Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 83
Man rufft dem Esel nit gen hoff, er soll dann sack traghenGerman
No one calls the ass to court, unless he is to carry sacks.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within a large oval frame set in a rectangular border (with an empty ribbon banderole beneath), a courtyard scene before a brick palace or castle gate. At the left a richly dressed rider with a plumed hat sits on a horse seen from behind; beside him a lady in a ruff and feathered headdress rides side-saddle, attended by a page or footman on foot. In the middle distance a team of harnessed horses with plumes on their heads stands by a coach at the right, held by a driver; small figures stand near the arched doorway of the building behind. In the right foreground a donkey loaded with bulging sacks strides forward, while a man in a short cloak and hat bends over, tugging at the beast's tail or hind leg with a stick raised. Two small dogs run in the foreground.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
My seyd' een bode gister noen, Daer ick gingh treden in het groen, Dat ick te hov' ontboden was, En daer op scheyd' ick uyt het gras; En gingh vast kneden in het stoff, En gingh vast treden naer het hoff, Daer sach ick eerst veel muylen staen, Geçiert en prachtich op-gedaen, Met veren om den kop geset, En al haer tuygh geweldigh net; Hier by soo stont een moedigh peert, My docht, wel hondert kroonen weert, Dat hadt een sadel op het lijf, Die stont van gout en perels stijf; Maer noch vernam ick even daer Ses peerden al van eenen haer, Die pronckten juyst gelijck een bruyt, En munten wonder aerdigh uyt, Een koets te trecken, sonder meer, 'tZy met een juffer of een heer, Daer in bestont geheel haer werck; Ick nam hier op mijn oogh-gemerck, En dacht, Hier ben ick wel geraeckt, Hier word' ick mede groot gemaeckt, Dewijl dat oock van mijn geslacht Hier yemant is in't spel gebracht. Maer siet! ten leet als geenen tijt, Daer quamper een, 'tscheen my te spijt, Die leyde my vier sacken op, En gaf my doe een harden schop, En riep: eylaes! 'ken weet niet hoe, Flux, esel, nae den meulen toe; Ey kijck, daer was mijn hoop gedaen, Want ick moest flux daer henen gaen, Ick moest gaen torsen met verdriet, En 'thof en gaf my anders niet. Ach (seyd ick) dom en karigh dier, Wat maeck ick doch? wat doe ick hier? Men roept geen esel in het hof, Of yemant van gelijcke stof, Om eer, om vreucht, of om gemack, Maer om te dragen eenich pack. Dus ghy die zijt van mijn geslacht, Schoon datj' in 'thof eens wort gebracht Denckt niet om eer, of om gewin, Beeldt u geen hooge staten in, V hoop is waen, en enckel schijn, Een esel moet een esel zijn.
TranslationAI-generated
A messenger told me yesterday at noon, while I was walking in the green, that I had been summoned to court; and thereupon I left the grass, and set to kicking up the dust, and set to striding towards the court. There I first saw many mules standing, adorned and splendidly turned out, with feathers set about their heads, and all their harness mightily neat. Nearby stood a spirited horse, worth a good hundred crowns, I thought, which had a saddle on its body stiff with gold and pearls. But just then I further noticed six horses all of one coat, which pranced just like a bride and stood out wonderfully handsomely, to draw a coach, nothing more, whether with a lady or a gentleman — in that consisted their whole work. I took note of this and thought: here I have come to the right place, here I too shall be made great, since someone of my own kin has also been brought into the game here. But look! no time at all passed before there came one, to my seeming spite, who laid four sacks upon me and then gave me a hard kick, and cried: alas, I know not how — quick, ass, off to the mill! Ah, see, there my hope was undone, for I had to go straight off there; I had to trudge along in sorrow, and the court gave me nothing else. Ah (said I), stupid and stingy beast, what am I doing? what do I do here? No one calls an ass to court, nor anyone of the like stuff, for honour, for pleasure, or for ease, but to carry some load. So you who are of my kin, even though you are once brought to court, think not of honour or of gain, imagine for yourself no high estates; your hope is delusion and mere show: an ass must be an ass.
CommentaryAI-generated
19 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
De Esel spreeckt
The Ass speaks
Nederl. Men roept den Esel niet te hove / dan als hy wat dragen moet.
Dutch. The ass is not called to court, except when he has to carry something.
Ital. Mal è invitar l'asino alle nozze che 'l convien portar ò legni ò aqua.
Italian. It is a bad thing to invite the ass to the wedding, for he must carry either wood or water.
Franç. Mal faict invitar l'asne aux noces car il luy faut porter bois ou l'eau.
French. It is ill done to invite the ass to the wedding, for he must carry wood or water.
Le baton & le faurdeau sont pour l'asne. Syr. 33.
The stick and the burden are for the ass. Sirach 33.
Lat. Quidquid per asellum expediri potest vilissimè constat.
Latin. Whatever can be accomplished by means of a little ass costs very cheaply.
Ital. Chi non ha visazzo Non vadi al palasso.
Italian. He who has no saddle-bag, let him not go to the palace.
Op eenen anderen sin.
In another sense.
Lat. Haud facile emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat. Res angusta domi.
Latin. They do not easily rise whose merits are hindered by straitened means at home.
Ital. Non è vertù, che provertà non guasti.
Italian. There is no virtue that poverty does not spoil.
Pauper ubique jacet. Lat.
The poor man lies low everywhere. Latin.
Aen den armen wil yder sijn schoen wissen. Nederl.
Everyone wants to wipe his shoes on the poor man. Dutch.
Arme leute gehören hinder die thür. Hoogd.
Poor people belong behind the door. High German.
Saviezza di pover huomo, Bellezza di putana, Forza di fachin Non val un bagatin. Ital.
The wisdom of a poor man, the beauty of a whore, the strength of a porter, is not worth a farthing. Italian.
An die armut wil iederman die schüh wisschen. Hoogd.
Everyone wants to wipe his shoes on poverty. High German.
Wo der zaun am niedrigsten ist / da wil iederman übersteigen.
Where the fence is lowest, there everyone wants to climb over.
Et genus & virtus, nisi cum re, vilior algâ est. Lat.
Both birth and virtue, without substance, are cheaper than seaweed. Latin.
Curia pauperibus clausa est.
The senate-house is closed to the poor.
Chi non ha, non sa. Ital.
He who has not, knows not. Italian.
Iconclass
86(MAN RUSST DEM ESEL NIT GEN HOFF, ER SOLL DANN SACK TRAGHEN)proverbs, sayings, etc. (MAN RUSST DEM ESEL NIT GEN HOFF, ER SOLL DANN SACK TRAGHEN)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
46C13142ass, donkeyhighThe correlate 'ass, donkey' matches the laden donkey in the right foreground that is the emblem's central subject.
46C131riding a horse, ass, or mule; rider, horsemanmediumThe correlate 'riding a horse, ass, or mule; rider, horseman' matches the richly dressed horseman and the lady riding side-saddle in the courtyard.
86proverbs, sayings, etc.highThe correlate 'proverbs, sayings, etc.' fits exactly, since the image illustrates a cluster of proverbs about the ass invited to the wedding and the poor man at court.
86(...)proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)low'Proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)' could be used to specify the particular proverb ('It is ill done to invite the ass to the wedding...'), though the banderole in the print is left empty.
71Y4the book of Ecclesiasticus, the wisdom of Jesus SirachlowThe commentary explicitly cites 'Sirach 33' ('the stick and the burden are for the ass'), i.e. the book of Ecclesiasticus/wisdom of Jesus Sirach, as the text source for the image.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II ii 4 Asinus portans mysteria – thematic inventiohigh
Erasmus' adage of the ass that carries the sacred objects in procession and imagines the honours are meant for him is exactly the emblem's conceit: the ass summoned to court sees the plumed mules and gilded horses, thinks 'here I too shall be made great', and is promptly loaded with four sacks and sent to the mill.
- I vii 11 Simia simia est, etiamsi aurea gestet insignia – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's closing line 'Een esel moet een esel zijn' (an ass must be an ass) states the very point of Erasmus' adage that 'the trappings of fortune do not change a man's nature'; the courtly splendour of harness, feathers and pearls cannot ennoble the beast beneath.
- II iv 25 Aureae compedes – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus explicitly glosses 'golden fetters' as the glittering but enslaving life at court ('qualis est ferè aulicorum vita'), which matches the emblem's picture of gorgeously harnessed court horses and its warning that court service brings only burdens, not honour.
- IV viii 38 Asinus stramenta mavult quam aurum – thematic inventiolow
The ass of the emblem leaves the green grass for the gold and pearls of the court and finds only sacks; Erasmus' adage on the ass that prefers straw to gold supplies the same contrast between asinine nature and courtly glitter.
- IV ii 51 Mendico ne parentes quidem amici sunt – thematic inventiolow
The emblem's second sense ('Op eenen anderen sin': 'Pauper ubique jacet', 'Curia pauperibus clausa est', 'everyone wipes his shoes on the poor man') repeats Erasmus' point that wealth wins friends while poverty is universally despised.
- II ix 38 Quaerendae facultates, deinde virtus – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus quotes Horace's 'quaerenda pecunia primum, virtus post nummos', the same cynical commonplace the emblem's appended Latin and Italian lines express ('Et genus et virtus, nisi cum re, vilior alga est'; 'Non è vertù che povertà non guasti').
- I ix 30 Thesaurus carbones erant – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus applies this to those 'whose hopes are disappointed and who find mere rubbish where they expected something magnificent', which is the narrative of the ass who went to court expecting greatness and got sacks and a kick ('daer was mijn hoop gedaen').
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem083
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem083
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288