Emblem 68

Emblem 68

Ein klein henn legt alle tag, da ein Strauss im jahr nur einsLatin

A little hen lays every day, whereas an ostrich only once a year.AI-generated

Description of the imageAI-generated

Within a large oval frame set in a rectangular border with hatched corner ornaments, two full-length figures stand in an open landscape. At the left a woman in a bodice, apron and long skirt turns to the right, holding up a very large egg in her raised right hand and cradling a second egg in her left hand; behind her, at the far left, stands a full-grown ostrich with its long neck raised and its beak open. Facing her at the right is a bearded man in a flat cap, jacket and baggy breeches, who carries under his left arm a wicker basket heaped with small hen's eggs and a cloth sack, and points toward the basket with his right hand. In the background are low hills, a stone arched bridge over water at the right, distant ruined towers, scattered bushes and birds in the sky. Beneath the oval a scroll-shaped banderole carries the motto in a handwritten script; a small monogram appears at the lower right of the frame.IC 86(EIN KLEIN HENN LEGT ALLE TAG, DA EIN STRAUSS IM JAHR NUR EINS)

Subscriptio

Facsimile page — Facsimile, page 1 of 4; click a thumbnail to change page; click the page to enlarge

Facsimile, page 1 of 4; click a thumbnail to change page; click the page to enlarge

TranscriptionAI-generated

De huysmã die de korf met hoëder-eyers in dē arm heeft, spreeckt Hoort doch wat ons gebeurt; de schijn heeft my gelogé, En hope van gewin die heeft mijn wijf bedrogen: Een koopman liet my sien een ey van desen struys, Dies kocht ick strax het dier, en bracht het in mijn huys; Ick dacht, nae dien het beest is dus gewoon te leggen, Soo staet ons dese koop voor al niet af te seggen; Want siet! een hinnen-ey is maer gelijck een bal, En 'tblijckt hier dat de struys wel anders leggen sal; Sijn ey is als een bol, dat acht ick groote saken, Men kan van een alleen een gantsche struyve maecken, Een boer, een raeuwe gast, al koomt hy vandé ploegh, Geeft hem maer soo een ey, gewis hy heeft genoegh. Dit steld' ick voor gewis, maer siet in korte dagen Doen vandt ick metter daedt hoe dat ick was geslagen; Het beest at wonder veel, en bleef noch even graegh, Dies seyd' ick menigmael, siet wat eé struysche maegh! Van eyers geen gewagh; en schoon ick maeckten nesten Van hoy, en enckel dons, 'ken vondter niet ten besten; Doch naer een langen tijdt, juyst eens ontrent de Mey, Doen socht ick in het nest, en vondt een eenigh ey; Dies was ick wonder bly, maer al op losse gronden, Want noyt, nae desen tijt, en isser meer gevonden; Ons hinnen, onder dies, die leyden even-staegh, Dat gaf my goet gewin, en dat meest alle daegh; Dies keef ick opten struys, en gingh den slocker seggen, Van hier du groote vraet, die niet en weet te leggen, V schijn is maer bedrogh, gelijck het heden blijckt, » Want groote winst verleyt, en staege winst verrijckt.

TranslationAI-generated

The householder who has the basket with hen's eggs on his arm speaks: Just hear what happened to us; appearance has lied to me, and the hope of gain has deceived my wife: a merchant showed me an egg of this ostrich, so I at once bought the beast and brought it into my house; I thought, since the beast is used to laying thus, we must by no means refuse this bargain; for look! a hen's egg is no bigger than a ball, and it appears here that the ostrich lays quite otherwise; its egg is like a globe, which I reckoned a great matter, one can make a whole omelette out of a single one; a peasant, a rough fellow, even though he comes from the plough — just give him such an egg and surely he has enough. This I held for certain, but see, within a few days I found in fact how I had been cheated; the beast ate wonderfully much and remained just as greedy, so I said many a time: see what an ostrich stomach! Of eggs no word; and although I made nests of hay and pure down, I found nothing to my advantage; yet after a long time, just once about May, I searched in the nest and found one single egg; at that I was wonderfully glad, but on loose ground, for never since that time has another been found; our hens meanwhile laid steadily, which gave me good profit, and that nearly every day; therefore I scolded the ostrich and went and said to the glutton: Away from here, you great devourer, who cannot lay, your appearance is nothing but deceit, as appears today; "for great gain misleads, and steady gain enriches."

CommentaryAI-generated

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

Engels. Light gaynes make heauye purses.

English: Light gains make heavy purses.

Nederl. Licht ghewin maeckt swaere beursen.

Dutch: Light gain makes heavy purses.

Hoogd. Wer keinen pfenning achtet / der wirdt auch nimmer eines gulden herre.

High German: He who thinks nothing of a penny will never be master of a guilder.

Nederl. Die geen penningh en acht / en wort geen guldens heer.

Dutch: He who values no penny will not become lord of a guilder.

Franç. Qui veut faire une porte d'or, y mette tous les jours un clou.

French: He who would make a door of gold, let him put a nail in it every day.

Spaens. Abaxanse los adarves Y alçanse los muladares.

Spanish: The ramparts sink down and the dunghills rise up.

Franç. Les murs s'abaissent & les fumiers se haussent.

French: The walls sink and the dungheaps rise.

A passo à passo si va lontano. Ital.

Italian: Step by step one goes far.

Met enckele veertjens pluckt men den vinck kael. Nederl.

Dutch: With single little feathers one plucks the finch bare.

Allencxse slagen valt de boom.

By gradual strokes the tree falls.

A pluma à pluma si pelo l'ocha. Ital.

Italian: Feather by feather the goose is plucked.

A gotta à gotta il mar si secherebbe.

Drop by drop the sea would be dried up.

Von kleinen fischlin werden die hecht groß. Hoogd.

High German: From little fishes the pike grows big.

Majora perdes, parva ni servaveris. Lat.

Latin: You will lose greater things if you do not save the small.

Ital. Chi non istima un quattrino non lo vale.

Italian: He who does not value a farthing is not worth one.

Franç. Dispriseur de gaing qui est petit De mille un riche on ne vit.

French: Of him who despises small gain, not one rich man in a thousand has ever been seen.

Nederl. De dagelicksche penningh weet wat.

Dutch: The daily penny amounts to something.

Doet dickwils tot een kleyntje wat / Soo wortet wel een groote schat.

Add often a little to a little, and it will become a great treasure.

Lat. Adde parum parvo tandem fit magnus acervus.

Latin: Add a little to a little and at last a great heap is made.

Gutta cavat lapidem.

A drop hollows out the stone.

Engels. Littel pot / soun hot.

English: Little pot, soon hot.

Kleyn visje / soet visje. Nederl.

Dutch: Little fish, sweet fish.

A picciol forno, poca ligna basta. Ital.

Italian: For a small oven, little wood suffices.

Kleyn gewin Brengt rijckdom in. Nederl.

Dutch: Small gain brings riches in.

Il bue s'è fatto grande è la stalla piccola. Ital.

Italian: The ox has grown big and the stall is small.

Lancksamen rijckdom is saligh. Nederl.

Dutch: Slowly gained wealth is blessed.

Hooge boomen geven meer schaduwe als vruchten.

High trees give more shade than fruit.

En petite maison Dieu à grand part. Franç.

French: In a small house God has a great share.

Syrach. 29. 1. Celuy qui mesprise les petites choses tombera petit à petit.

Sirach 29:1. He who despises little things shall fall little by little.

Syrach. 30. 21. Le peu est suffisant à l'homme bien apris.

Sirach 30:21. A little is sufficient for a well-instructed man.

Veracht, ô vrient, noyt kleyn gewin, Want dat brengt groote schatten in, En niet en isser oyt soo vast Als dat gestaegh en lancksaem wast.

Besiet een ongetemden stier Die onlangs was een vreedsaem dier, Een dier dat noyt en stiet of vocht, Maer daer een kint met spelen mocht, Die wort in't lest een grouwsaem beest, Dat oock van mannen is gevreest.

De boom daer yemant onder rust, Daer van hy pluckt sijns herten lust, Daer van hy schoone vruchten leest, Dat is wel eer een rijs geweest.

My dunckt hier is genoegh geseyt, Soo ghy het stuck wel over-leyt: » Doet tot een kleyntje dickmael wat, » Soo wortet noch een groote schat. Maer kleyn verlies dat dickwils koomt, Daer dient al mede voor geschroomt; Want kleuter-schult van kleyn beslach, Als die vermeerdert dach aen dach, Wort metter tijdt een groote last, Schoon dat ghy daer niet op en past.

Let dan, al wie een huys besorgt, Dat ghy geen kleyne schult en borgt; » Want siet! een drop die holt een steen » En dat slechts door den tijdt alleen; » Het staegh gebruyck verslijt het stael; » By veertjens wort de vincke kael; » En 'tmuysje, dat geduerigh bijt, » Door-knaegt een kabel metter tijt.

Despise, O friend, no small gain, for that brings in great treasures, and nothing is ever so secure as that which grows steadily and slowly.

Look at an untamed bull that lately was a peaceable animal, an animal that never butted or fought, but with which a child might play; it becomes at last a dreadful beast, feared even by men.

The tree under which someone rests, from which he plucks his heart's delight, from which he gathers fair fruits — that was once a mere twig.

It seems to me enough has been said here, if you ponder the matter well: "Add often a little to a little, and it will yet become a great treasure." But small loss that comes often — that too must be feared; for a trifling debt of small amount, when it increases day by day, becomes in time a great burden, even though you pay no heed to it.

Take care then, whoever keeps a household, that you contract no small debts; "for see! a drop hollows a stone, and that merely through time alone; constant use wears away steel; feather by feather the finch is plucked bare; and the little mouse that keeps on gnawing gnaws through a cable in time."

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.

25F38(OSTRICH) walker and runner birds: ostrichhigh

The correlate 'walker and runner birds: ostrich' matches the full-grown ostrich standing behind the woman at the far left.

41C642 eggs, egg-dishesmedium

The correlate 'eggs, egg-dishes' fits the large ostrich egg held aloft and the basket heaped with small hen's eggs that are the emblem's central objects.

41C64 dairy products and eggslow

The broader correlate 'dairy products and eggs' covers the prominently displayed eggs, though the more specific egg category is preferable.

71Y4 the book of Ecclesiasticus, the wisdom of Jesus Sirachlow

The commentary explicitly cites Sirach 29:1 and 30:21, matching 'the book of Ecclesiasticus, the wisdom of Jesus Sirach', though only as a textual reference rather than a depicted scene.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

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

I iii 2 Minutula pluvia imbrem parit – essay quotehigh

The emblem's Latin commentary 'Majora perdes, parva ni servaveris' is the exact proverbial senarius Erasmus quotes in the essay of this adage ('Εἰ μὴ φυλάσσεις μικρ᾽ ἀπολεῖς τὰ μείζονα. id est, Maiora perdes, parva ni servaveris'), and the adage's point — small drops growing into a downpour — is precisely the emblem's moral of small steady gain accumulating.

III iii 3 Assidua stilla saxum excavat – essay quotehigh

The emblem's commentary and closing poem give 'Gutta cavat lapidem' and 'een drop die holt een steen ... slechts door den tijdt alleen', a verbatim Latin/Dutch rendering of this adage and of the Ovidian and Galenic lines Erasmus quotes in its essay, used to prove that constant small action achieves great results.

I viii 94 Multis ictibus dejicitur quercus – essay quotehigh

The Dutch proverb 'Allencxse slagen valt de boom' (by gradual strokes the tree falls) is this adage, and the emblem's Latin 'Adde parum parvo tandem fit magnus acervus' / 'Doet tot een kleyntje dickmael wat' reproduces the Hesiodic lines Erasmus quotes in this very essay ('Si paulum paulo adiicies, faciesque ita crebro, Mox magnum quiddam ... conficietur'), with the same application to gain accumulated from tiny amounts.

III ii 100 Vitiat lapidem longum tempus – essay quotemedium

Erasmus' essay here cites Ovid's 'Gutta cavat lapidem, consumitur anulus usu', which the emblem quotes in Latin ('Gutta cavat lapidem') and paraphrases in Dutch ('het staegh gebruyck verslijt het stael'), as the proof-text for the power of slow, continual action.

II ii 34 Cepphus parturit – thematic inventiolow

The ostrich of the emblem is the bird of great bulk and show whose laying raises huge expectations yet yields almost nothing — exactly Erasmus' gull 'all feathers and no flesh' that makes a loud noise when about to lay; the subscriptio's 'V schijn is maer bedrogh' echoes this censure of great promise and small performance.

II iv 5 Spem precio emere – thematic inventiolow

The householder literally bought hope with money — a merchant showed him one huge egg and he bought the bird, only to be deceived ('hope van gewin die heeft mijn wijf bedrogen'), which illustrates Terence's 'Ego spem precio non emo' as Erasmus explains it: paying a certain cost for an uncertain gain.