Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 116
Vechtende koeyen voegen haer als de wolf komtDutch
Fighting cows join together when the wolf comes.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
An oval medallion within a square frame with hatched corner spandrels and an empty banderole at the bottom. In the background on a rise, two cows or bulls charge at each other with lowered horns while two others fight behind them; at the right stands a large house or gatehouse with a bridge and small figures standing in a doorway and on the bridge, and a church spire beyond. In the foreground a herd of about eight cattle has gathered into a close group, heads turned outward, while at the left a wolf springs forward and seizes one of them by the head; reeds and grass grow in the foreground.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
Laetst wasser groot verschil geresen aender heyden, Dies vochten onder een de koeyen inde weyden, Doch mits een grage wolff quam loeren daer ontrent, Soo was van stonden aen de gantsche krijgh ten endt; Het onheyl, dat hen dreygt, dat doet de gramschap sijgen, Dat doet hen wijser zijn, en beter sinnen krijgen; Hierom koomt al het rot en maeckt een ronden hoop, Dies tijdt de moede wolff ten lesten op den loop. Gedenckt dit alle tijt ghy vrye Neder-landen, Want siet in Eenigh zijn daer zijn u vaste banden, Maeckt dat u binnens landts geen wrevel om en roert, Vermits een grage wolff op uwe kudden loert.
TranslationAI-generated
Lately a great quarrel arose out on the heath, so that the cows fought among themselves in the meadows; but since a greedy wolf came prowling thereabouts, the whole war was at once at an end. The harm that threatens them makes their anger sink, makes them wiser and gives them better sense; therefore the whole troop comes together and forms a round heap, so that at last the weary wolf takes to his heels. Remember this always, you free Netherlands, for see, in being one lie your firm bonds; see that no rancour stirs about within your country, since a greedy wolf is lurking after your herds.
CommentaryAI-generated
6 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Commune periculum dissidentes conjungit.
A common danger joins together those who are at odds.
Dion. Hal. lib. 8. Instante communi periculo conciliari solent dissidentium animi.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, book 8. When a common danger is at hand, the minds of those who disagree are wont to be reconciled.
Het beeldt konde zijn een huys-moeder, die eenige kinderen vanden heert jaegt, vermits sy het vyer breecken ende vanden anderen scheyden; deselve spreeckt aldus:
The picture could be a housewife who drives some children away from the hearth, because they break up the fire and separate it from the rest; she speaks thus:
Lat. Concordiâ res parvæ crescunt. Discordiâ magnæ dilabuntur.
Latin. By concord small things grow; by discord great things fall apart.
Nederl. Twist verquist. Eendracht geeft macht. Eenigheyt vermach veel.
Dutch. Strife wastes. Concord gives power. Unity can do much.
Sacrum est pacis nomen, & quod vix terram sapiat nec alio nomine hebræi τὸ εὖ ζῆν ipsam adeò perfectionem innuebant, nec quid aliud humano generi lubentius vel gratulati sunt Angeli, vel legavit Christus, vel Apostoli præceperunt. &c. Ioseph. Hal. Rom. irrec.
Holy is the name of peace, and one that scarcely savours of earth; and by no other name did the Hebrews signify 'living well', indeed perfection itself; nor did the Angels more gladly wish anything else to the human race, nor did Christ bequeath, nor the Apostles enjoin, anything else. Etc. Joseph Hall, Roma irreconciliabilis.
Iconclass
86(VECHTENDE KOEYEN VOEGEN HAER ALS DE WOLF KOMT)proverbs, sayings, etc. (VECHTENDE KOEYEN VOEGEN HAER ALS DE WOLF KOMT)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
54E31Agreement, Unity; 'Concordia', 'Concordia insuperabile', 'Concordia militare', 'Concordia di Pace', 'Unione civile' (Ripa)highThe correlate 'Agreement, Unity; Concordia' is exactly the emblem's lesson that a common danger unites the discordant, shown by the cattle closing ranks against the wolf and the motto 'By concord small things grow'.
54EE31Disagreement, Discord; 'Discordia' (Ripa)medium'Disagreement, Discord' is the counterpart theme explicitly present in the motto ('by discord great things fall apart') and pictured in the bulls fighting each other in the background.
45A2peacelow'Peace' is invoked in the commentary's praise of the holy name of peace, though the image itself shows unity against a predator rather than peace as such.
41B21open hearth, fire-placelow'Open hearth, fire-place' corresponds to the alternative picture proposed in the commentary of a housewife driving children from the hearth whose fire they scatter, but it is not in the actual engraving.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- III viii 71 Mutua defensio tutissima – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus' essay states exactly the emblem's lesson: those who agree to protect one another are least vulnerable, while those split by internal factions are exposed to every injury — precisely the cattle that stop fighting and form a defensive ring against the wolf, applied to the Netherlands' internal strife.
- III viii 62A Mutua defensatio – thematic inventiomedium
The Homeric image of shield packed against shield and man against man matches the pictured 'ronden hoop' of cattle with heads turned outward, a closed phalanx presented as the remedy for discord.
- III viii 63 Concordia fulciuntur opes etiam exiguare – thematic inventiomedium
The adage's point ('when joined together even the weak are a force') underlies both halves of the emblem — the herd's united strength driving off the wolf and the Dutch mottoes 'Eendracht geeft macht' / 'Concordia res parvae crescunt'.
- V i 78 Surculus surculum ferens – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus glosses the twig-bundle as 'individuals are weak, but joined together in concord they acquire great strength', the same inventio as the divided fire that loses its flame once the brands are pulled apart.
- II i 10 In eadem es navi – thematic inventiolow
The Latin commentary 'Commune periculum dissidentes conjungit' expresses the shared-peril idea that Erasmus develops under this adage (common danger binds all aboard the same vessel/state), though without textual borrowing.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem116
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem116
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288