Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 78
De hont diemen een been ontneemt en kent geen vriendenDutch
The dog from which one takes away a bone knows no friends.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within a circular frame set in a square plate with ornamental corner triangles, an open landscape is shown: at the left a windmill beside water, at the right a distant town with a tower, clouds and two birds in the sky. In the foreground a large dark mastiff-like dog crouches low, head turned, baring its teeth and growling, its tail curled up, holding a large bone on the ground between its front paws. At the right a man in a broad-brimmed hat, slashed doublet and wide breeches bends forward and reaches down with one hand to seize the bone, while throwing his other arm up and drawing his body back away from the dog.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Al is de hont aen u bekent, En langen tijdt aen u gewent, Al schijnt hy mack en wonder soet, Soo dat hy u gestadigh groet, En sachtjens met sijn steertjen slaet Soo dickmael als hy voor u staet, Noch isset al geen seker werck, Noch isset al geen vast gemerck Van dat het beest u liefde draegt, Maer als het eens een schenckel knaegt, En dat ghy naer het hachtjen tast, Let dan eens hoe de rekel bast, Let dan hoe dat hy van hem bijt Vermits hy van u schade lijt. Al toont u yemant schoon gelaet, En geeft u veel al soeten praet, Ghy, beelt u efter geensins in Sijn vaste gunst of staege min, En acht hem oock geen waeren vrient, Want 'tis noch by hem niet verdient; Maer let eens op een ander tijdt Wanneer hy door u schade lijdt, Let dan eens in het ongeval Hoe dat hy sich gebeeren sal, Misschien sal dan sijn blijde schijn Vry anders in het wesen zijn; Want vrienden, alsmen vrienden houft Dan isset datmen vrienden prouft.
TranslationAI-generated
Although the dog is known to you, and long accustomed to you; although he seems tame and wonderfully sweet, so that he greets you constantly and softly wags his little tail as often as he stands before you — still that is no sure business, still that is no firm sign that the beast bears you love; but once he gnaws a shank-bone, and you reach out for the tidbit, just notice then how the cur barks, notice then how he bites out from himself, because through you he suffers loss. Although someone shows you a fair countenance and gives you plenty of sweet talk, yet do not imagine for a moment that his favour is firm or his love constant, and do not count him a true friend either, for he has not yet earned it; but take note on another occasion, when through you he suffers loss: notice then, in the mishap, how he will behave. Perhaps then his cheerful look will be quite different in reality; for when one needs friends, that is when one tests friends.
CommentaryAI-generated
1 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Nederl. In 't deylen van 't erff staet de vrientschap stille. Schade schepdt vrientschap. Tis quaet een hont een been t'ontnemen. Neeff soo langh ick geeff. Men kent geen lieden dan alsmer erff met beurt. Ital. A bisogni si conoscon gli amici. Au besoing voit on l'amy. Nederl. Den vrient die kentmen inder noot, Den rijcken kent men nae de doot. Lat. Scilicet ut fulvum spectatur in ignibus aurum. Tempore sic duro est inspicienda fides. ---- Injuria soluit amorem. Amicus certus in re incertâ cernitur. Res sua cuique adhæsit, Nec sine sensu avelli potest.
Dutch: In the dividing of the inheritance friendship comes to a standstill. — Loss parts friendship. — It is bad to take a bone away from a dog. — Cousin, as long as I give. — One does not know people except when one shares in an inheritance with them. — Italian: In times of need friends are known. — French: In need one sees the friend. — Dutch: The friend one knows in need, the rich man one knows after death. — Latin: Just as yellow gold is tested in the fire, so in hard times must loyalty be examined. — Injury dissolves love. — A sure friend is discerned in an unsure matter. — Each man's property has stuck fast to him, and cannot be torn away without his feeling it.
Iconclass
86(DE HONT DIEMEN EEN BEEN ONTNEEMT EN KENT GEEN VRIENDEN)proverbs, sayings, etc. (DE HONT DIEMEN EEN BEEN ONTNEEMT EN KENT GEEN VRIENDEN)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
34B112dog with bonehighThe correlate 'dog with bone' exactly matches the foreground mastiff crouching over and guarding a large bone between its paws.
25I41windmill in landscapehighThe correlate 'windmill in landscape' matches the open landscape background with a windmill beside water at the left.
47D31windmillmediumThe correlate 'windmill' applies to the prominent windmill depicted at the left of the scene.
56F232Infidelity in Friendship; 'Amicitia senza giovamento' (Ripa)lowThe correlate 'Infidelity in Friendship' fits the moral that friendship ends when property or inheritance is at stake, though no Ripa personification is actually depicted.
55AA1LosslowThe correlate 'Loss' corresponds to the motto 'Loss parts friendship', the abstract theme illustrated by the man losing out to the growling dog.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II viii 81 Viri infortunati procul amici – thematic inventiohigh
The emblem's whole point — that friends must be tested by loss and need ('Want vrienden, alsmen vrienden houft, dan isset datmen vrienden prouft'; 'Au besoing voit on l'amy') — is exactly Erasmus' adage on fair-weather friends who vanish in adversity; his essay even cites 'Κρίνει φίλους ὁ καιρός, ὡς χρυσὸν τὸ πῦρ' (Fortune tries friendship as fire tries gold), matching the emblem's Ovidian couplet on gold tested in the fire.
- IV i 58 Aurum igni probatum – thematic inventiohigh
The Latin commentary 'Scilicet ut fulvum spectatur in ignibus aurum, tempore sic duro est inspicienda fides' is precisely the image of this adage, which Erasmus defines as 'said of someone whose loyalty has been tested and confirmed by adversity.'
- III v 67 Fumantem nasum ursi ne tentaveris – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus' essay quotes Martial on the beast that is quiet and 'licks fingers and hands' but becomes a savage bear once provoked, and adds the parallel 'to take a dog by the nose' for provoking one who will bite — exactly the emblem's tail-wagging, hand-licking dog that snarls and bites when its bone is seized ('Tis quaet een hont een been t'ontnemen').
- III iii 57 Lingua amicus – thematic inventiomedium
The second stanza warns against the man who 'shows a fair countenance and gives sweet talk' but has not proved his love in deed — Erasmus' 'friend in word, who displays kindness in words but does not back them up with deeds' (Theognis: 'No friends in word be mine, but friends in deed').
- III i 88 Felicium multi cognati – thematic inventiomedium
The Dutch proverbs appended ('Neeff soo langh ick geeff'; 'Men kent geen lieden dan alsmer erff met beurt'; 'Den rijcken kent men nae de doot') express the same point as Erasmus' adage that the prosperous and rich have many kinsmen/friends, while 'he who has nothing has no friends.'
- I v 23 Ollae amicitiae – thematic inventiomedium
The dog that fawns only until its bone is touched is the emblematic equivalent of Erasmus' 'cupboard love' — friends drawn by the stewpot and not by affection, who stick only while there is profit ('fervet olla, vivit amicitia').
- I iii 16 Ad felicem inflectere parietem – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus' adage on those who attach themselves to the prosperous side and whose friendship is governed by advantage underlies the emblem's lesson that goodwill lasts only until the friend 'door u schade lijdt' (suffers loss through you).
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem078
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem078
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288