Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Round-Up: December 28

Here is a round-up of today's blog posts - and for previous posts, check out the Bestiaria Latina Blog archives. You can keep up with the latest posts by using the RSS feed, or you might prefer to subscribe by email. I'm Twittering again now at Aesopus and AesopusEnglish.

HODIE: ante diem quintum Kalendas Ianuarias (and yes, you can have your own Roman Google Calendar).

HOLIDAY SONGS: The Latin holiday songs for today are: Somnio Candidum Diem, a Latin version of "White Christmas," along withDormi Jesuand also Prope accedamus, a Latin version of the Polish carol, "PrzystÄ…pmy do szopy."

VERBUM HODIERNUM: Today's word is CIVITAS - read a brief essay about the word at the Verbosum blog. Here's one of the sayings you can find in the essay: Omnis civitas vel domus divisa contra se, non stabit, "Every community or house divided against itself will not stand."

FABULAE FACILES: The new easy-to-read fable is Simia et Catuli Eius, the story of the animals' baby beauty contest.

BESTIARIA PROVERBS: There are some new animal proverbs today for HIRCUS, the goat, and PICA, the magpie.

MILLE FABULAE: FABLE OF THE DAY: The fable for today is Castor et Venator, the story of the beaver's desperate act of self-preservation. (You can also a free PDF copy of the Mille Fabulae et Una book - and there's an English fable of the day, too.)

GOOGLE BOOKS: Today's Google Books are Polydore Vergil's Adagia and Abstemius's fables (both hecatomythia).

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: Widgets available at SchoolhouseWidgets.com.

3-Word Mottoes: Today's 3-word motto is Nemo sibi nascitur (English: No one is born for himself alone).

3-Word Proverbs: Today's 3-word proverb is Fama crescit eundo (English: Rumor grows as it goes along - especially as it goes viral on the Internet!).

Rhyming Proverbs: Today's proverb with rhyme is: Sero seram ponis stabulis post furta latronis (English: You're late putting the lock on the stable door after the robber's theft).

Vulgate Verse: Today's verse is Alter alterius onera portate (Gal. 6:2). For a translation, check out the polyglot Bible, in English, Hebrew, Latin and Greek, at the Sacred Texts Archive online.

Elizabethan Proverb Commentary: Here is today's proverb commentary, this time by Conybeare: Ad Calendas Graecas: A proverbe signifiend never, bicause the Greekes had no kalendes.

Today's Poem: Today's poem is from the rhyming verses collected by Wegeler, with a word list at NoDictionaries.com:
Omnia sunt mundi, quasi bulla caduca, rotundi:
In pratis ut flos, sic cadit omnis honos.
English: "All the things of this round world are like a falling bubble; like the flower in the meadows, thus falls away all public esteem." So, while the principle of "publish or perish" rules the academic world, the ultimate rule of "perish" trumps everything... which makes the ephemeral nature of blogging seem more honest, yes? :-)

For an image today, here is the beauty contest of the animal babies, 107. Simia et Catuli Eius. Animalia olim contendebant quis pulcherrimos haberet liberos. Aderant omnia; simia quoque catulos suos brachio gestat. Hac veniente, nullum animalium potuit a risu temperare. Continuo simia exclamat, “Immo nostis catulos meos esse aliis longe pulchriores.” (source - easy version):

Simia et Iuppiter - Osius