Geffrey Whitney, A choice of emblemes (Leiden, 1586)

Emblem 39

A dog is deceived by the reflection in a river of the bone he has in his mouth

Subscriptio

CommentaryAI-generated

4 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)

Non minor est virtus, quàm quærere parta tueri; Casus inest illic hîc, erit artis opus.

Seruiet æternùm, quia paruo nesciat vti, Cui non conueniet sua res, vt calceus olim, Si pede maior erit, subuertet: si minor, vrget. Lætus sorte tua viues, sapienter Aristi.

It is no less a virtue to guard what has been gained than to seek it; in the one there is chance, in the other it will be the work of skill.

He will be a slave forever, because he does not know how to use a little, he whose property does not suit him, as a shoe once: if it is too big for the foot, it will trip him up; if too small, it pinches. You will live happy with your lot, wisely, Aristius.

Hor. 2. Car. 16. Viuitur paruo bene, cui paternum Splendet in mensa tenui salinum: Nec leues somnos timor, aut Cupido Sordidus aufert.

Horace, Odes 2.16. He lives well on little, whose father's salt-cellar shines on a modest table: and neither fear nor sordid desire takes away his light sleep.

Ouid. lib. 2. Art.

Ovid, Art [of Love], book 2.

Horatius 1. Epist. 10.

Horace, Epistles 1.10.

Notes and related emblems

• Fae. 90

Iconclass

• 22C81 shadow of an object
• 25G13 groups of plants (herbs)
• 25H212 brook
• 25H217 river bank
• 26A clouds
• 34B112(+9451) dog with bone (+ animal in search of food)
• 54F12(+4) Luck, Fortune, Lot; 'Fato', 'Fortuna', 'Fortuna aurea', 'Fortuna buona', 'Fortuna pacifica overo clemente', 'Sorte' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)
• 55B1(+4):54A43(+4) Wealth, Opulence; 'Opulenza', 'Richezza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)❧Temperance, Moderation; 'Misura' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)
• 55CC11(+4) Greed, Covetousness, Cupidity; 'Cupidità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)
• 85(DOG AND HIS REFLECTION) fables (DOG AND HIS REFLECTION)
• 86(MEDIOCRIBUS UTERE PARTIS) proverbs, sayings, etc. (MEDIOCRIBUS UTERE PARTIS)

Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated

Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.

• 34B112 dog with bonehigh

  The correlate 'dog with bone' exactly matches the central motif of the dog whose reflected image holds a bone in the water.

• 34B11 doghigh

  The generic correlate 'dog' matches the shaggy dog that is the sole figure of the scene.

• 55CC11 Greed, Covetousness, Cupidity; 'Cupidità' (Ripa)low

  'Greed, Covetousness, Cupidity' names the vice illustrated by the Aesopic dog losing its bone and by the commentary's warning against not being content with little, though no personification is actually depicted.

Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated

Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.

• II v 46 Ne supra pedem calceus – thematic inventiohigh

  The emblem's Latin commentary quotes the Horatian shoe simile ('vt calceus olim, / Si pede maior erit, subuertet: si minor, vrget') which is precisely the image and moral of this adage: do not live or aspire beyond the measure of your own condition.

• I vi 88 Messe tenus propria vive – thematic inventiomedium

  Erasmus' adage ('spend only what your own harvest allows') states exactly the emblem's motto 'Mediocribus utere partis' and the subscriptio's warning against despising one's modest calling and climbing vainly.

• I vi 92 Intra tuam pelliculam te contine – thematic inventiomedium

  The adage warns against forgetting one's lot and attempting more than one's resources allow, with the fable of the ass in the lion's skin who loses all; the emblem's 'wauering wighte' who climbs and falls shares this animal-fable moral of overreaching.

• I ix 95 Dimidium plus toto – thematic inventiomedium

  Erasmus explains the adage as commending the golden mean: grasping at the whole is harmful while the half is reasonable — the very point of the greedy dog who, reaching for more, loses the bone he has.

• I vi 87 Tecum habita – thematic inventiomedium

  'Measure yourself by your own possessions' is the lesson of the emblem's motto and of its Horatian tag 'Viuitur paruo bene', against those puffed up by hopes of other men's wealth.

• II iv 5 Spem precio emere – thematic inventiomedium

  The subscriptio's man who sells his lands on the strength of rumours of Tagus and Ganges gold 'buys hope for good money'; likewise the dog exchanges a real bone for a shadow.

• III ii 91 Praesentem mulge; quid fugientem insequeris? – thematic inventiomedium

  Erasmus' adage urges enjoying the good actually in hand rather than chasing what flees — exactly the moral of the dog deceived by the shadow and of 'Mediocribus utere partis'.

• I vi 96 Ne quid nimis – thematic inventiolow

  The emblem's commendation of the mediocris sors and contentment with one's lot rests on the commonplace of moderation which this adage canonically expresses.

• III vi 99 Bolus eruptus e faucibus – thematic inventiolow

  The picture literally shows a morsel lost from the dog's jaws; Erasmus' phrase for a gain snatched away just as it is grasped matches the emblem's image of losing 'maine, and all'.

• III iii 36 Duos insequens lepores neutrum capit – thematic inventiolow

  Erasmus glosses it as 'he who seeks a double advantage falls short of both', the structural moral of the dog who, grasping at the reflected bone, loses the real one.

Sources

Record ID: embstma_1667_emblem039
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1667_emblem039
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1667