Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)

Emblem 21

Young cats hunting mice and young monkeys looking for fleas in the hair of a boy who has his hand in his trousers, are observed by two men

Young cats hunting mice and young monkeys looking for fleas in the hair of a boy who has his hand in his trousers, are observed by two men
Engraving · click to enlarge

Chi di gatta nasce, sorci pigliaItalian

He who is born of a cat catches mice.AI-generated

Description of the imageAI-generated

A round medallion-shaped engraving set in a square frame with hatched corner spandrels. Inside, a walled courtyard or backyard: at the left an open window in which an old bearded man in a cap and a young man in a ruff lean out, the old man pointing downward with his finger. In the yard on the right a boy sits leaning against a large wooden barrel while three monkeys, one of them on a chain fastened to the wall, pick through his hair as if delousing him; one monkey crouches on the barrel-rim, another sits on the ground. Behind rises a high brick wall topped with a potted shrub and roofs and a house with chimney beyond, with birds in the sky. To the right a ledge or shelf bears jugs and bowls, and a broom or pole leans against the wall. In the foreground at the lower left a large cat wearing a collar and a ruff peers out of a round hole in the wall, and on the pavement several cats and kittens creep towards a mouse. At the bottom an unrolled cartouche bears the inscription 'Chi di gatta Nasce, sorci Piglia.'

Subscriptio

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TranscriptionAI-generated

AL wat van katten spruyt dat is geneygt te muysen; Al wat van apen komt dat is gesint te luysen; De jongen van den uyl of van den vleder-muys Zijn 'snachts meest op de loop en 'savonts selde thuys; De jongen van den vos die willen hoenders vangen, De jongen van den wolf die gaen haer moeders gangen, Al wat van seugen koomt dat wentelt in het slijck, En wat een exter broet dat huppelt op den dijck; Wat eyster yemant meer? siet alderhande jongen Die pijpen even soo gelijck de moeders songen: Tis seker, dat de tijdt den ingeboren aert Oock inde menschen selfs ten lesten openbaert. Wel hier op dient gelet, voor die een vrouwe soecken, Want 'tis een vaste leer, sy komt uyt wijse boecken; 'tMach zijn, dat ons het bloet in eenigh deel bedriegt, Maer selden dat in als het eerste wesen liegt.

TranslationAI-generated

All that springs from cats is inclined to mouse; all that comes from apes is minded to delouse; the young of the owl or of the bat are mostly on the run by night and seldom at home in the evening; the young of the fox will catch hens; the young of the wolf go their mother's ways; all that comes from sows wallows in the mud; and whatever a magpie hatches hops upon the dyke. What more does anyone want? See, all kinds of young pipe exactly as their mothers sang. It is certain that time at last reveals the inborn nature even in human beings themselves. Well, let this be noted by those who are seeking a wife, for it is a firm doctrine, it comes out of wise books: it may be that the blood deceives us in some part, but seldom does the original nature lie in everything.

CommentaryAI-generated

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

Lat. Quî fieri, si sunt vires in semine amorum, Et Iovis & Ledæ filia casta potest? Ital. Il cerchio non fa la taverna. l'Habito non fa il monacho. Vna pecora con la lana d'oro. Franç. Il souvient tousiours robyn de ses flustes. Ital. Non è possible cavar la ranocchia del pantano. Franç. Il y a beaucoup de chapperons de velours mais peu de damoiselles. Les habits reluisent en court mais non pas les gentil-hommes. Spaens. Seda y raso non dan estado. Nederd. Een aep is een aep al droegse een gouden huyf. Lat. Simia est simia, licet aurea gestet insignia. Nederl. Ten sijn al geen kocks die lange messen dragen. De kap en maeckt den munnick niet. Lat. Hauræus Arce virt. Simia sit galeata licet vel acinace cincta, Simia semper erit. Ital. Aranna quien te aranno? otra aranna comme yjo. .i. Aragneé qui t'a faite? un autre araigneé comme moy. Franç. La fille de la putaine oste sa mere de doubte. Le bon sang ne peut mentir. Nederd. Wat hoornen heeft wil steken. Franç. N'achetes point l'asne d'un muletier Ny te marie avec la fille du tavernier. Franç. Qui est fille de gelinette, Elle ne peut qu'elle ne gratte. Nederd. 'Twil al muysen wat van katten koomt. Al wat reutjen hiet wil aen de wandt pissen. Engels. Blacke wille take not other colour. Proverb. Hebraic. Ezec. 16. Quelle est la mere, telle est la fille. Proverb. Arab. Erp. Ne compara à cane malo catulum. Spaens. De buena vid planta la viña Y de buena madre la hija. Franç. De bonne valleé la vigne, De bonne mere la fille. Apendix ad Eras. ubi Græc. E viperâ rursum vipera. Blaeuwe duyven krijghen blaeuwe jongen. Hoogd. Der haß will alle zeit wider da er geworffen ist. Engels. He that marries a wife out a Inne, or Alehouse, buyes a horse a smith field, and hires a servant in Paules; sal have a Iade to his horse, a knave for his man, an arrant honest woman to his wife. Nederd. Natuyr is ons naeste gebuyr. Natuyr treckt meer dan seven peerden. Katte kindren muysen geern. 'tAppelken smaeckt ghemeenlijck bomigh. d'Exter kan haer hippelen niet laten. Sendt een kat in Enghelandt sy seydt maeuw alsse weder komt. Nederd. Lam lam is des wolfs vesper klock. Natuyr gaet voor de leer. Iuvenal. Sat. 6. Scilicet exspectas ut tradat mater honestos Atque alios mores quam quos habet? Spaens. De casta le viene al galgo de tener el rabo largo. .i. De race vient au levrier d'avoir la queve longue. Nederd. Dat de wint-hondt een langhen steert heeft komt hem van sijn geslachte. Spaens. Per mucho que desmienta cada qual Siempre buelve al natural. Franç. Pour beaucoup qu'un chacun se desmente tousiours il revient à son naturel. Spaens. Salto la cabra en la viña Tambien saltara ha hija. Franç. La chevre est sautée en la vigne, Aussi y sautera la fille. Nederd. Set een kikvors op een stoel Sy wil weder nae den poel. Spaens. Xabonar cabeça de asno, perdimiento de xabon. .i. Savonner la teste d'un asne c'est perdre le savon. Hoogd. Die kitzlin haissen all / wie ihr mutter geiß. Nederd. Soo voor / soo nae. Soo de sucht / soo de brucht. Quaet voetsel quaet broetsel. Quaet ey quaet kieken. Soo voor gepepen / soo nae ghedanst. Hoogd. Wie der vogel / soo das eye. Böß-vogel / boß-eye. Ein eul heckt kein blauw fuß. Ein eul heckt kein falcken. Griecx. Κακοῦ κόρακος, κακὸν ᾠόν. Lat. Mali corvi malum ovum. Ital. Becco fa becco. Theog. E squilla non nascitur rosa. Ital. Chi de Gallina nasce, convien che rupsa ò che razzoli. Hoogd. Katzen kinder lernen wol mausen. Franç. De noble estocq, riche plantage. Turcks. Ie misch agatsdan irak dushmas. .i. Hoogd. Der apffel fellt nicht weit vom baum. Iuvenal. Sat. 4. Si damnosa senem juvat alea, ludit & hæres Bullatus, parvoque eadem movet arma fritillo, &c. Sic natura jubet.

Latin: How can it be, if the seed of love has such power, that the daughter of Jupiter and Leda should be chaste? Italian: The hoop does not make the tavern. The habit does not make the monk. A sheep with golden wool. French: Robin always remembers his flutes. Italian: It is not possible to get the frog out of the marsh. French: There are many velvet hoods but few real ladies. Clothes shine at court, but not the gentlemen. Spanish: Silk and satin do not confer rank. Dutch: An ape is an ape though she wore a golden coif. Latin: An ape is an ape, though it wear golden insignia. Dutch: Not all are cooks who carry long knives. The cowl does not make the monk. Latin (Hauraeus, Arx virtutis): Let the ape be helmeted or girt with a scimitar, it will always be an ape. Spanish: Spider, who spun you? another spider like me. French: Spider, who made you? another spider like me. French: The whore's daughter removes doubt about her mother. Good blood cannot lie. Dutch: What has horns wants to butt. French: Do not buy a muleteer's ass, nor marry a tavern-keeper's daughter. French: She who is a hen's daughter cannot help scratching. Dutch: Everything that comes from cats will mouse. Everything called a little dog wants to piss against the wall. English: Black wool will take no other colour. Hebrew proverb, Ezekiel 16: As the mother is, so is the daughter. Arabic proverb (Erpenius): Do not compare the pup to a bad dog. Spanish: Plant the vineyard from a good vine, and the daughter from a good mother. French: The vine from a good valley, the daughter from a good mother. Appendix to Erasmus, where Greek: From a viper again a viper. Dutch: Blue doves get blue young. German: The hare always wants to go back where it was littered. English: He that marries a wife out of an inn or alehouse, buys a horse at Smithfield and hires a servant in Paul's, shall have a jade for his horse, a knave for his man, and an arrant honest woman for his wife. Dutch: Nature is our nearest neighbour. Nature pulls harder than seven horses. Cat's children like to mouse. The little apple commonly tastes of the tree. The magpie cannot leave off hopping. Send a cat to England, she says meow when she comes back. Dutch: 'Lamb, lamb' is the wolf's vesper-bell. Nature goes before teaching. Juvenal, Satire 6: Do you really expect that a mother will hand down decent morals, and other ones than those she has? Spanish: It comes to the greyhound from his breed to have a long tail. French: It comes from the greyhound's race to have a long tail. Dutch: That the greyhound has a long tail comes to him from his lineage. Spanish: However much each may deny it, he always returns to his nature. French: However much everyone denies himself, he always returns to his nature. Spanish: The goat leaped into the vineyard, her daughter will leap there too. French: The goat has leaped into the vineyard, the daughter will leap there too. Dutch: Set a frog on a stool, it will go back to the pool. Spanish: To soap an ass's head is a waste of soap. French: To soap an ass's head is to lose the soap. German: The kids all bleat like their mother goat. Dutch: As before, so after. As the sowing, so the fruit. Bad feed, bad brood. Bad egg, bad chick. As piped beforehand, so danced afterwards. German: As the bird, so the egg. Bad bird, bad egg. An owl hatches no bluefoot (falcon). An owl hatches no falcon. Greek: Of a bad crow, a bad egg. Latin: Of a bad crow a bad egg. Italian: A goat begets a goat. Theognis: A rose does not grow from a squill. Italian: He who is born of a hen must scrape or scratch. German: Cats' children learn well to mouse. French: From a noble stock, rich planting. Turkish: The fruit does not fall far from the tree. German: The apple does not fall far from the tree. Juvenal, Satire 4 [14]: If the ruinous dice delight the old man, his bullaed heir plays too, and shakes the same weapons in his little dice-box, etc. So nature ordains.

He that marries a wife out a Inne / or Alehouse buyes a horse a smith field / and hires a servant in Paules; sal have a Iade to his horse / a knave for his man / an arrant honest woman to his wife.

He that marries a wife out of an inn or alehouse, buys a horse at Smithfield and hires a servant in (St.) Paul's, shall have a jade for his horse, a knave for his man, and an arrant 'honest' woman for his wife.

Iconclass

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Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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Sources

Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem021
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem021
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288