Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 86
Deux orgeilleux ne peuvent estre portez sur un asneFrench
Two proud men cannot be carried on one ass.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within a circular medallion set in a rectangular frame with corner spandrels, two jesters in fool's costume—one wearing a belled cap with ass's ears, both in ruffled, bell-trimmed garments—struggle on the back of a single donkey in an open landscape. The front rider leans far back, brandishing a fool's bauble (marotte) in his raised hand, while the rider behind grips him and clambers over him, one leg thrown forward; each tries to unseat the other. The donkey walks to the right with its head lowered. In the background are low bushes, water, birds in the sky, and a town skyline with a church tower on the right, another village steeple on the left, and clouds above.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Ist niet een wonder dingh! twee beesten aender heyden Die konnen sonder twist op eenen bunder weyden; Een tijger met een beer, een leeuw, een vinnigh swijn Die woelen in het bosch en konnen eenigh zijn. Maer gaet beveelt een ampt aen twee verwaende dwasen Die sullen onder een geduerigh liggen rasen, Geduerigh in krakeel, en swanger van den nijt, Geduerigh over hoop, en al uyt enckel spijt. Twee gecken konnen noyt malkander leeren mijden, Twee gecken konnen noyt op eenen esel rijden, Sy dragen staege sorgh, en onrust in den geest, Wie eerst en wieder lest sal klimmen op het beest; En schoon dit grilligh paer ten lesten is geseten, Noch kan het kribbigh volck haer kueren niet vergeten: Die eerst sit weyt te breet, gelijck de leste meent, Hy isser door onteert, hy isser in verkleent; Dies wil hy evenstaegh yet op sijn macker winnen, Die kanter tegen aen, met al de gantsche sinnen, Siet daer is dan de strijt, en al uyt hevigh bloet, Tot dat van beyden een den esel ruymen moet. Siet, vrienden, dese krijgh wort over al gevochten, Geen mensch en satter lest, indien de lieden mochten, Oock die geen daedt en heeft, verheft hem opten schijn, » De kraey, al isse kleyn, die wil een arent zijn. 'Tis vry geen kleyne kunst een geck te konnen lijden, 'Tis vry geen kleyne kunst een geck te konnen mijden, Want soo men heden noch in alle landen siet, » De gave van gedult en is by gecken niet.
TranslationAI-generated
Is it not a wondrous thing! two beasts out on the heath can graze on a single acre without quarrel; a tiger with a bear, a lion, a fierce boar, they roam in the wood and can be at one. But go and entrust one office to two conceited fools: they will lie raging at one another continually, continually in brawling, and pregnant with envy, continually at odds, and all out of sheer spite. Two fools can never learn to avoid each other, two fools can never ride upon one ass; they carry constant care and unrest in the mind as to who shall climb on the beast first and who last; and even when this whimsical pair is at last seated, still the peevish folk cannot forget their whims: the one who sits in front spreads himself too wide, as the hindmost thinks, so that he is dishonoured by it and belittled by it; therefore he always wants to gain something over his companion, who resists him with his whole mind; see, then there is the fight, and all from hot blood, until one of the two must vacate the ass. See, friends, this war is fought everywhere; no man would sit last, if people could have their way; even he who has done no deed exalts himself on appearance: the crow, though she be small, wants to be an eagle. It is truly no small art to be able to endure a fool; it is truly no small art to be able to avoid a fool; for as one still sees today in every land: the gift of patience is not found with fools.
CommentaryAI-generated
15 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Lat. Vna domus, non alit duos canes.
Vnum arbustum non alit duos erithacos.
Lucan. --- Omnisque potestas Impatiens consortis erit.
Concordia collegarum rara.
Mons cum monte non miscetur.
Dictum in pariter elatos.
Latin. One house does not feed two dogs. One shrub does not feed two robins. Lucan: and every power will be impatient of a partner. Concord among colleagues is rare. Mountain does not mingle with mountain. A saying applied to men equally exalted.
Griecx. Ὄρος ὄρει οὐ μίγνυται.
Greek. Mountain does not mix with mountain.
---- nec Cæsar ferre priorem Pompejusve parem potuit.
nor could Caesar endure a superior, nor Pompey an equal.
Nederl. Twee kassen in eene kercke / en twee maters in een convent / en dienen niet.
Pastoor en koster zijn selden wel eens.
Dutch. Two money-chests in one church, and two mothers-superior in one convent, are of no use. Parson and sexton seldom agree well.
Zween narren tügen nit in einem Hauß. Hoogd.
Zween harte stein Mahlen selten rein.
High German. Two fools are no good in one house. Two hard stones seldom grind clean.
Οὐκ ἀγαθὸν πολυκοιρανίη, εἷς κοίρανος ἔστω. Griecx.
Greek. The rule of many is not good; let there be one ruler.
Het beelt zy een dwaes, ende eē wijs mā, te samē besigh met het snijden aen een kaes. De wijs man spreeckt
The picture shows a fool and a wise man, busy together with the cutting of a cheese. The wise man speaks.
Nederl. Tot het snijden van de kaes / Dient een wijs man en eē dwaes.
Dutch. For the cutting of the cheese, a wise man and a fool are needed.
Ital. A taillar il formaggio Si vuole un matto & un saggio.
Italian. To cut the cheese one needs a fool and a wise man.
Franç. Il faut un fol & un sage Pour bien trancher un formage.
Pour fournir une ville, il y faut de fols & de sages.
French. One needs a fool and a wise man to carve a cheese properly. To furnish a town, there must be fools and wise men in it.
Nederl. Rijcke gecken vercieren de stadt. Wijse mannen bestieren de stadt.
Dutch. Rich fools adorn the town; wise men govern the town.
Nullus usus patientiæ foret Nisi impatientiæ provocatio esset.
There would be no use for patience if there were no provocation from impatience.
Non pianse mai uno Che non ridesse un altro.
Sa piu un savio è un matto, ch'un savio solo.
No one ever wept but another laughed. A wise man and a fool together know more than a wise man alone.
De besette lieden zijn om de wanraeckte te rechte te helpen.
Well-ordered (sensible) people exist to set right those who have gone astray.
Ex vitio alterius sapiens emendat suum.
From another's fault the wise man corrects his own.
Iconclass
86(DEUX ORGEILLEUX NE PEUVENT ESTRE PORTEZ SUR UN ASNE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (DEUX ORGEILLEUX NE PEUVENT ESTRE PORTEZ SUR UN ASNE)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
31B8fool, simpleton, numskullhighThe medallion shows two figures explicitly in fool's costume with bauble and belled cap, matching 'fool, simpleton, numskull'.
44B152411fool's capmediumThe front rider wears a belled cap with ass's ears, i.e. the classic fool's cap named by the correlate.
86proverbs, sayings, etc.highThe commentary is a compilation of proverbs and sayings ('One house does not feed two dogs', 'Two fools are no good in one house') illustrated by the image.
54EE33Competition, Rivalry, Emulation; 'Emulatione' (Ripa)mediumThe two fools struggling to unseat one another on a single donkey embodies rivalry/competition, the theme of 'every power will be impatient of a partner' in the commentary.
31B9wise men versus foolslowThe commentary expressly contrasts the fool with the wise man ('a wise man and a fool are needed to cut the cheese'), though the picture itself shows only fools.
44B1524court jester, court foollowThe figures are jesters in belled, ruffled motley with a marotte, though no court setting is depicted.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II ii 24 Una domus non alit duos canes – direct mottohigh
The emblem's Latin commentary opens with the adage verbatim ('Lat. Vna domus, non alit duos canes') as the learned equivalent of the French motto 'Deux orgueilleux ne peuvent estre portez sur un asne'; Erasmus's essay likewise applies it to people who cannot share one office or profit.
- II ii 22 Unicum arbustum haud alit duos erithacos – direct mottohigh
The commentary quotes 'Vnum arbustum non alit duos erithacos' immediately after the dogs adage; Erasmus explicitly glosses it as applying to 'people who cannot agree, and are incapable of working in harmony at the same task', exactly the emblem's point about two fools in one office.
- III iii 45 Mons cum monte non miscetur – direct mottomedium
The emblem gives both the Latin 'Mons cum monte non miscetur' and the Greek 'Ὄρος ὄρει οὐ μίγνυται', with the gloss 'Dictum in pariter elatos' — Erasmus's adage of this headword, applied to equally lofty persons who never come together.
- I ii 25 Figulus figulo invidet, faber fabro – thematic inventiomedium
The subscriptio's picture of two colleagues 'pregnant with envy', perpetually brawling over precedence, matches Erasmus's Hesiodic adage that those in the same trade/station envy one another rather than agree ('Concordia collegarum rara' in the emblem's commentary).
- III iii 18 Aquilam cornix provocat – thematic inventiolow
The subscriptio's sententia 'De kraey, al isse kleyn, die wil een arent zijn' (the crow, small as she is, wants to be an eagle) echoes Erasmus's adage of the insignificant crow setting itself against the eagle, used of lightweight men who exalt themselves against their betters.
- II vii 7 Multitudo imperatorum Cariam perdidit – thematic inventiolow
The emblem's Greek tag 'Οὐκ ἀγαθὸν πολυκοιρανίη, εἷς κοίρανος ἔστω' voices the same doctrine as Erasmus's adage that a plurality of commanders ruins an enterprise — the moral that one office cannot hold two rulers.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem086
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem086
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288