Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 106
Nul cheval si bien ferré qui ne glisseFrench
No horse is so well shod that it does not slip.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within a heavy oval frame set in a rectangle with hatched corner triangles, a richly dressed horseman in a broad plumed hat and cloak is thrown forward as his white horse stumbles and collapses on a stony patch of ground. The horse's forelegs buckle, its head is pulled down and sideways, its long mane and tail flying; the rider, still holding a long thin sword or riding rod in his outstretched left hand, is pitched over the animal's shoulder, his boot and stirrup swinging loose. In the left background is a low landscape with a bridge, trees and a village with a church tower; clouds and several birds fill the sky. Engravers' signatures appear in the lower corners of the plate.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Dit was een moedigh peert, en heden noch beslagen, Het ging wel deftich aen, oock somtijts gátsche dagé, Het gingh een staegen tret van dat ick neder sat, Oock was de wegh bequaem, en geensins glibber-glat; Noch reed' ick met bescheyt, en geensins om te mallen, En siet dien onverlet, het peert dat is gevallen; Daer ligh ick nu, eylaes! daer ligh ick moedigh quant, Gedommelt in het stoff, geslingert in het sant. Wel nu, dat heeftet wegh; noch moet ick efter rijsen, En uyt het ongeluck mijn dwaesheyt onderwijsen; Ghy, segh eens, mijn vernuft, wat ick uyt desen val Voor my, en mijns gelijck, ten nutte brengen sal? Ey wat is ons verstant! Wy gaen op losse beenen, En dan oock alder-meest als wy het seecker meenen; Men vint, nae mijn begrijp, niet een soo vasten man Die niet een lossen pas by wijlen doen en kan. Al is de ruyter gaeu, noch sal hy somtijts glippen; Al is de visscher sneech, hem kan een ael ontslippen; Wat dienter veel geseyt? de beste van den hoop Heeft dickmael (eer hy't meynt) de sinnen op dé loop.
TranslationAI-generated
This was a spirited horse, and shod only today; it went along very handsomely, sometimes for whole days; it kept a steady pace from the moment I sat down on it; the road too was fit, and in no way slippery-smooth; moreover I rode with discretion, and not at all to play the fool, and look, all unhindered, the horse has fallen; there I lie now, alas! there I lie, a bold fellow, tumbled in the dust, flung into the sand. Well now, that is over with; yet I must get up again, and from the mishap teach my own folly; tell me once, my wits, what I shall turn this fall to good use for myself and my like? Ah, what is our understanding! We walk on loose legs, and most of all just when we think ourselves secure; there is not, to my mind, any man so steady that he cannot now and then make a slip. However nimble the rider, he will sometimes slide off; however cunning the fisher, an eel can escape him; what need of many words? The best of the whole lot has often (before he thinks it) his senses running off with him.
CommentaryAI-generated
24 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Franç. Il n'y à si bon chartier qui parfois ne verse.
French. There is no carter so good that he does not sometimes overturn.
Lat. Nemo sapit omnibus horis.
Latin. No one is wise at all hours.
Franç. A bon pescheur escappe anguille.
French. An eel escapes even a good fisherman.
Nederl. Het mist een meester wel.
Dutch. Even a master may miss.
Geen so loosen exter/ of haer nest wort wel eens gerooft.
There is no magpie so sly but that her nest is sometimes robbed.
Geen soo snegen hin/ of sy leyt wel een ey verloren inde netelen.
There is no hen so clever but that she sometimes lays an egg lost among the nettles.
Een goet visscher ontglipt wel een ael.
A good fisherman may well let an eel slip away.
Ital. Non è si sperto aratore che alcuna volta non faccia un solco torto.
Italian. There is no ploughman so expert that he does not sometimes make a crooked furrow.
Franç. Il n'est si sage Qui parfois ne rage.
French. There is none so wise who does not sometimes rave.
Toutes heures Ne sont pas meures.
All hours are not ripe.
Nederl. Een vier-voetigh peert sneuvelt wel.
Dutch. A four-footed horse may well stumble.
Een beslagen merrie struyckelt wel.
A shod mare may well stumble.
Een goet schutter mist wel.
A good marksman may well miss.
Niemant soo wijs/ of hy kan falen. Nederl.
No one so wise but that he can fail. Dutch.
't Ghebeurt wel dat een goet zee man over-boort valt.
It does happen that a good seaman falls overboard.
Les plus sages faillent souvent en beau chemin. Franç.
The wisest often go wrong on a fine road. French.
Il est bon maistre qui jammais ne faille.
He is a good master who never fails.
'Tis een goet konstenaer diet altijt wel geraeckt. Nederl.
He is a good artist who always hits it right. Dutch.
Es verritt sich auch wol ein pferd mit vier füssen. Hoogd.
Even a horse with four feet may well take a wrong step. High German.
--- Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus. Lat.
--- Sometimes even good Homer nods. Latin.
E cade un cavallo da quattro gambe. Ital.
And a horse with four legs falls. Italian.
Vn chaval à quatre pieds chet bien Iument ferrè glisse bien. Franç.
A horse with four feet does fall; a shod mare does slip. French.
Il n'est si seur qui ne glisse.
There is none so sure-footed that he does not slip.
Il n'est si bon marinier qui ne perille A grand pescheur eschappe anguille.
There is no sailor so good that he does not run into danger. An eel escapes even a great fisherman.
Iconclass
86(NUL CHEVAL SI BIEN FERRÉ QUI NE GLISSE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (NUL CHEVAL SI BIEN FERRÉ QUI NE GLISSE)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
46C131riding a horse, ass, or mule; rider, horsemanhighThe scene centres on a richly dressed rider on horseback, matching 'riding a horse... rider, horseman', here shown at the moment his horse stumbles.
86proverbs, sayings, etc.highThe commentary consists entirely of multilingual proverbs on fallibility ('a horse with four legs falls', 'no one is wise at all hours'), so the image illustrates 'proverbs, sayings, etc.'
86(...)proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)mediumThe emblem illustrates a specific named proverb that could be filled into 'proverbs, sayings, etc. (with TEXT)', e.g. 'a horse with four feet may well stumble'.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- II iv 29 Nemo mortualium omnibus horis sapit – direct mottohigh
The emblem's own Latin commentary gives the proverb as 'Lat. Nemo sapit omnibus horis', i.e. Erasmus' adage (from Pliny, Nat. hist. 7) that no mortal is wise at every hour; it is the Latin equivalent Cats offers for 'Nul cheval si bien ferré qui ne glisse' and for the moral of the subscriptio that even the steadiest man sometimes slips.
- I v 1 Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus' adage warns that nothing hoped for is so certain or so near that a sudden chance cannot upset it; the emblem's falling horse and the line 'we walk on loose legs, and most of all just when we think ourselves secure' express precisely this commonplace of the unexpected slip.
- I vii 5 Nescis quid serus vesper vehat – thematic inventiolow
The adage's lesson — never feel secure in present success, since one cannot know what the outcome will be — matches the subscriptio's reflection that the well-shod horse fell although road, rider and pace were all favourable.
- I v 2 Inter os et offam – thematic inventiolow
Like the previous adage of the cup and lip, this Latin proverb of the mishap occurring between mouth and morsel belongs to the same 'incertus eventus' topic that the emblem's sudden fall illustrates.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem106
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem106
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288