Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 61
De gansen krijghen den kost, maer sy moetense pluckenDutch
The geese get their food, but they have to pluck it themselves.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within a thick oval frame set in a rectangular plate (with dark triangular corner-pieces and an empty scroll/banderole at the bottom), a flat open landscape is shown. In the foreground five or six geese are spread over a grassy field and a low bank; several of them bend their long necks down to the ground to pull up grass or grain, one at the left stretches its head forward, one at the bottom centre dips its beak toward the water's edge, and two at the right peck in the turf. Behind them a ploughed field or dyke slopes up to the left, over which a large flock of small birds flies and settles; more birds wheel in the cloudy sky. In the middle distance stands a haystack and a broken wooden fence or sluice-work; further off, across water, are trees, a bridge and a village with a tall church spire.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Komt siet hier dese prent, en leert den sin begrijpen, Al die maer zijt gewoon de straet alleen te slijpen, Hoort dit, wie niet en doet, als dat hy ledich gaet, Hier is een goede les daer op te letten staet. Godt is een rijcke born, hy spijst de wilde dieren, Het zy die in het wout, of om den oever swieren, Maer schoon hy yder beest sijn eygen voedtsel biet, Noch voedt hy evenwel de leuye buycken niet. Geen mensch of ander dier en late sich bedriegen, Al watter spijse soeckt moet loopen, rennen, vliegen, De vos die sit en geeuwt, of leuyert in den kuyl, Hout wel de poten droog, maer krijgt niet inden muyl. Al watter adem heeft behoortet aen te mercken; Dat wat van Adam koomt bevolen is te wercken; Wie geen beroep en heeft en niet ter werelt doet, En heeft geen vasten troost waer op hy wert gevoet.
TranslationAI-generated
Come, look at this picture, and learn to grasp its meaning, all you who are only used to loitering in the street; hear this, whoever does nothing but go about idle, here is a good lesson worth attending to. God is a rich spring, he feeds the wild beasts, whether those that roam in the wood or along the shore; but although he offers every animal its own food, he still does not feed lazy bellies. Let no man or other animal deceive himself: whatever seeks food must walk, run, fly. The fox that sits yawning, or lazes in his hole, keeps his paws nice and dry, but gets nothing in his mouth. All that has breath ought to take note of this: that whatever comes of Adam is commanded to work; whoever has no calling and does nothing in the world has no sure comfort on which he may be fed.
CommentaryAI-generated
2 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Nederl. Godt spijst de voghelen / maer sy moetender om vliegen. Niemant en komen de gebrade duyven in den mont gevlogen. Armoede is luyheyts loon. Franç. Dieu donne biens & bœufs mais par les cornes. Griecx. Πρεπόντων πόνων, πωλῦσι ἁμῖν πάντα τ' ἀγαθὰ οἱ θεοί. Lat. Convenientibus laboribus vendunt nobis omnia bona Dij. Nederl. Wie besoeten wil moet besueren. Hoogd. Fleiß bricht alle eyß. Lat. Par est fortuna labori. Franç. Nul bien, sans peine. Hoogd. Wenn der zimmerman lang vmbs holtz spatzien geht / so fellt kein span darvon. Franç. A renart endormy rien ne luy chet en gorge. Renard qui dort la matineé n'a pas la bouche emplumée. Ital. Non si può heuiere il mel senza le mosche. La rosa senza la spina. Ital. Die de eyeren hebben wil moet het kakelen der hennen lijden. Nederl. A la vulpeia dormida, no le cal nada en la boca. Spaens. Den slapenden vos en valt niet in den muyl. Nederl. Manus movenda cum Minerva. Lat. Manum admoventi fortuna imploranda est. Handt aen den ploegh / soo salt Godt vorderen. Nederl. Tot Gods hulp behoeft arbeyt. Rept handen en voeten / Godt sal't versoeten. Godt geeft koeyen / maer niet mette hoornen. Stroopt u armen / en segt God wouts. Den slapende wolf loopt geen schaep inden mont. Die 't vercken killen wil moet hem het tieren troosten. Een vliegende kraey vangt wat. Qui à besoing du feu le quiert aux doigts. Franç.
Dutch: God feeds the birds, but they must fly for it. — Nobody gets roasted pigeons flying into his mouth. — Poverty is laziness's wage. French: God gives goods and oxen, but by the horns. Greek: For fitting labours the gods sell us all good things. Latin: In return for proper labours the gods sell us all good things. Dutch: He who wants the sweet must take the sour. High German: Diligence breaks all ice. Latin: Fortune matches labour. French: No good thing without pain. High German: When the carpenter walks long around the wood, no chip falls from it. French: Nothing falls into the throat of a sleeping fox. — A fox that sleeps the morning away does not have a feathered mouth. Italian: One cannot drink the honey without the flies. Italian: The rose without the thorn. Dutch: He who wants the eggs must put up with the cackling of the hens. Spanish: Into the mouth of the sleeping vixen nothing falls. Dutch: Nothing falls into the sleeping fox's jaws. Latin: The hand must be moved along with Minerva. — He who sets his hand to it must implore fortune. Dutch: Hand to the plough, then God will give increase. — God's help requires labour. — Stir hands and feet, God will sweeten it. — God gives cows, but not with the horns. — Roll up your sleeves and say 'God grant it'. — No sheep runs into the sleeping wolf's mouth. — He who will kill the pig must put up with its squealing. — A flying crow catches something. French: He who needs the fire seeks it with his fingers.
Horat. 1. sermonum. Parvula (nam exemplo est) magni formica laboris Ore trahit quodcunque potest, atque addit acervo Quem struit, haud ignara ac non incauta futuri Quae simul inversum contristat Aquarius annum Non usquam prorepit; & illis utitur antè Quaesitis, sapiens, &c.
In hoc adagio Arabes, Hebraei & Romani concurrunt & eodem sensu utuntur.
Horace, Satires book 1. The tiny ant (for it serves as an example) of great labour drags with its mouth whatever it can, and adds it to the heap which it is building, not ignorant nor careless of the future; and as soon as Aquarius saddens the turning year, it creeps out nowhere, but wisely uses the stores gathered beforehand, etc. In this adage the Arabs, the Hebrews and the Romans agree and use it in the same sense.
Iconclass
86(DE GANSEN KRIJGHEN DEN KOST, MAER SY MOETENSE PLUCKEN)proverbs, sayings, etc. (DE GANSEN KRIJGHEN DEN KOST, MAER SY MOETENSE PLUCKEN)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
34B2332geese (domestic waterbirds)highThe correlate 'geese (domestic waterbirds)' matches the five or six geese grazing and dipping their beaks in the foreground of the scene.
25H182ploughed fieldmediumA 'ploughed field' is explicitly described sloping up behind the geese, and the commentary's 'hand to the plough' adages reinforce it.
54A2Carefulness, Diligence; 'Diligenza' (Ripa)high'Carefulness, Diligence' is the central moral of the commentary ('Diligence breaks all ice', 'the gods sell us all good things for fitting labours').
46A170Labourmedium'Labour' as a concept underlies the whole emblem: the birds must fly for their food and 'Fortune matches labour'.
54DD2Idleness; 'Otio' (Ripa)medium'Idleness' is the vice condemned by the counter-proverbs ('nothing falls into the sleeping fox's jaws', 'poverty is laziness's wage').
55BB1Poverty; 'Povertà', 'Povertà del doni', 'Povertà in uno ch'habbia bell'ingegno' (Ripa)low'Poverty' appears as the stated consequence of sloth in the Dutch motto 'Poverty is laziness's wage'.
54F12Luck, Fortune, Lot; 'Fato', 'Fortuna', 'Fortuna aurea', 'Fortuna buona', 'Fortuna pacifica overo clemente', 'Sorte' (Ripa)low'Luck, Fortune' is invoked in the adages 'Fortune matches labour' and 'fortune is to be implored by him who puts his hand to the work'.
25F711(ANT)insects: antlowThe Horatian quotation about the industrious ant hoarding against winter is quoted at length in the commentary, though the ant is not depicted.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II ii 81 Manum admoventi fortuna est imploranda – direct mottohigh
The emblem's Latin commentary gives verbatim 'Manum admoventi fortuna imploranda est', i.e. Erasmus' adage headword itself, as one of the learned equivalents of the Dutch motto that the geese must pluck their own food.
- I vi 18 Cum Minerva manum quoque move – direct mottohigh
The commentary cites 'Manus movenda cum Minerva' as a Latin parallel; this is Erasmus' adage (σὺν Ἀθηνᾷ καὶ χεῖρα κίνει), whose lesson — do not rely on divine aid without your own effort — is exactly the emblem's point ('Tot Gods hulp behoeft arbeyt').
- I vi 17 Dii facientes adiuvant – thematic inventiohigh
The subscriptio's doctrine — God feeds all creatures but not lazy bellies, so whoever seeks food must walk, run, fly — is precisely Erasmus' point that divine help goes not to the idle but to the industrious; the Dutch commentary line 'Tot Gods hulp behoeft arbeyt' states it verbatim.
- III ix 55 Industriam adiuvat deus – thematic inventiohigh
The Dutch parallels 'Godt spijst de voghelen, maer sy moetender om vliegen', 'Handt aen den ploegh, soo salt Godt vorderen' and 'Rept handen en voeten, Godt sal't versoeten' are vernacular forms of this adage's teaching that God assists those who work.
- III iii 59 Qui vitat molam, vitat farinam – essay quotemedium
The emblem's commentary includes 'Die de eyeren hebben wil moet het kakelen der hennen lijden', which is exactly the contemporary proverb Erasmus quotes within this adage's essay ('He who wants eggs must put up with the cackling of the hens'), together with its moral that shunning the labour means losing the profit.
- I vi 62 Neque mel neque apes – thematic inventiomedium
The commentary's chain 'Wie besoeten wil moet besueren', 'Nul bien sans peine', 'Non si può bevere il mel senza le mosche', 'La rosa senza la spina' reproduces Erasmus' doctrine that no advantage comes without its attendant trouble, the very sense of 'no bees, no honey'.
- II ix 88 Ni purges et molas, non comedes – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus' adage ('unless you clean and grind you will not eat') states the emblem's thesis literally: food is given, but only to him who adds his own labour — just as the geese get their food but must pluck it themselves.
- II ix 35 Qui e nuce nucleum esse vult, frangit nucem – thematic inventiomedium
The Plautine adage that he who wants the kernel must crack the shell expresses the same 'no sweet without sour / no gain without toil' moral collected in the emblem's multilingual commentary.
- IV iii 86 Non semper erit aestas – thematic inventiomedium
The paired motto 'Vade ad formicam piger' and its subscriptio (the ant gathers in summer so as not to perish in the harsh cold) match this adage's advice and its appended fable of the ants rebuking the cicada for idling the summer away.
- II vi 12 Ignavis semper feriae sunt – thematic inventiolow
The subscriptio's address to those 'used only to loitering in the street' and to the 'lazy bellies' who do nothing echoes Erasmus' proverb that for the work-shy every day is a holiday.
- II vi 55 Vulpi esurienti somnus obrepit – thematic inventiolow
The cluster of sleeping-fox proverbs in the subscriptio and commentary ('De vos die sit en geeuwt... krijgt niet inden muyl', 'A renart endormy rien ne luy chet en gorge') shares the imagery of Erasmus' hungry, drowsing fox, though Erasmus applies it to poverty rather than to sloth.
- II v 52 Nec sibi nec aliis utilis – thematic inventiolow
The closing lines — 'whoever has no calling and does nothing in the world has no sure comfort' — correspond to Erasmus' proverbial condemnation of the man who is of use neither to himself nor to others, 'born to consume the fruits of the earth'.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem061
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem061
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288