Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 69
Groote visschen scheuren 't netDutch
Big fishes tear the net.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within a circular frame set in a rectangular border, a river landscape. In the foreground at right an old bearded fisherman in a fur-trimmed coat, cap and heavy boots stands at the water's edge, leaning back and hauling in a wide net with both hands; the net is visibly torn and large fish (pike-like fish and eels) are slipping out of the rents into the shallow water, while other fish lie on the bank beside a large wicker basket. Across the water at the right, a second, younger man stands on the far bank pulling the other end of the same net. On the left bank is a small thatched hut or shelter with a figure inside, and behind it rise rocky cliffs with ruined towers and buildings and a few fir trees. The sky is full of streaming clouds, with a flash of lightning near the ruins. An empty blank scroll or cartouche runs along the bottom of the image.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Hadt ick voor kleynen visch mijn netten willé hangen, Of in een stille gracht maer palingh willen vangen, Soo had ick nu de sood', of soo het anders gingh, Mijn net bleef immers gaef, schoó dat ick niet en vingh. Maer siet ick schoot het wandt ontrent de groote vissen, Nu moet ick bey gelijck, en vangh, en hope missen; Want oock mijn beste net is over al gescheurt; Kijckt, vriendé, kijckt eé reys, wat stoute visschers beurt! Onthoudt my dese les, die groote dingen jagen En vangen dickmael niet als onverwachte slagen; Dus ghy die visschen wilt, en blijven buyten pijn, Vist, lieve vrienden, vist, nae dat u netten zijn.
TranslationAI-generated
Had I been willing to hang my nets for small fish, or had I wanted to catch only eel in a quiet ditch, then I would now have the broth; or, if it went otherwise, my net would at any rate have stayed whole, even though I caught nothing. But see, I cast the netting around the big fishes; now I must miss both alike, the catch and the hope; for even my best net is torn all over. Look, friends, look once, at what happens to bold fishermen! Remember this lesson from me: those who hunt great things often catch nothing but unexpected blows. So you who want to fish and to stay out of trouble, fish, dear friends, fish according to what your nets are.
CommentaryAI-generated
23 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
De visscher spreeckt
The fisherman speaks
Ital. Grand nave vuol grand acqua.
Italian: A big ship needs deep water.
Nederl. Groot schip / grof water.
Dutch: Big ship, rough (deep) water.
Höhe steiger fallen gern.
High climbers are apt to fall.
Nederl. Groote boomen geven meer schaduwe als vruchten.
Dutch: Big trees give more shade than fruit.
Ital. Al fiumo famoso non andare à pescare.
Italian: Do not go fishing in the famous (great) river.
Non pigliar tanto boccone chi te potrebbe stroccare.
Do not take so big a mouthful that it could choke you.
Nederl. Men moet soo groote brocken niet inswelgen datmer aen wurgt.
Dutch: One must not swallow such big chunks that one chokes on them.
Veel om-vamen Weynigh versamen.
Embrace much, gather little.
Ital. Pesci grossi rompona l'hamo.
Italian: Big fish break the hook.
I grossi sorci rodano la trapola.
Big mice gnaw through the trap.
Nederl. Groote ratten bijten door de bal.
Dutch: Big rats bite through the ball (bale).
Groote visschen springen uptten ketel.
Big fishes jump out of the kettle.
I mosconi rompono le tele di ragni. Ital.
Italian: Big flies break the spiders' webs.
Byen en horsels breken het spinneweb. Nederl.
Dutch: Bees and hornets break the spider's web.
Gute swimmer ertrincken gern. Hoogd.
High German: Good swimmers are apt to drown.
Peu & paix c'est don de Dieu. Franç.
French: Little and peace, that is a gift of God.
De grande reviere grãd poisson, mais garde toy de noyer.
From a great river, a great fish; but beware of drowning.
De grand rio gran pezi, ma non te ahogues alguna vez. Spaens.
Spanish: From a great river, a great fish; but do not drown yourself some time.
Je höher bergh / je tieffer thal. Hoogd.
High German: The higher the mountain, the deeper the valley.
Wann man die seyten zu hoch zeucht / so zerspringen sie.
When one tunes the strings too high, they snap.
Wenn man das armbrust uberspannet so zerspringets gern.
When one overstrains the crossbow, it is apt to break.
Magis offendit nimium quam parum. Lat.
Latin: Too much gives more offence than too little.
Iconclass
86(GROOTE VISSCHEN SCHEUREN 'T NET)proverbs, sayings, etc. (GROOTE VISSCHEN SCHEUREN 'T NET)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
86proverbs, sayings, etc.highThe emblem's commentary is entirely a collection of multilingual proverbs and sayings ('Big fish break the hook', 'High climbers are apt to fall'), exactly matching 'proverbs, sayings, etc.'
86(...)proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)mediumThe specific proverbs cited (e.g. 'From a great river, a great fish; but beware of drowning') could be entered as the TEXT parameter of 'proverbs, sayings, etc.'
51H421ExcessmediumThe whole series of sayings warns against too much ('Too much gives more offence than too little'; big fish bursting the net), personifying/illustrating Excess.
54A43Temperance, Moderation; 'Misura' (Ripa)mediumThe moral drawn — take no bite so big it chokes you, little and peace is a gift of God — is an exhortation to Temperance/Moderation.
56F11Ambition; 'Ambitione', 'Amor di Fama' (Ripa)low'High climbers are apt to fall' and 'the higher the mountain, the deeper the valley' target Ambition as the vice rebuked, though no personification is depicted.
55CC11Greed, Covetousness, Cupidity; 'Cupidità' (Ripa)low'Embrace much, gather little' and the over-large mouthful evoke Greed/Covetousness as the fault censured, though it is not shown allegorically.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- III viii 87 Ultra vires nihil aggrediendum – thematic inventiohigh
The emblem's moral — 'those who hunt great things often catch nothing but unexpected blows ... fish according to what your nets are' — is exactly Erasmus's precept that one should not undertake what exceeds one's strength.
- I vi 88 Messe tenus propria vive – thematic inventiohigh
'Vist, lieve vrienden, vist, nae dat u netten zijn' (fish according to the size of your nets) is the same counsel as 'live up to your own harvest' — measure your undertakings by your own means.
- II v 46 Ne supra pedem calceus – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus glosses this as 'do not undertake tasks beyond your strength, do not live more grandly than your station,' which is precisely the fisherman's lesson about casting his net around fish too big for it.
- I vi 92 Intra tuam pelliculam te contine – thematic inventiomedium
The adage warns against forgetting one's condition and attempting more than one's capacity, the same point made by the torn net and by the attached proverbs 'Big ship, deep water' and 'High climbers are apt to fall.'
- I v 67 Funem abrumpere nimium tendendo – thematic inventiomedium
The German commentary 'Wann man die seyten zu hoch zeucht / so zerspringen sie' and 'Wenn man das armbrust uberspannet so zerspringets gern' are vernacular equivalents of Erasmus's 'the rope snaps if you pull too hard,' applied to those who overreach and so lose everything.
- IV v 77 Arcus tensus rumpitur – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's German gloss about the overstrained crossbow breaking is the same proverbial image as Erasmus's 'a bow, if strung too tight, breaks', used for immoderate effort.
- I vi 96 Ne quid nimis – thematic inventiomedium
The Latin tag closing the commentary, 'Magis offendit nimium quam parum', states the doctrine of the golden mean that Erasmus expounds under Μηδὲν ἄγαν / Ne quid nimis, the governing moral of the emblem.
- I vii 62 Efficimus pro nostris opibus moenia – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus applies this (with 'little birds build little nests') to living contentedly within modest means, matching the fisherman's conclusion that he should have been content with small fish and eels in a quiet ditch.
- IV v 89 Oportet agrum imbecilliorem esse – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus explains that if the farm overpowers the farmer the owner is crushed, and applies the saying to those who take on tasks they cannot handle — the exact situation of the net overpowered by the big fish.
- II ii 60 Aureo piscari hamo – thematic inventiolow
A fishing metaphor for risking a great loss in pursuit of gain (the fish carries off the hook itself), close to the Italian gloss 'Pesci grossi rompono l'hamo' and to the fisherman who loses both catch and net.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem069
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem069
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288