Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 109
Een schip op een sant een baken in zeeDutch
A ship on a sandbank is a beacon at sea.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within a square plate a large dark circular border (like an initial letter O) frames a seascape. In the left foreground a broad Dutch sailing vessel with a tall, slack mainsail and a small pennant at the masthead lies canted in shallow, breaking water; several crewmen stand on deck, one at the bow holding a long pole, others amidships near the mast and rudder; a round-shaped object (basket or fender) hangs over the stern. A small empty rowing boat lies in the water in the right-bottom foreground. To the right a second sailing boat with raised sail and flag is seen broadside, with more small sails and vessels on the horizon. Clouds fill the upper sky and a few birds fly at upper right. The four corners of the square plate outside the circle are filled with cross-hatched triangular ornaments.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Te louver, man te roer, te loever, lieve maet, Kijck hoe het met het schip vá onsé buerman staet; Het sit daer op een sant gegeesselt vande stroomen, En daer en is geen hulp, hoe seer de gasten boomen, Dus sooder nu een wint koomt dringen nae den wal, 'Tis seker dat de kiel in stucken bersten sal. Ghy, siet dan neerstich toe, en let op uwe saecken, Een schip, op 't droogh gezeylt, dat is een seecker baken, En 'tis, nae mijn begrijp, geen onvoorsichtich man Die op eens anders feyl de sijne toomen kan. Veel menschen, lieve vrient, ontgingen harde slagen, Indien sy met verstant op d'een en d'ander sagen; Men segge watmen wil, exempels hebben kracht Wanneermen met bescheyt op hare gronden acht. Daer is geen beter school de kinders aen te wijsen, Daer is geen sachter tucht de mannen aen te prijsen, Als datmen staegh bedenckt en vlijtich gade slaet Wat dat een ander doet, en watter uyt ontstaet.
TranslationAI-generated
To windward, man at the helm, to windward, dear mate, / Look how things stand with the ship of our neighbour; / It sits there on a sandbank, scourged by the currents, / And there is no help there, however hard the hands pole, / So if now a wind comes driving towards the shore, / It is certain that the keel will burst to pieces. / You then, look diligently to it, and attend to your own affairs: / A ship sailed aground, that is a sure beacon, / And he is, to my understanding, no imprudent man / Who can bridle his own faults by another's failing. / Many people, dear friend, would have escaped hard blows, / If they had looked with understanding at this one and that one; / Say what one will, examples have power / When one considers their grounds with discernment. / There is no better school to show children, / There is no gentler discipline to commend to men, / Than that one constantly considers and diligently observes / What another does, and what comes of it.
CommentaryAI-generated
17 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Hy spiegelt hem sacht die hem aen een ander spiegelt.
He mirrors himself gently who mirrors himself on another.
Ex vitio alterius sapiens emendat suum.
From another's fault the wise man corrects his own.
Cato. Multorum disce exemplo quæ facta sequaris, Quæ fugias, nobis vita est aliena magistra.
Cato. Learn by the example of many which deeds you should follow, which you should flee; another's life is our teacher.
Horat. Olim quod vulpes ægroto cauta leoni Respondit, referens, quia me vestigia terrent, Omnia te adversum spectantia, nulla retrorsum.
Horace. What once the cautious fox answered to the sick lion, replying: because the footprints frighten me, all of them looking towards you, none back again.
Lat. Tunc tua res agitur paries cum proximus ardet.
Latin. Then your own affair is at stake when the neighbouring wall is burning.
Ital. Chi ha mal vicin Ha mal matin.
Italian. He who has a bad neighbour has a bad morning.
Lat. Ne malè vicini pecoris contagia lædant. Hinc benè commēdavit philosophus domum à bonis vicinis.
Latin. Lest the contagion of the neighbouring flock do harm. Hence the philosopher rightly commended a house by its good neighbours.
Engels. When they neybowrs house doth burne, be careful of thine owne.
English. When thy neighbour's house doth burn, be careful of thine own.
Ital. Chi prattica co'l lupo, impara à urlare.
Italian. He who keeps company with the wolf learns to howl.
Ital. Chi toccà la pece, s'imbratta le mani.
Italian. He who touches pitch dirties his hands.
Chi dorme co' cani, si lieva con le pulci.
He who sleeps with dogs gets up with fleas.
Chi va al mulin, s'infarina.
He who goes to the mill gets floured.
Dimmi, con chi tu vai Et saprò quel che tu fai.
Tell me with whom you go, and I shall know what you do.
Franç. Mieux vaut estre seul que mal accompagné.
French. It is better to be alone than in bad company.
Brebis rogneuses font les autres tigneuses.
Scabby sheep make the others mangy.
Ital. Quando egli arde in vicinanza, porta l'acqua à casa tua.
Italian. When there is a fire in the neighbourhood, carry water to your own house.
Alb. Gentilis tract. de Iure belli Iustam causam belli suscipiendi contra Hispanum dixit habuisse Elisabetham Anglorum reginam anno 1588. Hispano nimirum ambitione sua rapto, Europæ Monarchiam affectante & Belgas identidem bello impetente.
Age age, inquit, principum fortissima, nam obsistis justissimè quando & vicina tibi regio est, quæ bello ardet, adeoque fumum ardentis illic ignis in regnis tuis prospicere, & sentire potes, & fumo flammam proximam non ignoras, tuamque agi rem dum proximus paries ardet; nec, si quis ignis ædes cœpit proximas, defensu haud facilè esse quin & proximæ comburantur. Vicini juvandi sunt, quia hæc nostrûm ipsorum defensio, &c.
Alberico Gentili, in his treatise On the Law of War, said that Elizabeth, Queen of the English, had a just cause for undertaking war against the Spaniard in the year 1588; namely, since the Spaniard, carried away by his own ambition, was aiming at the monarchy of Europe and repeatedly attacking the Netherlanders. 'Come, come,' he says, 'bravest of princes, for you resist most justly, since the region next to you is one that is ablaze with war, and so you can see and feel in your own kingdoms the smoke of the fire burning there, and from the smoke you are not ignorant that the flame is near, and that your own affair is at stake while the neighbouring wall burns; nor, if a fire has seized the nearest houses, is it easy by defence to prevent the adjoining ones from burning too. Neighbours must be helped, because this is the defence of our very selves,' etc.
Iconclass
86(EEN SCHIP OP EEN SANT EEN BAKEN IN ZEE)proverbs, sayings, etc. (EEN SCHIP OP EEN SANT EEN BAKEN IN ZEE)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
46C24sailing-ship, sailing-boathighThe correlate 'sailing-ship, sailing-boat' matches the broad Dutch sailing vessel with mainsail and the second sailing boat with raised sail in the scene.
25H23sea (seascape)highThe correlate 'sea (seascape)' matches the circular framed marine view with breaking water, horizon sails and clouded sky.
46C232rowing-boat, canoe, etc.highThe correlate 'rowing-boat, canoe, etc.' matches the small empty rowing boat in the right foreground.
25H2landscapes with waters, waterscapes, seascapes (in the temperate zone)mediumThe correlate 'landscapes with waters, waterscapes, seascapes' is the broader category covering this coastal shallow-water scene.
46C271crew ~ shipmediumThe correlate 'crew ~ ship' matches the several crewmen standing on the deck of the canted vessel.
46C2711(SAILOR)seaman: sailormediumThe correlate 'seaman: sailor' fits the individual sailors depicted at the bow, mast and rudder.
46C285manoeuvering a shiplowThe correlate 'manoeuvering a ship' could fit the man sounding/poling at the bow and the one at the rudder in shallow water.
46C241sailing-ship's rigginglowThe correlate 'sailing-ship's rigging' corresponds to the explicitly described tall slack mainsail, mast and pennant.
54C31ExamplemediumThe correlate 'Example' matches the commentary's central theme that one learns by another's example which deeds to follow or flee.
33A7neighbourmediumThe correlate 'neighbour' matches the commentary's string of proverbs on the burning neighbouring wall, bad neighbours and helping neighbours.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I i 32 Aliquid mali, propter vicinum malum – thematic inventiohigh
The emblem's second motto ('When your neighbour's house burns, it is time to look out') with its Italian gloss 'Chi ha mal vicin / Ha mal matin' states precisely Erasmus's adage on the harm that comes from a bad neighbour, and Erasmus's essay cites the same Hesiodic doctrine ('an evil neighbour is a mighty woe') that underlies the subscriptio.
- IV v 1 Ne bos quidem pereat – thematic inventiohigh
Erasmus's essay develops Cato's and Hesiod's advice on choosing a good neighbour; the emblem's commentary 'Hinc benè commendavit philosophus domum à bonis vicinis' and 'Goede bueren zijn te wenschen' repeat exactly that commonplace.
- I x 74 Corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia prava – thematic inventiohigh
The chain of Italian and French proverbs appended to the second motto ('He who keeps company with the wolf learns to howl', 'who touches pitch dirties his hands', 'who sleeps with dogs gets up with fleas', 'better alone than in bad company', 'scabby sheep make the others mangy') is the proverbial stock of Erasmus's adage on evil company corrupting good morals.
- I x 73 Si juxta claudum habites, subclaudicare disces – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus's adage combines the themes of contagion of morals and the bad neighbour (quoting Hesiod's 'πῆμα κακὸς γείτων'), which is precisely the argument of the emblem's second part: living next to wicked people infects one with their evil.
- II ix 71 Innocuus alium aspiciam meum habentem malum – thematic inventiomedium
The first emblem's moral ('Ex vitio alterius sapiens emendat suum'; one escapes hard blows by watching what happens to others) is the sense of this adage and of the Plautine tag Erasmus quotes in it, 'Feliciter sapit qui alieno periculo sapit'.
- IV viii 37 A bonis bona disce – thematic inventiomedium
The Cato distich quoted in the commentary ('Multorum disce exemplo quae facta sequaris... vita est aliena magistra') voices the same doctrine of learning virtue from the example and company of others that Erasmus expounds under this adage.
- I vi 37 Salsuginosa vicinia – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus's adage, classed under 'Malus vicinus', concerns troublesome, inhospitable neighbours, the burden which the emblem calls 'een lastigh pack' for one who lives among wicked people.
- III iv 95 Oscitante uno deinde oscitat et alter – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus's adage on the contagious force of example ('exempla habent vim') matches the emblem's claim that 'exempels hebben kracht' and that one person's conduct spreads to the neighbour.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem109
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem109
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288