Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 97
Stultorum cum stercore pugnareLatin
It is the mark of fools to fight with dung.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
A circular medallion set in a square frame with corner spandrels and a blank ribbon scroll at the bottom. Inside, a man dressed as a jester, in a cap with cock's head and bell-tipped points and a belled costume, strides to the right with one foot raised, fist clenched and arm flung out, aiming a kick at a conical pile of excrement lying on a mound at the right; an old shoe and refuse lie scattered on the ground. Behind him at the left a man in a broad hat looks on and several boys laugh and gesture, one bending forward, another peering out from behind. Birds fly in the cloudy sky. Signed 'Avonne in.' at lower left and 'D. Bronden sculp.' at lower right.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Het is voorwaer een rechte geck Die 't lust te vechten met een dreck; Want of hy schoon al met gewelt Sijn vyant plat ter aerden velt, Wat wint hy met sijn kloecke daet Als dat hy sich wel vuyl begaet? En dat een yder met hem spot Vermits hy leelick is bedot. Ghy die van spotters wort geterght, Of door een guyt tot spijt geverght, Ick bidd', en acht op geen gekijf, Van dees, of die, van man, of wijf; Mijdt liever, reyne zielen, mijt, Lijdt met gedult, ô vrienden lijt, Want schoon ghy klappers tegen spreeckt, En oock haer losse reden breeckt, Noch echter wint ghy niet met al, Als enckel leet en ongeval, Noch echter wort ghy niet te kuys, Maer komt noch des te vuylder thuys; Het is dan quaet hoe datjet maeckt, Geen dreck en dienter aen-geraeckt; » Want noyt vocht ymant met een stront » Die sich daer door verbetert vont.
TranslationAI-generated
He is truly a proper fool who takes pleasure in fighting with a turd; for even though he violently lays his enemy flat on the ground, what does he gain by his bold deed except that he thoroughly befouls himself? And that everyone mocks him, since he is nastily besmirched. You who are provoked by mockers, or spurred to spite by some rogue, I pray you, pay no heed to the scolding of this one or that, of man or woman; rather avoid it, pure souls, avoid it; endure it patiently, O friends, endure; for although you contradict the babblers and also refute their loose talk, still you win nothing at all but pure sorrow and misfortune; still you do not become the cleaner, but come home all the filthier. It is bad however you manage it: no dung should be touched; for never did anyone fight with a turd and find himself the better for it.
CommentaryAI-generated
5 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Lat. Ignis gladio non fodiendus.
Hoc scio pro certo quod si cum stercore certo, vinco seu vincor semper ego maculor.
Cum pari certare dubium est, Cum majore furiosum, Cum minore sordidum & inglorium.
Nullus usus patientiæ foret nisi impatientiæ provocatio esset. Lat.
Ridiculum est odio nocentis perdere innocentiam. Seneca.
Latin. Fire must not be stirred with a sword.
This I know for certain, that if I contend with dung, whether I conquer or am conquered I am always befouled.
To contend with an equal is doubtful, with a greater is madness, with a lesser is sordid and inglorious.
There would be no use for patience if there were no provocation of impatience.
It is ridiculous to lose one's innocence through hatred of the guilty. Seneca.
Franç. Ne deba point avec un grand languard & n'entasse point de bois à son feu. Syr. 8. 4.
French. Do not dispute with a great chatterer, and heap no wood on his fire. Sirach 8:4.
Couper in anatome hominis Christiani. Een goet man en moet noyt teghens quade menschen strijden met haer eyghen wapenen/ dat is: schelden met schelden bejeghenen.
Couper, in the Anatomy of Christian Man. A good man must never fight against evil men with their own weapons, that is: to answer scolding with scolding.
Aliter enim nihil inter provocatum & provocantem interest nisi quod hic prior in maleficio deprehenditur & iste posterior.
For otherwise there is no difference between the one provoked and the one provoking, except that the latter is caught first in the misdeed and the former afterwards.
Paratus esse debet homo pius ac justus patienter eorum ferre ac sustinere maliciam quos fieri bonos quærit, ut numerus potius crescat bonorum quam ut pari malitia se quoque numero addat malorum. August. Epist. 5.
A pious and just man ought to be ready patiently to bear and endure the malice of those whom he seeks to make good, so that the number of the good may rather increase than that he too, by equal malice, add himself to the number of the wicked. Augustine, Epistle 5.
Iconclass
86(STULTORUM CUM STERCORE PUGNARE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (STULTORUM CUM STERCORE PUGNARE)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
31A623faeces, excrementhighThe correlate 'faeces, excrement' directly matches the conical pile of dung that the jester kicks, which is also the subject of the motto about contending with dung.
31A2744kicking somethinghigh'Kicking something' precisely describes the jester striding with one foot raised to kick the heap of excrement.
44B1524court jester, court foolmediumThe protagonist wears the classic fool's cap with cock's head, bells and belled costume, matching 'court jester, court fool' as the nearest available designation for the figure.
33B32kickinglow'Kicking' as an aggressive human action corresponds to the jester's aggressive lashing out, though the more specific 31A2744 covers the act better.
33B1quarrel, argumentmedium'Quarrel, argument' matches the commentary's central theme of contending and disputing with others (with equals, greaters, lessers, and chatterers).
54A44Patience; 'Patienza' (Ripa)lowThe personification 'Patience' corresponds to the commentary's moral that patience must be exercised under provocation rather than retaliating.
11V85bearing injustice patiently ~ one of the (seven) spiritual Acts of Mercylow'Bearing injustice patiently' echoes Augustine's exhortation quoted in the commentary to endure the malice of evil men patiently instead of answering in kind.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I i 2 Amicitia aequalitas. Amicus alter ipse – essay quotehigh
The emblem's Latin commentary opens by giving as its proverbial equivalent 'Lat. Ignis gladio non fodiendus' — a direct restatement of Erasmus's Pythagorean adage 'Ignem gladio ne fodito' (do not stir the fire with a sword, i.e. do not provoke an already angry man), which is exactly the lesson of not answering mockers.
- III iii 48 Ignis non extinguitur igni – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus's gloss — 'one evil is not removed by another; wrath is not calmed by angry words... ill-treatment is ended by patience' — is precisely the emblem's moral that one must not answer scolding with scolding but endure patiently ('Lijdt met gedult'), and it belongs to the same cluster as the quoted 'fire must not be stirred with a sword'.
- II vi 24 Flet victus, victor interiit – thematic inventiomedium
The commentary's tag 'si cum stercore certo, vinco seu vincor semper ego maculor' and the subscriptio's point that even the victor comes home filthier restate Erasmus's adage about contests in which both parties leave the field the worse, 'especially in lawsuits and disputes'.
- II vii 13 Sustine et abstine – thematic inventiomedium
The Dutch subscriptio's twin counsel — 'Mijdt liever... Lijdt met gedult' (rather avoid it; endure it patiently) — is a vernacular version of Epictetus' 'bear and forbear' as Erasmus expounds it: fortitude in adversity plus abstention from provocation.
- I i 27 Qui quae vult dicit, quae non vult audiet – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus's adage concerns the exchange of insult for insult (convicium convicio redditum), the very practice the emblem forbids: 'schelden met schelden bejeghenen' — answering abuse with abuse only leaves both parties soiled.
- III vi 6 Caedimus inque vicem praebemus crura sagittis – thematic inventiolow
The adage's picture of mutual wounding and mocking ('we are mocked and we mock, we bite and are bitten') matches the emblem's warning that contradicting the babblers gains nothing but reciprocal injury and ridicule.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem097
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem097
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288