Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)

Emblem 13

A couple at an open window points at a young man covering a lantern with his hat; an old man with a younger woman in the background

A couple at an open window points at a young man covering a lantern with his hat; an old man with a younger woman in the background
Engraving · click to enlarge

Feu toux amour & argent Ne se chachent longuementFrench

Fire, cough, love and money cannot be hidden for long.AI-generated

Description of the imageAI-generated

A night street scene set within a large oval frame with decorative spandrels. In the centre a young man in doublet, wide breeches and boots strides forward carrying a lantern or candle-holder in his right hand while trying to shield its flame with his cloak, which he holds up with his left hand; light streams out of the lantern and lights his face. Behind him is a street of gabled houses with a church tower in the distance. At the upper left two figures lean out of an open window, one an older woman pointing at him, the other a man in a broad hat; at the lower right, through a shuttered window or doorway, a seated young woman and a bearded old man are visible in a lit interior. Below the oval a scroll-shaped banderole carries the French motto.

Subscriptio

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TranscriptionAI-generated

ICK woude dese keers wel soo behendigh dragen Dat ons gebueren noyt haer flicker-licht en sagen, Want mochte dat geschien, so gingh ick daer ick wou, En daer kon niemant zijn die my beloeren sou: Maer wat ick immer doe, men siet de klare stralen Men siet den hellen glans door al de buerte dwalen; Hoe ick het vyer bewaer, hoe naeu dat ick het sluyt Het wilder evenwel, het wilder efter uyt. Mijn buer-man is bedaegt, mijn buerman heeft gebreken Die voor het meeste deel in oude lieden steken, Voor al quelt hem de kuch; maer desen onverlet Soo wil de goede man voor al geen eensaem bedt: Hy mint een frissche maeght, en besigh in het vryen So doet hy grooten weer om desen hoest te myen; Maer t'wijl hy sit en stoft, en maecket al te bont Soo komt de loose kuch hem bersten uyt den mont; Dies lacht het geestigh dier, en seyt, als in het jocken, Dat is geen fluytje, vrient, om vrijsters met te locken, Ey lieve! blijft gerust, en houdt u bedde vry Of immer kiester een, die kucht gelijck als ghy. Een quant die hier en daer voor bode wert gesonden, Had laetstmael op den wegh een volle beurs gevonden, Die gaf hy aen sijn wijf, en seyde; Lieve Trijn, Siet hier een rijcke buyt, maer 'tmoet geswegen sijn. 'Ken hoeve nu voortaen niet, als ick plagh, te wercken; Maer niemant, wie het zy, en moettet immer mercken; Houdt daerom, houdt gestaeg het geckjen in de mou, Trijn swoer het met een eedt, dat sy het helen sou. Ten leet als geenen tijt het wijf begon te koopen, De man en wou niet meer als boode blijven loopen, De dochter kreeg een huyck, een siel, een beste keurs, Ist niet een wonder ding! het gelt wil uyte beurs: Daer isset al bekaeyt, de man die wort gevangen, Die melt daer sijn bedrogh en al de slimme gangen, Daer wort de blijde Trijn een gans bedruckte vrou, En al om dat het gelt niet stille liggen wou.

TranslationAI-generated

I would gladly carry this candle so cleverly that our neighbours would never see its flickering light, for if that could happen I would go wherever I wished, and no one could spy on me: but whatever I do, people see the bright beams, people see the clear glow straying through the whole neighbourhood; however I guard the fire, however closely I shut it in, it still will out, it will out all the same. My neighbour is on in years, my neighbour has the ailments that for the most part lodge in old people; above all the cough troubles him; but notwithstanding this the good man above all wants no lonely bed: he loves a fresh young maid, and busy in his wooing he resists mightily to avoid this cough; but while he sits and boasts and carries it too far, the sly cough comes bursting out of his mouth; at which the witty creature laughs and says, as if in jest: that is no little flute, friend, with which to lure sweethearts; ah please! stay quiet and keep your bed free, or else choose one who coughs just like you. A rogue who was sent here and there as a messenger had lately found a full purse on the road; he gave it to his wife and said: dear Trijn, see here a rich booty, but it must be kept silent. I need not work any more from now on as I used to; but nobody, whoever it be, must ever notice it; therefore keep, keep constantly the little joke up your sleeve. Trijn swore with an oath that she would conceal it. It was no time at all before the wife began to go shopping; the man would no longer keep running as a messenger; the daughter got a hooded cloak, a veil, a best gown — is it not a wonderful thing! the money will out of the purse. There it is all spoiled, the man is arrested, he reveals his fraud there and all the crooked dealings; there the merry Trijn becomes a wholly dejected woman, and all because the money would not lie still.

CommentaryAI-generated

13 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)

De Ionghman die de keerse draegt spreeckt

The young man who carries the candle speaks (marginal note).

Gli denari sono spiriti folletti.

Money is like goblin spirits.

Daer de schat is is het hert, En de hant is by de smert, En het ooge swiert altijt Daer een jeughdich herte vrijt.

Where the treasure is, there is the heart, and the hand is at the place of the pain, and the eye always roves to where a youthful heart is courting.

Quod licet, & possum, conor celare furorem; Attamen apparet dissimulatus amor.

So far as is allowed and as I can, I try to hide my passion; yet dissembled love shows itself all the same.

Nec latet haustus amor, sed fax vibrata medullis In vultus atque ora redit.

Nor does the love that has been drunk in lie hidden, but the torch brandished in the marrow returns into the face and features.

Sed male dissimulo, quis enim celaverit ignem? Lumine nam semper proditur ipse suo.

But I dissemble badly, for who could hide a fire? For it is always betrayed by its own light.

Ni se saben lucubrir amor, riqueza y regalo. .i.

Nor can love, riches and pleasure be concealed.

L'amour la richesse & les delices ne se peuvent cacher.

Love, riches and delights cannot be hidden.

Amor fuogo è tosse Presto si cognosse.

Love, fire and a cough are soon recognized.

Quoque magis tegitur tanto magis æstuat ignis.

And the more the fire is covered, the more it burns.

Amor è tosse è rogna celar non ti besogna.

Love, a cough and the itch — you need not try to hide them.

Amores dolores y dineros Non pueden estar secredos.

Loves, pains and money cannot remain secret.

Quis enim bene celet amorem? Eminet indicio prodita flamma suo.

For who could well conceal love? The flame stands out, betrayed by its own token.

Iconclass

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Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.

Sources

Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem013
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem013
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288