Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #158: Datives with -i and -o

The focus for today's lesson is practice with mixed datives again, this time with the masculine and neuter datives that have -o for their ending, plus the words with -i endings in the dative.

Remember those special mixed words that have -a, -us/um in the nominative, like they belonged to the 1st-2nd declension, but -i in the dative, as if they belonged to the 3rd declension...? You will have another example in one of today's sayings: the word unus/unum, which means "one," takes -i for a dative ending: uni. You'll see that form in today's first saying about the mouse and the mouse-hole.

And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before; you have seen all the words in today's sayings except for two.

So, here are today's proverbs:

1. Mus non uni fidit antro.
(A) mouse doesn't trust to-one-hole.
mus non uni fidit antro.

The word uni is the dative form of the neuter adjective unum, agreeing with antro, the dative form of the neuter noun antrum, "cave." Or, in the sentence, "hole," as in the word "mouse-hole."

The verb fidit, which you have seen before, takes a dative complement: uni fidit antro.

Compare the English saying about "putting all your eggs in one basket." The idea is that the mouse needs to have multiple mouse-holes if he wants to get away from any and all predators.

2. Homini hora, aeternitas Deo.
(An) hour for-a-person, an eternity for-God.
HO-mini hora, ae-TER-nitas Deo.

The word homini is the dative form of homo, and Deo is the dative form of Deus.

The idea is that a human being has but a limited lifespan, as if it were but a single hour compared to God's eternity.

You could also treat this as a dative of possession, translating it as: "A person has an hour; God has eternity."

Notice that this is a perfect example of chiasmus, the criss-cross word order that adds a bit of poetry to the Latin: dative-nominative || nominative-dative. (More about chiasmus.)

3. Asinus asino et sus sui pulcher.
(A) donkey is beautiful to-a-donkey, and pig to-a-pig.
A-sinus A-sino et sus sui pulcher.

The word asino is the dative form of asinus, and sui is the dative form of sus.

You've seen each of these two ideas separately, Asinus asino pulcher and Sus sui pulcher, and now you see them combined, making it doubly insulting, given that neither donkeys nor pigs are usually regarded as beautiful... except to one another.

4. Noli barbam vellere mortuo leoni.
Don't pluck the dead lion's beard.
noli barbam VEL-lere MOR-tuo le-O-ni.

The word leoni is the dative form of the masculine noun leo, and mortuo is the dative form of the masculine adjective mortuus, agreeing with leo.

The word vellere is the infinitive form of vellit, "plucks." You can see this Latin root in English "vellication" and it is also the root of compounds like "revulsion" and "convulsion."

The word barbam is the accusative form of the noun barbam, the object of vellere.

This is one of those datives used to indicate possession: instead of saying "beard of the lion," Latin says "beard to-the-lion," barbam leoni.
The word noli is used with infinitives to create negative commands: Noli vellere, "Don't pluck..."

The usual meaning of the proverb is that even when a mighty person has fallen on hard times, you should not take advantage of him, but the saying is also found in an epigram by the Roman poet Martial, where he invokes the proverb for obscene purposes.

5. Ars varia vulpi, ars una echino maxima.
Many a-trick for-the-fox, one trick, a-big-one, for-the-hedgehog.
ars VA-ria vulpi, ars una e-CHI-no MAX-ima.

You've seen part of this saying before: Ars varia vulpi, which is another example of the dative of possession, as you can translate this as "The fox has many a trick."

The word echino is the dative form of echinus, "hedgehog."

You can read more about this famous saying at Wikipedia: The Hedgehog and the Fox. In Aesop's fables, the cat takes the place of the hedgehog, contrasting the fox's many tricks with the cat's one trick; the cat's one trick is to climb a tree, as the hedgehog's one trick is to roll up into a ball. Here is the fable: The Fox and the Cat.

Here's a recap: