, praising the person who gets an early start on things. The idea here is that when farmers come to grind their grain, there might be a very long line, but the farmer who comes first, grinds first, saving himself the trouble of standing in line. The English equivalent would be "first come, first served." There's also the great English saying "the early bird catches the worm."
You can find an alternate version of this saying Primus veniens, primus molet, "he (who is) coming first, he will grind first." So, you can use this little saying to get practice in two very nice features of Latin grammar. One version shows the coordination of the future perfect and future tenses: venerit...molet. The other version shows the elegant use of the Latin present active participle in conjunction with a finite verb: veniens...molet.
Note also the use of the adjective, primus, which we usually translate with an adverb in English. The Latin literally says primus molet, "he-the-first will grind," whereas in English we prefer to use an adverb, "he will grind first." Given the weakness of the Latin adverbial system compared to the much more precise adjectival system, you will often find that Latin uses adjectives modifying the subject of the verb rather than an adverb, as we would expect in English.
You can find today's Latin phrase, qui primus venerit, primus molet, cited in Erasmus's Adagia, but it is not the title of an article. Instead, this proverb about the early person arriving at the mill is cited as a parallel proverb under the saying Quasi locum in balneis, "like a place in the bathhouse" (2.10.15). This is a much more elliptical saying, but luckily Erasmus explains: people would come to the bathhouse early, take their places, and there would not be any room for latecomers.So, hoping you will not be last in line for something important to you, here is today's proverb read out loud:
3438. Qui primus venerit, primus molet.
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 that after the previous proverb about the beginning of a task, this would be a good follow-up proverb, praising the person who gets an early start on things. The idea here is that when farmers come to grind their grain, there might be a very long line, but the farmer who comes first, grinds first, saving himself the trouble of standing in line. The English equivalent would be "first come, first served." There's also the great English saying "the early bird catches the worm."
You can find an alternate version of this saying Primus veniens, primus molet, "he (who is) coming first, he will grind first." So, you can use this little saying to get practice in two very nice features of Latin grammar. One version shows the coordination of the future perfect and future tenses: venerit...molet. The other version shows the elegant use of the Latin present active participle in conjunction with a finite verb: veniens...molet.
Note also the use of the adjective, primus, which we usually translate with an adverb in English. The Latin literally says primus molet, "he-the-first will grind," whereas in English we prefer to use an adverb, "he will grind first." Given the weakness of the Latin adverbial system compared to the much more precise adjectival system, you will often find that Latin uses adjectives modifying the subject of the verb rather than an adverb, as we would expect in English.
You can find today's Latin phrase, qui primus venerit, primus molet, cited in Erasmus's Adagia, but it is not the title of an article. Instead, this proverb about the early person arriving at the mill is cited as a parallel proverb under the saying Quasi locum in balneis, "like a place in the bathhouse" (2.10.15). This is a much more elliptical saying, but luckily Erasmus explains: people would come to the bathhouse early, take their places, and there would not be any room for latecomers.So, hoping you will not be last in line for something important to you, here is today's proverb read out loud:
3438. Qui primus venerit, primus molet.
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.
March 15, 2007
Primordia cuncta pavida sunt
In English: All beginnings are frightening.
After yesterday's saying about the timid rabbit, I thought this proverb about timid beginnings would make a good, philosophical follow-up. The saying comes from the Variae of Cassiodorus, and the complete passage reads: primordia cuncta pavida sunt et aliter timiditas non tollitur, nisi cum rebus necessariis novitas abrogatur., "All beginnings are frightening, and fear is not dislodged by any other means except when the novelty is removed by unavoidable tasks."
This is a sentiment that makes a good deal of sense to me. I am a creature of habit (known to some as the "Queen of Routine"), and doing something new and unprecedented can be a bit alarming for me. Yet at the same time, when I simply have to do something, I generally am willing to tackle it. Then, just as this passage in Cassiodorus suggests, by doing what is absolutely required, I realize that the whole thing is really not as bad as it seemed at first.
Of course, I have to invoke an Aesop's fable which expresses this same idea by means of animals! Here is the story of the Lion and the Fox as told by the Renaissance writer Hieronymus Osius:
So, with hopes that you are bold enough to say hello to any lions you might meet, here is today's proverb read out loud:
65. Primordia cuncta pavida sunt.
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.
After yesterday's saying about the timid rabbit, I thought this proverb about timid beginnings would make a good, philosophical follow-up. The saying comes from the Variae of Cassiodorus, and the complete passage reads: primordia cuncta pavida sunt et aliter timiditas non tollitur, nisi cum rebus necessariis novitas abrogatur., "All beginnings are frightening, and fear is not dislodged by any other means except when the novelty is removed by unavoidable tasks."
This is a sentiment that makes a good deal of sense to me. I am a creature of habit (known to some as the "Queen of Routine"), and doing something new and unprecedented can be a bit alarming for me. Yet at the same time, when I simply have to do something, I generally am willing to tackle it. Then, just as this passage in Cassiodorus suggests, by doing what is absolutely required, I realize that the whole thing is really not as bad as it seemed at first.
Of course, I have to invoke an Aesop's fable which expresses this same idea by means of animals! Here is the story of the Lion and the Fox as told by the Renaissance writer Hieronymus Osius:
Villosum Vulpes non viderat ante Leonem,There's a great illustration of this online, with a fox who seems to be made supernaturally large by her own courage in saying "hello!" to the lion.
Cui iam facta potest obvia paene mori.
Haec adeo perculsa gravi formidine fertur,
Maxima quae viso mota Leone fuit.
At iam rursus ubi datur obvia forsan eunti,
Hanc minus attonitam, quam prius, esse ferunt.
Tertia spectandi cui postquam oblata facultas,
Sustinet aspiciens tunc animosa feram.
Accedens propius quia compellare Leonem
Audet, et huic blandis vocibus usa loqui.
Nil tam difficile est, quod non tractabile reddas,
Creber ad has operas si ferat usus opem.
Res inopina movet mentes vehementius omnis,
Sed turbare parum saepe revisa solet.
The Fox had not ever seen the shaggy Lion before; when she ran into him she could almost have died upon seeing the Lion. The Fox is said to be have been struck with such great fear that it was the greatest fear she had ever felt. But then when it happened by chance a second time that she ran into the Lion as he was walking by, they say the Fox was less thunderstruck than before. When later on the Fox was given a third chance to look at him, she was able to endure looking at the beast, gazing bravely at him, because she even drew closer and dared to address the Lion and speak to him, using flattering words. There is nothing so difficult that you cannot render it manageable if frequent opportunity gives you a chance to try it. Every thing that is unexpected powerfully shakes the mind, but when it is seen again and again it usually causes little disturbance.
So, with hopes that you are bold enough to say hello to any lions you might meet, here is today's proverb read out loud:
65. Primordia cuncta pavida sunt.
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.
March 14, 2007
Lepore timidior
In English: More timid than a rabbit.
After yesterday's proverb about the rabbit and the dogs, I wanted to include this little saying that shows the rabbit was proverbially scared in Latin, just like in English, where we talk about "scaredy rabbits."
I've posted about cowardly rabbits in the past, and in that post I included the Steinhowel version of the Aesop's fable about the scared rabbits and the even more scared frogs. Since the story of the rabbits and the frogs is such a weird and wonderful fable, I thought I would post a different version of the fable, this time in a Latin version that I found thanks to Google Books. It comes from a marvelous old Aesop-for-schoolboys published in 1787. It's called "Aesop for Beginners," and you can see a copy of the old book page at aesopica.net. It features the Latin text, plus an English translation to help those schoolboys in 1787 to understand the Latin!
So, in honor of the "Daringness, the Queen of Virtue," here is today's proverb read out loud:
643. Lepore timidior.
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.
After yesterday's proverb about the rabbit and the dogs, I wanted to include this little saying that shows the rabbit was proverbially scared in Latin, just like in English, where we talk about "scaredy rabbits."
I've posted about cowardly rabbits in the past, and in that post I included the Steinhowel version of the Aesop's fable about the scared rabbits and the even more scared frogs. Since the story of the rabbits and the frogs is such a weird and wonderful fable, I thought I would post a different version of the fable, this time in a Latin version that I found thanks to Google Books. It comes from a marvelous old Aesop-for-schoolboys published in 1787. It's called "Aesop for Beginners," and you can see a copy of the old book page at aesopica.net. It features the Latin text, plus an English translation to help those schoolboys in 1787 to understand the Latin!
Silva mugiente insolito turbine, trepidi Lepores occipiunt rapide fugere. Cum palus obsisteret fugientibus, flectere anxii, comprehensi periculis utrinque, quodque esset incitamentum maioris timoris, vident Ranas mergi in palude. Tunc unus ex Leporibus prudentior ac disertior ceteris inquit, Quid inaniter timemus? Est Opus animo quidem: est nobis agilitas corporis, sed animus deest. Hoc periculum turbinis non est fugiendum, sed contemnendum. Est opus animo in omni re. Virtus iacet sine confidentia. Nam confidentia est dux et regina virtutis.Here is the 1787 translation:
The Wood roaring with unusual Whirlwind, the trembling Hares begin hastily to fly away. When a Fen stopped them flying, they stood anxious, encompassed with Dangers on boths sides. And what was an Incitement of greater Fear, they perceive the Frogs to be plunged in the Fen. Then one of the Hares more prudent and more eloquent than the rest said, What vainly do we fear? There is Need of Courage indeed: There is to us Agility of Body, but Courage is wanting. This Dnager of the Whirlwind is not to be fled from, but contemned. There is Need of Courage in every Thing. Virtue lies dead without Confidence. For Daringness is the Leader and Queen of Virtue.In this version of the story, the rabbits are simply afraid of the noise and run away. In other versions of the story, the rabbits get so depressed about being cowards that they decide to all go drown themselves in the swamp, and the only thing that persuades them to not commit suicide is that they realize the frogs are even bigger cowards than they are!
So, in honor of the "Daringness, the Queen of Virtue," here is today's proverb read out loud:
643. Lepore timidior.
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.
March 12, 2007
Multitudo canum, mors leporis
In English: Plenty of dogs, the rabbit's death.
I thought doing another proverb about dogs would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about the "dog's life." In today's proverb, however, the dog is not the victim of the disaster. Instead, it is the rabbit that is the victim, doomed by the pack of dogs who hunt that rabbit down, no matter how fast and nimbly the rabbit runs.
You can see again from the form canum just how important it is to be aware of the distinction between the first-second declension adjective canus, "grey-white," with the neuter singular canum, and the third declension noun canis, "dog," with the genitive plural canum. The genitive plural of third declension nouns ending in -um is something that it really takes some getting used to.
The word for rabbit, lepus, is also a bit tricky. It is a third-declension noun, with a stem lepor-, as you can see in the genitive singular form here, leporis. The problem is that there is another third declension noun, lepos (or lepor) in the nominative singular, meaning "charm, elegance," which is also leporis in the genitive singular. These words are surprisingly easy to get mixed up, although from context you should usually be able to distinguish between the rabbit and the elegance!
Of course, in English, there is the homonym of "hare" and "hair," so we really cannot be too critical of the ambiguities in other people's languages, eh? Personally, I think the word "hare" has largely fallen into disuse, especially in American English, precisely because of the annoying homonym with "hair." It just makes the word more trouble than it's worth, so we regard all those long-eared little critter as "rabbits" even when some of them are, more precisely speaking, "hares."
There's another Latin word for this creature which is worth looking at: cuniculus. It is from this Latin word (itself perhaps of Spanish origin?) that we ultimately get the English word "coney" meaning rabbit. And yes, this is how Coney Island got its name, since the Dutch who named the island discovered that it was overrun with rabbits! Presumably those rabbits were fortunate enough to live free of the fear of dogs, unlike the poor rabbit in today's proverb!
So, hoping you are not having as hard a time as this little rabbit, here is today's proverb read out loud:
311. Multitudo canum, mors leporis.
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 doing another proverb about dogs would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about the "dog's life." In today's proverb, however, the dog is not the victim of the disaster. Instead, it is the rabbit that is the victim, doomed by the pack of dogs who hunt that rabbit down, no matter how fast and nimbly the rabbit runs.
You can see again from the form canum just how important it is to be aware of the distinction between the first-second declension adjective canus, "grey-white," with the neuter singular canum, and the third declension noun canis, "dog," with the genitive plural canum. The genitive plural of third declension nouns ending in -um is something that it really takes some getting used to.
The word for rabbit, lepus, is also a bit tricky. It is a third-declension noun, with a stem lepor-, as you can see in the genitive singular form here, leporis. The problem is that there is another third declension noun, lepos (or lepor) in the nominative singular, meaning "charm, elegance," which is also leporis in the genitive singular. These words are surprisingly easy to get mixed up, although from context you should usually be able to distinguish between the rabbit and the elegance!
Of course, in English, there is the homonym of "hare" and "hair," so we really cannot be too critical of the ambiguities in other people's languages, eh? Personally, I think the word "hare" has largely fallen into disuse, especially in American English, precisely because of the annoying homonym with "hair." It just makes the word more trouble than it's worth, so we regard all those long-eared little critter as "rabbits" even when some of them are, more precisely speaking, "hares."
There's another Latin word for this creature which is worth looking at: cuniculus. It is from this Latin word (itself perhaps of Spanish origin?) that we ultimately get the English word "coney" meaning rabbit. And yes, this is how Coney Island got its name, since the Dutch who named the island discovered that it was overrun with rabbits! Presumably those rabbits were fortunate enough to live free of the fear of dogs, unlike the poor rabbit in today's proverb!
So, hoping you are not having as hard a time as this little rabbit, here is today's proverb read out loud:
311. Multitudo canum, mors leporis.
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.
March 11, 2007
Aqua et panis est vita canis
In English: A dog's life is water and bread.
I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, which was also about dogs. Today's proverb is about how a dog does not enjoy a very good life, condemned to a diet of bread and water, like some prisoner in a jail.
We still use the phrase in English "a dog's life" to refer to a miserable and desperate life, even though today's pooches are more pampered than many people are! Compare also the phrase "to die like a dog," which means to die a violent or disgraceeful death, without dignity and honor. As the phrases "a dog's life" and "to die like a dog" make clear even in English, dogs do not always have an easy of time of it, trying to make their way as hangers-on in human society.
There is a wonderful English word, no longer in common usage, which also conveys the idea of the hardships of the dog's life: dogsbody. The dogsbody, or dog's body, is someone who has to carry out menial, laborious tasks. At the end of a day's work, the dogsbody would no doubt be dog-tired!
Notice that today's Latin proverb features a strong rhyme: panis...canis. The use of rhyme is a distinctive feature of medieval Latin proverbs. While medieval Latin poetry and proverbs often feature line-end rhyme and various forms of internal rhyme, the use of rhyme was actually avoided in classical Latin style. In English poetry and song-making, the use of rhyme is highly prized (just look at rap music today), which means that in many ways medieval Latin poetry is much more congenial for English-speakers than is the poetry of classical Latin authors!
So enjoy that rhyme when you listen to today's proverb read out loud:
312. Aqua et panis est vita canis.
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 good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, which was also about dogs. Today's proverb is about how a dog does not enjoy a very good life, condemned to a diet of bread and water, like some prisoner in a jail.
We still use the phrase in English "a dog's life" to refer to a miserable and desperate life, even though today's pooches are more pampered than many people are! Compare also the phrase "to die like a dog," which means to die a violent or disgraceeful death, without dignity and honor. As the phrases "a dog's life" and "to die like a dog" make clear even in English, dogs do not always have an easy of time of it, trying to make their way as hangers-on in human society.
There is a wonderful English word, no longer in common usage, which also conveys the idea of the hardships of the dog's life: dogsbody. The dogsbody, or dog's body, is someone who has to carry out menial, laborious tasks. At the end of a day's work, the dogsbody would no doubt be dog-tired!
Notice that today's Latin proverb features a strong rhyme: panis...canis. The use of rhyme is a distinctive feature of medieval Latin proverbs. While medieval Latin poetry and proverbs often feature line-end rhyme and various forms of internal rhyme, the use of rhyme was actually avoided in classical Latin style. In English poetry and song-making, the use of rhyme is highly prized (just look at rap music today), which means that in many ways medieval Latin poetry is much more congenial for English-speakers than is the poetry of classical Latin authors!
So enjoy that rhyme when you listen to today's proverb read out loud:
312. Aqua et panis est vita canis.
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.
March 10, 2007
Canis est audax iuxta proprias aedes
In English: A dog is bold by his own house.
I though this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, which used the word cani meaning "grey, grey hairs." Today's proverb is about a dog, Latin canis, a third-declension noun. The idea in today's proverb is very insightful: the dog barks loudly and boldly by his own house... but if he were to find himself in strange surroundings, he would not be very bold at all!
There are many variants of this saying, such as Canis domi ferocissimus, "At home, a dog is most fierce;" in claustro domini furit acrior ira catelli, "in the home of his master the puppy's wrath rages more fiercely;" in foribus propriis canis est audacior omnis, "in his own door every dog is more bold;" omnis canis in porta sua magnus est latrator, "every dog is a great barker in his own door;" and ausus maiores fert canis ante fores, "a dog proposes much bolder moves in front of his own door." (I like that last one in Latin especially because it rhymes!)
It's also worth saying something here about the constellation of possibly confusing words in Latin, canis, meaning "dog," canus, meaning "gray" and meaning "gray hairs" in the plural (cani), and also the verb cano, canere, meaning "to sing," a third-conjugation verb. There's even a second-conjugation verb, caneo, canere, meaning "to be white, to be gray," although this is a very uncommon word. The other three words, however, canis, canus, and cano, are all extremely common. So, watch out! You don't want to get them mixed up!
From the Latin word canis we get the English word canine. The English word "kennel" is also derived from this same root. The English word "canary" even comes from this same root. That is an interesting story. The canary bird is a little bird that lived on the Canary Islands, off the north-west coast of Africa. The name for this place was Insula Canaria in Latin, so called because there were fabulously large and vicious dogs that lived on the island - at least they made such an impression on the Romans who visited the island that they called it "Dog Island"! Over time, the bird from the Canary Island became known as the "canary." So yes, canary birds do chirp and sing, but their name does not come from the verb canere, "to sing;" instead, it comes from the word canis, meaning "dog."
So, in honor of dog's whose bark is worse than their bite, here is today's proverb read out loud:
444. Canis est audax iuxta proprias aedes.
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 though this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, which used the word cani meaning "grey, grey hairs." Today's proverb is about a dog, Latin canis, a third-declension noun. The idea in today's proverb is very insightful: the dog barks loudly and boldly by his own house... but if he were to find himself in strange surroundings, he would not be very bold at all!
There are many variants of this saying, such as Canis domi ferocissimus, "At home, a dog is most fierce;" in claustro domini furit acrior ira catelli, "in the home of his master the puppy's wrath rages more fiercely;" in foribus propriis canis est audacior omnis, "in his own door every dog is more bold;" omnis canis in porta sua magnus est latrator, "every dog is a great barker in his own door;" and ausus maiores fert canis ante fores, "a dog proposes much bolder moves in front of his own door." (I like that last one in Latin especially because it rhymes!)
It's also worth saying something here about the constellation of possibly confusing words in Latin, canis, meaning "dog," canus, meaning "gray" and meaning "gray hairs" in the plural (cani), and also the verb cano, canere, meaning "to sing," a third-conjugation verb. There's even a second-conjugation verb, caneo, canere, meaning "to be white, to be gray," although this is a very uncommon word. The other three words, however, canis, canus, and cano, are all extremely common. So, watch out! You don't want to get them mixed up!
From the Latin word canis we get the English word canine. The English word "kennel" is also derived from this same root. The English word "canary" even comes from this same root. That is an interesting story. The canary bird is a little bird that lived on the Canary Islands, off the north-west coast of Africa. The name for this place was Insula Canaria in Latin, so called because there were fabulously large and vicious dogs that lived on the island - at least they made such an impression on the Romans who visited the island that they called it "Dog Island"! Over time, the bird from the Canary Island became known as the "canary." So yes, canary birds do chirp and sing, but their name does not come from the verb canere, "to sing;" instead, it comes from the word canis, meaning "dog."
So, in honor of dog's whose bark is worse than their bite, here is today's proverb read out loud:
444. Canis est audax iuxta proprias aedes.
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.
March 08, 2007
Cani indicium sunt temporis, non sapientiae
In English: White hair is a sign of time, not of wisdom.
In other words, the white hairs of old age are a sign of the passage of time, not necessarily of the acquisition of wisdom! I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about tempus, which said that time is the best judge of all things. In a general, even collective sense, the passage of time does perhaps contribute to the emergence of the truth - but the same does not necessarily hold true for the passage of time in an individual's life. Over time, a person does not necessarily become wiser, although their hair is likely to turn gray in any case. If a person is paralyzed by fear, blinded by prejudice, or just oppressed by the burdens of life, it is not necessarily the case that they will be able to accumulate and cultivate wisdom all the days of their lives.
Of course, that all makes it sound very serious - when today's proverb is really meant to be more humorous than anything else. We notice the advance of the grey hairs, one by one, and comfort ourselves with the idea that at least we are "older and wiser." Some people, women especially, do not find this comforting enough, and go out and get their hair dyed! I'm continually surprised at how many women I know who dye their hair. It's not something I would ever guess or assume about someone, yet time and again I've been surprised by a remark they make, which reveals that they do indeed dye their hair. It's not something I've ever been tempted to do, probably because I do kind of hope that my increasingly grey hair might, perhaps, persuade people to take me seriously after all! Ha ha.
There's an absolutely delightful Aesop's fable about a man with some grey hair and the terrible fate that befalls him at the hands of his two mistresses - that's right, his TWO mistresses, one older than he is and one younger. Here is how Phaedrus tells the story:
So, hoping you are at peace with your gray hairs (however many of them there may be!), here is today's proverb read out loud:
249. Cani indicium sunt temporis, non sapientiae.
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.
In other words, the white hairs of old age are a sign of the passage of time, not necessarily of the acquisition of wisdom! I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about tempus, which said that time is the best judge of all things. In a general, even collective sense, the passage of time does perhaps contribute to the emergence of the truth - but the same does not necessarily hold true for the passage of time in an individual's life. Over time, a person does not necessarily become wiser, although their hair is likely to turn gray in any case. If a person is paralyzed by fear, blinded by prejudice, or just oppressed by the burdens of life, it is not necessarily the case that they will be able to accumulate and cultivate wisdom all the days of their lives.
Of course, that all makes it sound very serious - when today's proverb is really meant to be more humorous than anything else. We notice the advance of the grey hairs, one by one, and comfort ourselves with the idea that at least we are "older and wiser." Some people, women especially, do not find this comforting enough, and go out and get their hair dyed! I'm continually surprised at how many women I know who dye their hair. It's not something I would ever guess or assume about someone, yet time and again I've been surprised by a remark they make, which reveals that they do indeed dye their hair. It's not something I've ever been tempted to do, probably because I do kind of hope that my increasingly grey hair might, perhaps, persuade people to take me seriously after all! Ha ha.
There's an absolutely delightful Aesop's fable about a man with some grey hair and the terrible fate that befalls him at the hands of his two mistresses - that's right, his TWO mistresses, one older than he is and one younger. Here is how Phaedrus tells the story:
Aetatis mediae quendam mulier non rudisYou can see some other versions of this fable, along with illustrations, at the various aesopica.net webpages.
tenebat, annos celans elegantia,
animosque eiusdem pulchra iuvenis ceperat.
ambae, videri dum volunt illi pares,
capillos homini legere coepere invicem.
qui se putaret fingi cura mulierum,
calvus repente factus est; nam funditus
canos puella, nigros anus evellerat.
Once upon a time there was a woman, no spring chicken but concealing her years with elegance, who had taken a middle-aged man as her lover, and a beautiful young woman had caught the same man's fancy. Both women, because they wanted to seem equal to their man, in turn began to pluck out his hair. The man thought that he was being spruced up by the women's attentions, but he unexpectedly went bald: for the young woman had completely plucked his white hairs, and the old woman had plucked the dark ones.
So, hoping you are at peace with your gray hairs (however many of them there may be!), here is today's proverb read out loud:
249. Cani indicium sunt temporis, non sapientiae.
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.
March 07, 2007
Tempus est optimus iudex
In English: Time is the best judge.
I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, showing how proverbs can follow familiar patterns, allowing entirely different sayings to be generated from the same underlying model. Yesterday's saying was Fames optimus est coquus, "Hunger is the best cook." Today's saying obviously follows the same basic pattern: Tempus est optimus iudex, "Time is the best judge." You can make up all kinds of sayings based on the basic idea that "blank (is) the best blank." A fuller form of today's saying is Tempus est optimus iudex rerum omnium, "Time is the best judge of all things."
When I started to write this post tonight, I was going to say that the English equivalent to this sentence is "Time will tell" (one of my favorite English sayings), because I did not think that "Time is the best judge" had entered into widespread English usage. Yet when I Googled "Time is the best judge," a large number of pages showed up!
This proverb is a good example of the special effort it takes as an English-speaker to read through a Latin sentence using all the little Latin word-ending clues to help organize the sentence. As you start reading this sentence Tempus est looks pretty good, and then comes the word optimus. Even though both tempus and optimus end in -us, they come from totally different gender planets!
So as soon as you reach the word optimus you have to create a space in your head for a new noun phrase, a masculine noun phrase, nominative case. There is no way, no way at all, for tempus and optimus to be part of the same noun phrase. But that optimus looks kind of lonely. So far you've got only the adjective, so you could be dealing with "the best man" but you're probably waiting for a noun to go with the adjective. So, with that mental space ready to go, kind of hoping for a masculine noun, you move on to the next word: iudex - bingo! A masculine noun: just what you wanted!
A great example of my Latin reading philosophy, no matter what the Rolling Stones might say: you CAN always get what you want... when you read Latin!
So here is today's proverb read out loud:
185. Tempus est optimus iudex.
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 good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, showing how proverbs can follow familiar patterns, allowing entirely different sayings to be generated from the same underlying model. Yesterday's saying was Fames optimus est coquus, "Hunger is the best cook." Today's saying obviously follows the same basic pattern: Tempus est optimus iudex, "Time is the best judge." You can make up all kinds of sayings based on the basic idea that "blank (is) the best blank." A fuller form of today's saying is Tempus est optimus iudex rerum omnium, "Time is the best judge of all things."
When I started to write this post tonight, I was going to say that the English equivalent to this sentence is "Time will tell" (one of my favorite English sayings), because I did not think that "Time is the best judge" had entered into widespread English usage. Yet when I Googled "Time is the best judge," a large number of pages showed up!
This proverb is a good example of the special effort it takes as an English-speaker to read through a Latin sentence using all the little Latin word-ending clues to help organize the sentence. As you start reading this sentence Tempus est looks pretty good, and then comes the word optimus. Even though both tempus and optimus end in -us, they come from totally different gender planets!
So as soon as you reach the word optimus you have to create a space in your head for a new noun phrase, a masculine noun phrase, nominative case. There is no way, no way at all, for tempus and optimus to be part of the same noun phrase. But that optimus looks kind of lonely. So far you've got only the adjective, so you could be dealing with "the best man" but you're probably waiting for a noun to go with the adjective. So, with that mental space ready to go, kind of hoping for a masculine noun, you move on to the next word: iudex - bingo! A masculine noun: just what you wanted!
A great example of my Latin reading philosophy, no matter what the Rolling Stones might say: you CAN always get what you want... when you read Latin!
So here is today's proverb read out loud:
185. Tempus est optimus iudex.
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.
March 06, 2007
Fames optimus est coquus
In English: Hunger is the best cook.
I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about fames, "hunger," the teacher of all arts. As this proverb lets us know, one of the arts that hunger is especially able to teach is the art of cooking! A variant on this saying is esuriens stomachus fertur coquus optimus esse, "a hungry stomach is said to be the best cook."
A familiar English saying, of course, is "hunger is the best sauce," meaning that if you are hungry, anything you are served will taste good. I think I like the Latin saying about hunger being the best cook better than this one. The idea here is not that if you are hungry, you will eat whatever anyone gives you to eat; instead, the idea is that if you get hungry enough, you might just learn how to cook. As someone who is cooking-challenged, I need all the help I can get - including hunger! - to inspire me to tackle a task in the kitchen.
One of my nicest memories of a graduate school course in Latin was when one of the students decided to use the old Roman cookbook by Apicius to make us a treat to eat in class, a Roman libum, "cake," that was sweetened with honey. It was delicious, and so much fun! Together we read some of the recipes from the Apicius, and you can find the Latin text of this ancient Roman text, De re coquinaria, online at Bibliotheca Augustana. If you are interested in trying some recipes yourself, you might not want to trust entirely to your Latin translating abilities, as there are English translations available, and recipes that have been adapted to reflect more modern kitchen practices, as in this list of dishes adapted from Apicius.
So hoping you had a very nice breakfast, lunch or dinner (depending on what time of day you might be reading this post), here is today's proverb read out loud:
179. Fames optimus est coquus.
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 good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about fames, "hunger," the teacher of all arts. As this proverb lets us know, one of the arts that hunger is especially able to teach is the art of cooking! A variant on this saying is esuriens stomachus fertur coquus optimus esse, "a hungry stomach is said to be the best cook."
A familiar English saying, of course, is "hunger is the best sauce," meaning that if you are hungry, anything you are served will taste good. I think I like the Latin saying about hunger being the best cook better than this one. The idea here is not that if you are hungry, you will eat whatever anyone gives you to eat; instead, the idea is that if you get hungry enough, you might just learn how to cook. As someone who is cooking-challenged, I need all the help I can get - including hunger! - to inspire me to tackle a task in the kitchen.
One of my nicest memories of a graduate school course in Latin was when one of the students decided to use the old Roman cookbook by Apicius to make us a treat to eat in class, a Roman libum, "cake," that was sweetened with honey. It was delicious, and so much fun! Together we read some of the recipes from the Apicius, and you can find the Latin text of this ancient Roman text, De re coquinaria, online at Bibliotheca Augustana. If you are interested in trying some recipes yourself, you might not want to trust entirely to your Latin translating abilities, as there are English translations available, and recipes that have been adapted to reflect more modern kitchen practices, as in this list of dishes adapted from Apicius.
So hoping you had a very nice breakfast, lunch or dinner (depending on what time of day you might be reading this post), here is today's proverb read out loud:
179. Fames optimus est coquus.
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.
March 05, 2007
Fames artium magistra
In English: Hunger is the teacher of skills.
I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about necessitas. The key term in today's proverb is much more concrete that "necessity." This time we are talking about something very specific and very pointed: fames, "hunger." Like necessitas, the word fames is a feminine noun, which is how hunger gets to be a "school-mistress," magistra.
How does hunger get to be a teacher of skills? It happens when you absolutely must get something to eat, to feed yourself, or to feed your family. So if you are stuck out in the woods, you might quickly learn to tell edible berries from inedible ones, or how to hunt or how to fish. If you are suddenly out of work without money to buy your next meal, you might gain new skills in washing dishes or panhandling or whatever it takes to put some food on the table.
It's worth saying something about the Latin word fames, "hunger," a third-declension noun that is so easy to confuse with the first-declension noun fama, "fame, rumor, reputation." We get the English word "famine" from Latin fames, while we owe the words "fame" and "famous" to Latin fama.
The second part of this saying, artium magistra, also deserves some comment. This is the same phrase which is usually abbreviated M.A. in English, standing for "Master of Arts," magister artium. Of course, if you're a woman, then you technically are a magistra artium, a mistress - not a master - of the arts.
So, hoping you are not being taught by hunger tonight, here is today's proverb read out loud:
266. Fames artium magistra.
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 good follow-up to yesterday's proverb about necessitas. The key term in today's proverb is much more concrete that "necessity." This time we are talking about something very specific and very pointed: fames, "hunger." Like necessitas, the word fames is a feminine noun, which is how hunger gets to be a "school-mistress," magistra.
How does hunger get to be a teacher of skills? It happens when you absolutely must get something to eat, to feed yourself, or to feed your family. So if you are stuck out in the woods, you might quickly learn to tell edible berries from inedible ones, or how to hunt or how to fish. If you are suddenly out of work without money to buy your next meal, you might gain new skills in washing dishes or panhandling or whatever it takes to put some food on the table.
It's worth saying something about the Latin word fames, "hunger," a third-declension noun that is so easy to confuse with the first-declension noun fama, "fame, rumor, reputation." We get the English word "famine" from Latin fames, while we owe the words "fame" and "famous" to Latin fama.
The second part of this saying, artium magistra, also deserves some comment. This is the same phrase which is usually abbreviated M.A. in English, standing for "Master of Arts," magister artium. Of course, if you're a woman, then you technically are a magistra artium, a mistress - not a master - of the arts.
So, hoping you are not being taught by hunger tonight, here is today's proverb read out loud:
266. Fames artium magistra.
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.
March 04, 2007
Necessitas artis magistra
In English: Necessity is the teacher of skill.
Continuing the series of proverbs about magistri and magistrae that I've posted over the past few days, I thought I would offer this saying about necessitas, "necessity." Unlike the other proverbs, which we might call philosophical or academic, this proverb is about the everyday demands of the world: if you have to learn something out of necessity, you will indeed learn it... or else! Because you have to learn the skill, you will learn it. This is not about the cultivation of learning for the sake of knowledge and understanding; it is a matter of necessity, a matter of life and death.
Given that the Latin word necessitas is feminine, she is a female teacher, a school-mistress, a magistra. You can even see the feminine gender carried on in the most famous English version of this saying: "Necessity is the mother of invention." Compare the similar Latin saying: Mater artium necessitas, "Necessity is the mother of skills."
This proverb shows the danger of simply translating the Latin word ars as "art." Although we still refer in English to the "art of cooking," for example, the word "art" by itself first suggests the fine arts, such as painting, sculpture, etc. So if you were to say "necessity is the mother of art," it would sound like necessity is the mother of painting! Instead, the meaning of the Latin saying is much more practical: if you are starving, you will learn the art of cooking; if you are ill, you will learn the physician's art; if you have to climb a mountain, you will learn the art of the mountaineer; if you have to cross an ocean, you will learn the sailor's art, and so on.
Thus, in addition to the saying "necessity is the mother of invention," we might also compare today's Latin proverb to the English saying "sink or swim." If you are thrown in the water, necessity will compel you to learn the swimmer's art!
Alas, there is no real necessity that will ever compel you to learn to read Latin out loud, but perhaps you will do it from pleasure, if not from necessity. So, in that hope, here is today's proverb read out loud:
265. Necessitas artis magistra.
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. You can hear a variant form of this saying, artis sola domina necessitas, read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).
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.
Continuing the series of proverbs about magistri and magistrae that I've posted over the past few days, I thought I would offer this saying about necessitas, "necessity." Unlike the other proverbs, which we might call philosophical or academic, this proverb is about the everyday demands of the world: if you have to learn something out of necessity, you will indeed learn it... or else! Because you have to learn the skill, you will learn it. This is not about the cultivation of learning for the sake of knowledge and understanding; it is a matter of necessity, a matter of life and death.
Given that the Latin word necessitas is feminine, she is a female teacher, a school-mistress, a magistra. You can even see the feminine gender carried on in the most famous English version of this saying: "Necessity is the mother of invention." Compare the similar Latin saying: Mater artium necessitas, "Necessity is the mother of skills."
This proverb shows the danger of simply translating the Latin word ars as "art." Although we still refer in English to the "art of cooking," for example, the word "art" by itself first suggests the fine arts, such as painting, sculpture, etc. So if you were to say "necessity is the mother of art," it would sound like necessity is the mother of painting! Instead, the meaning of the Latin saying is much more practical: if you are starving, you will learn the art of cooking; if you are ill, you will learn the physician's art; if you have to climb a mountain, you will learn the art of the mountaineer; if you have to cross an ocean, you will learn the sailor's art, and so on.
Thus, in addition to the saying "necessity is the mother of invention," we might also compare today's Latin proverb to the English saying "sink or swim." If you are thrown in the water, necessity will compel you to learn the swimmer's art!
Alas, there is no real necessity that will ever compel you to learn to read Latin out loud, but perhaps you will do it from pleasure, if not from necessity. So, in that hope, here is today's proverb read out loud:
265. Necessitas artis magistra.
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. You can hear a variant form of this saying, artis sola domina necessitas, read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).
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.
March 03, 2007
Tempus est vitae magister
In English: Time is the teacher of life.
I've been doing a series of proverbs over the past few days about the various magistri and magistrae of life, so I thought this would be a good proverb to include. You can also find a variant form of this saying, Tempus est optimus magister vitae, "Time is life's best teacher."
This time we are dealing with a neuter noun tempus, so it gets to be a magister, masculine, teacher of life. In a comment to a previous post at this blog, someone had asked me what gender choice is made between a male role and a female role when dealing with a neuter noun. As you can see from this saying, the neuter nouns get to play a masculine role, which makes sense. The noun and adjective declensions make it very clear that there is a strong relationship between masculine and neuter nouns, while feminine nouns are in a world of their own.
It's also worth saying something about the Latin word magister here. This is the word which actually gives us the English word "master" (and "mister," too!) via Middle French "maistre," which gives us the modern French "maître" as in "maître di." In Italian, it gives us "maestro."
As you can see from the Latin word, it seems to be from magis meaning "greater." So the magister is the "big guy" or "the greater guy." There's a parallel form with minister, from the root meaning "lesser." In other words, the magister is the big guy, and the minister is the little guy.
So here is today's proverb about time, the "big guy," read out loud:
264. Tempus est vitae magister.
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've been doing a series of proverbs over the past few days about the various magistri and magistrae of life, so I thought this would be a good proverb to include. You can also find a variant form of this saying, Tempus est optimus magister vitae, "Time is life's best teacher."
This time we are dealing with a neuter noun tempus, so it gets to be a magister, masculine, teacher of life. In a comment to a previous post at this blog, someone had asked me what gender choice is made between a male role and a female role when dealing with a neuter noun. As you can see from this saying, the neuter nouns get to play a masculine role, which makes sense. The noun and adjective declensions make it very clear that there is a strong relationship between masculine and neuter nouns, while feminine nouns are in a world of their own.
It's also worth saying something about the Latin word magister here. This is the word which actually gives us the English word "master" (and "mister," too!) via Middle French "maistre," which gives us the modern French "maître" as in "maître di." In Italian, it gives us "maestro."
As you can see from the Latin word, it seems to be from magis meaning "greater." So the magister is the "big guy" or "the greater guy." There's a parallel form with minister, from the root meaning "lesser." In other words, the magister is the big guy, and the minister is the little guy.
So here is today's proverb about time, the "big guy," read out loud:
264. Tempus est vitae magister.
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.
March 02, 2007
Philosophia vitae magistra
In English: Philosophy is the teacher of life.
I thought this would be a good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, historia magistra vitae. This particular saying can be found in Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, and you can find similar sentiments elsewhere in Cicero. In another passage in the Tusculan Disputations, he exclaims, 0 vitae philosophia dux, o virtutis indagatrix expultrixque vitiorum!, "Philosophy, O leader of life, O seeker-out of excellence and driver-out of vices!" In the De Finibus, he writes that ars est enim philosophia vitae, "philosophy is the art of life."
Cicero is, of course, a very well-known figure from the ancient world. He is a hero to many, and his skills as an orator and politician are widely known and admired. Yet Cicero is probably not a name that springs to mind when people think about ancient philosophy. Still, as you can see from these quotes, Cicero's admiration for philosophy was profound and he is the author of an extensive number of philosophical treatises, all of which you can find at The Latin Library online. Some of the titles include De Fato (On Fate), Paradoxa Stoicorum (The Paradoxes of the Stoics), De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods), De Divinatione (On Divination), among many others. For a general overview of Cicero the philosopher, you can check out the extensive article in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
I will confess to not being of an especially philosophical bent, but my own special favorite among Cicero's philosophical treatises is his book on divination. This treatise is organized in two parts. In the first part, the argument in defense of the power of divination is put into the mouth of Cicero's brother, Quintus. Then, in the second part, Cicero speaks, and presents the case against divination. Thanks to the power of Google Books (what an astounding resource!), you can read an English translation online; the treatise on divination starts on p. 141.
Meanwhile, in honor of Cicero the philosopher, here is today's proverb read out loud:
32. Philosophia vitae magistra.
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 good follow-up to yesterday's proverb, historia magistra vitae. This particular saying can be found in Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, and you can find similar sentiments elsewhere in Cicero. In another passage in the Tusculan Disputations, he exclaims, 0 vitae philosophia dux, o virtutis indagatrix expultrixque vitiorum!, "Philosophy, O leader of life, O seeker-out of excellence and driver-out of vices!" In the De Finibus, he writes that ars est enim philosophia vitae, "philosophy is the art of life."
Cicero is, of course, a very well-known figure from the ancient world. He is a hero to many, and his skills as an orator and politician are widely known and admired. Yet Cicero is probably not a name that springs to mind when people think about ancient philosophy. Still, as you can see from these quotes, Cicero's admiration for philosophy was profound and he is the author of an extensive number of philosophical treatises, all of which you can find at The Latin Library online. Some of the titles include De Fato (On Fate), Paradoxa Stoicorum (The Paradoxes of the Stoics), De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods), De Divinatione (On Divination), among many others. For a general overview of Cicero the philosopher, you can check out the extensive article in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
I will confess to not being of an especially philosophical bent, but my own special favorite among Cicero's philosophical treatises is his book on divination. This treatise is organized in two parts. In the first part, the argument in defense of the power of divination is put into the mouth of Cicero's brother, Quintus. Then, in the second part, Cicero speaks, and presents the case against divination. Thanks to the power of Google Books (what an astounding resource!), you can read an English translation online; the treatise on divination starts on p. 141.
Meanwhile, in honor of Cicero the philosopher, here is today's proverb read out loud:
32. Philosophia vitae magistra.
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.
March 01, 2007
Historia magistra vitae
In English: History is the teacher of life.
In the past few days I've posted some proverbs about how people who cannot reason their way through a problem are doomed to learn from their mistakes. This proverb takes a longer view, and tells us that there is much we can learn from the past - from that long view of the past which history, historia, can offer us.
The saying itself is adapted from a passage in Cicero's De Oratore: Historia vero testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae, nuntia vetustatis, qua voce alia nisi oratoris immortalitati commendatur?, "History indeed is the evidence of the times, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, messenger of antiquity: with what voice, unless the voice of the orator, can it be passed on into deathlessness?"
Of course, for all that people remain fans of history even now, two thousand years after Cicero, the role of the orator has all but disappeared. He clearly thought that it was the orators who would keep the tales of history alive, rather than, say, the writers of history books. In fact, a great deal of both ancient Greek and ancient Roman history consists in re-creations of the speeches of the great orators of those times.
Orators, alas, we do not have today. At the same time, we learn about history from many places other than history books, strictly speaking. I'll confess to preferring historical fiction in the form of novels and films over pretty much any kind of academic history book. For me, the vox, the "voice," of history rings out loud and clear in a historical film, while I often find it hard going to make my way through impersonal historical writing which sometimes aspires to speak with no voice at all.
So, with happy thoughts of I, Claudius, here is today's proverb read out loud:
31. Historia magistra vitae.
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. You can also hear this saying read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).
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.
In the past few days I've posted some proverbs about how people who cannot reason their way through a problem are doomed to learn from their mistakes. This proverb takes a longer view, and tells us that there is much we can learn from the past - from that long view of the past which history, historia, can offer us.
The saying itself is adapted from a passage in Cicero's De Oratore: Historia vero testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae, nuntia vetustatis, qua voce alia nisi oratoris immortalitati commendatur?, "History indeed is the evidence of the times, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, messenger of antiquity: with what voice, unless the voice of the orator, can it be passed on into deathlessness?"
Of course, for all that people remain fans of history even now, two thousand years after Cicero, the role of the orator has all but disappeared. He clearly thought that it was the orators who would keep the tales of history alive, rather than, say, the writers of history books. In fact, a great deal of both ancient Greek and ancient Roman history consists in re-creations of the speeches of the great orators of those times.
Orators, alas, we do not have today. At the same time, we learn about history from many places other than history books, strictly speaking. I'll confess to preferring historical fiction in the form of novels and films over pretty much any kind of academic history book. For me, the vox, the "voice," of history rings out loud and clear in a historical film, while I often find it hard going to make my way through impersonal historical writing which sometimes aspires to speak with no voice at all.
So, with happy thoughts of I, Claudius, here is today's proverb read out loud:
31. Historia magistra vitae.
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. You can also hear this saying read aloud at a Polish website: Wladyslawa Kopalinskiego Slownik wyraz?w obcych i zwrot?w obcojezycznych (weblink).
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)