Round-Up: May 7

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.

HODIE: Nonae Maiae, the Nones of May. You can add a Roman calendar as a widget in your blog or webpage, or display it as a Google Calendar: here's how.

MORE FABLES: Here are today's fables from the Ictibus Felicibus project. These fables ALL have long marks, plus stress marks for easy reading, and the poems have meter marks, too, along with an easy-to-read prose presentation of the story:

• Leo et Pastor, a medieval Latin version of "Androcles" and the lion.
• Haedus et Lupus, the story of a kid made bold by being up on the roof.
• Calvus et Hortulanus, a weird story about a bald man who wanted his neighbor's melons.
• Rusticus et Silva, the story of trees who were the own worst enemy.
• Cancer et Filius, the story of a hypocritical crab.

I've picked out my favorite one, Calvus et Hortulanus, to share with you here in the blog - the moral of the story is "be generous" ... but it sure is an odd way to illustrate the principle of generosity - and note the allusion to II Kings, "ascende, calve; ascende, calve" (and of course that story about the prophet Elisha is full of weird violence, too!).

Calvus petiit ā vīcīnō Hortulānō, ut daret sibi dē mēlōnibus. Ille dērīdēns dixit: Vāde, Calve, vāde, Calve; vel nōlō meōs dare mēlōnēs, quia tū rusticus es. Hieme et aestāte semper habeat mala tua calvāria: muscae et tabānī super frontem tuam, quī comedant et bibant sanguinem dē ipsō capite calvō, et posteā stercorizent. Calvus īrātus, ēvāgīnāns gladium, apprehendit capillōs eius, ut interficeret. Hortulānus, accipiēns ūnum mēlōnem, percussit Calvum in fronte. Calvus praevalēns amputāvit caput eius. Quī nec petentibus bona tribuunt, neque bonīs sermōnibus vel respōnsis tribuunt.

TODAY'S MOTTOES & PROVERBS: You can get access to ALL the "proverb of the day scripts" (also available as random proverb scripts) at the SchoolhouseWidgets.com website.

Tiny Mottoes: Today's tiny motto is: Nulli praeda (English: A prey to no one - a good motto, and a good way to remember the dative of nullus, too).

3-Word Proverbs Verb-less: Today's 3-word verb-less proverb is Tempus optima medicina (English: Time is the best medicine)

Audio Latin Proverb: Today's audio Latin proverb is Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses (English: If you had remained silent, you would have remained a philosopher). To read a brief essay about this proverb and to listen to the audio, visit the Latin Via Proverbs blog.

Maxims of Publilius Syrus: Today's proverb from Publilius Syrus is: Necessitas dat legem, non ipsa accipit (English: Necessity imposes the law; she does not obey it).

Animal Proverb from Erasmus: Today's animal proverb from Erasmus is E squilla non nascitur rosa (English: A rose is not born from a shrimp; from Adagia 2.3.93 - something like our saying that "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear").

For an image today, here's an illustration for the fable of the trees and the farmer's axe, Rusticus et Silva, by the great artist and book illustrator Walter Crane: