Chrysippus[1] scribit, quendam somnium suum, quo ova a lecto suo pendentia viderat{;}<,> ad [273] divinatorem retulisse: audiisseque ex illo, inventurum se ubi foderet, thesaurum. Et cum, vase, in quo aurum, argentumque erat invento ad vatem argenti nonnihil attulisset, dixisse illum, τοῦ δὲ νεοττοῦ οὐδὲν μοι δίδως<;> hoc est, de vitello vero nihil ne mihi dabis? Author est Suidas[2]. Lusit autem is pulchre circa somnium ovorum, in quibus candidum, et luteum continentur, illud ad argentum, hoc ad aurum referens, cum in somnii interpretatione, tum magis argenti <tantum[3]> parte muneri oblata.

Chrysippus writes that he reported to a soothsayer a his own dream in which had seen some eggs hanging from his bed: and that he heard from him that where he had dug would have found a treasure. And since after he found a vase in which there was gold and silver he brought some silver to forecaster, this said toû dè neottoû oudèn moi dídøs? that is, but will you give me nothing of the yolk? The lexicon Suidas is reporting it. He well joked about the dream of the eggs, in which white and yellow are contained, referring the former to the silver, the latter to the gold, since at that time in the interpretation of a dream only a silver piece was given as gift to soothsayers.

Cleomenes Cleombroti, ut refert Plutarchus[4], cum quidam ei Gallinaceos pugnaces offerret, {quos pugnando etiam pro victoria emori dicebat} <quos pugnando pro victoria etiam emori dicebat>[5]: quin tu de illis potius, dixit mihi dato, a quibus occiduntur. Illi enim praestabunt. Ab Alcibiade Socratem interrogatum, cur tam iurgiosam uxorem domo non exigeret, ferunt respondisse, cur tu Gallinas clamosas alis? Cumque Alcibiades respondisset, quia sibi ova parerent, dixisse, et uxorem sibi liberos parere.

As Plutarch reports, Cleomenes II, son of Cleombrotus II, since a man was offering him some fighting cocks affirming that they were also dying in fighting for victory, he said: come on! you will give me them rather by choosing among those by whom they are killed. For they will be better. They tell that Socrates, questioned by Alcibiades why he didn’t drive out of house such a very quarrelsome wife, he replied: why do you raise hens who are cackling? And since Alcibiades replied that it was because they laid him eggs, then he said that also his wife bore him children.

PROVERBIA.

PROVERBS

Aliquot proverbiorum in superioribus rubricis, maxime capite de magnanimitate[6] meminimus, qualia in primis sunt, Gallus insilit[7]. Ἀλεκτρυών ἐπιπηδᾷ. Egregie, apteque quadrat, ubi quis vel in acie, pugnave succumbens vel in disputatione resumptis viribus praelium redintegrat. Similis paroemia est, αἶρε πλῆκτρον ἀμυντήριον, id est, tolle calcar ultorium: cuius etiam mentionem fecimus[8]. Recte autem dicitur, cum quis sese ad vindictam praeparat. Extat adagium apud Aristophanem[9], Αἶρε πλῆκτρον εἰ μάχει, id est, tolle calcar si pugnas. Metaphora ut videtur sumpta est a ferreis illis stimulis, qui Gallis pugnaturis a dominis alligantur, quo se in pugna tueantur.

In previous chapters, especially in the chapter about the courage, we quoted some proverbs, which are, fist of all, The rooster dives in. Alektryøn epipedâi. It fits excellently and aptly whenever someone, being defeated in battle or in fight or during a quarrel, after he got back his strength he is resuming the fight. Similar is the proverb aîre plëktron amyntërion, that is, put on the avenger spur: which we have also mentioned. It is rightly said when someone prepares himself to a revenge. An adage is found in Aristophanes, Aîre plëktron ei máchei, that is, Put on the spur if you fight. It seems that the metaphor has been gathered from those iron goads which are tied to the roosters by their owners when they are about to fight so that can protect themselves during the combat.

Proverbiali etiam ioco dici diximus[10] ἡττήθης τινός ἀλεκτρυόνος in famulos, qui dominos suos a tergo sequuntur, supplices videlicet, et abiecti, quales scilicet Galli esse solent in pugna superati, quia victi silere solent, canere victores. Cui finitimum est ἐνδομάχας ἅτ'ἀλέκτωρ, id est, domi pugnas ad instar Galli[11]. Item et illud: Gallus in suo sterquilinio plurimum potest[12]. Nam dicuntur eiuscemodi proverbia in eos, qui domi viribus praestant, in bello vero, vel alibi cuivis virtute cedunt, pugnacitateque. Αὐτὸς αὐτὸν αὐλεῖ, idest, {ipsemet} <ipse semet> canit {seu} <seu>[13] ipse suimet tibicen <est>. Proverbium hoc a Gallis desumptum apparet: nam his praecipue mos est, cum se e pugna prorumpunt, canere si victores sint, quasi victoriae suae tibicines, quare proverbium convenit, cum alias, tum in illos, qui semetipsos laudant, Thrasones, nasutulosque, de quibus Plato[14] forte dicebat: Videmur mihi <ignavi>[15] Galli in morem, quum ante victoriam a sermone resilierimus, canere.

We told that as proverbial joke it is also said hëttëthës tinòs alektruónos - you have been overcome by some rooster - towards servants following their masters behind, that is, suppliant and humble, just as roosters beaten in fight are accustomed to behave, since if defeated they are accustomed to keep silent, but to sing if they are winners. To which is similar endomáchas hát'aléktør, that is, you fight at home in the fashion of a rooster. Similar is also that other one: a rooster is extremely powerful in his own dunghill. In fact such proverbs are said towards those who at their home are superior in strength, but in war or elsewhere are inferior to the qualities and the combativeness of anybody. Autòs autòn auleî, that is, he sings himself, that is, he himself is the flautist of himself. It is clear that this proverb has been deduced from the roosters: for when they fling themselves out of a fight they are chiefly themselves having the habit of crowing if winners, as if they were flautists of their victory, thence the proverb is not only suitable for other circumstances but also for those who are praising themselves, the braggarts - like a Thraso, and the little funny persons, about whom perhaps Plato was speaking – in the dialogue Theaetetus: Socrates: It seems that, like a coward rooster, we crow before having won, jumping down from reasoning.

Cicero[16] quoque proverbialiter scribit{,} <: similitudo vituperationis causa> ut in invidiam adducat hoc modo. Iste qui divitias suas iactat, sicut Gallus e Phrygia, aut <h>ariolus quispiam depressus, et oneratus auro clamat et delirat.

Also Cicero writes in a proverbial manner: A simile with the purpose of blaming, so that it should induce to envy, must be done in this way: This person who flaunts his wealth is shouting and is delirious like a Phrygian Gaul - priest - or like a soothsayer submerged and overloaded with gold.

Ὅταν Νίβας κοκκύσῃ, id est[17], cum Nibas coccyssaverit. Simillimum est adagium illi ad Graecas Kalendas. Tradunt enim, ut annotavimus, in Thessalonica Macedoniae civitate vicum esse, cui nomen Nibas, ubi Galli nunquam vocem {a}edant. Hesychius addit, Nibades dici capras cristatas, ut ab iis expectetur τὸ κοκκύζειν, quod est Gallinaceorum.[18]

Hótan Nìbas kokkýse, that is when Nibas shall have crowed. It is a proverb very similar to that saying at Greek Calends. For, as we reported, they tell that on outskirts of the Macedonian city of Thessalonica there is a village whose name is Nibas, where the roosters would never crow. Hesychius of Alexandria adds that goats endowed with crest are called from Nibas, since they are expected to crow – tò kokkýzein, which is characteristic of the roosters.

Socratis Gallus. Hoc adagii vice Nonius Marcellus e Varrone citat in {significacionem} <significationem> calvitiei, apud quem se invenisse quispiam ait, cum dormire coepisset tam glaber, quam Socratis Gallus, esse factum ericium cum pilis, et proboscide. Sentit quisquis illic loquitur, se cum iret cubitum, fuisse levi corpore, nec ullos habuisse pilos toto corpore, in somno transformatum in ericium, qui totus hirsutus est, et {suum}[19] <suium> more proboscidem habet. Scio, inquit author adagiorum[20] locum esse mendosum, et Aldina editio pro Gallo legit calvum: et fortassis non male: nam nostra editio Varronis verba ita recitat. Invenisse <se> cum dormire coepisset tam glaber, quam Socrates, calvum esse factum ericium e pilis albis: Conveniet adagium in nudos, et inopes.

The cock of Socrates. Nonius Marcellus quotes this as though it were a proverb drawn from Varro to mean the baldness, and in Nonius someone fellow says to have discovered himself transformed into a hedgehog with quills and trunk, while he began to sleep as bald as the rooster of Socrates. Whoever is able to understand that that man want to say that when he went to sleep he had a smooth body and that he had no hair throughout the body, and that during the sleep he was transformed into a hedgehog which is entirely bristly. And it has the snout like pigs. The author of the Adagia - Erasmus of Rotterdam - says: I know that the passage is corrupt, and the Aldine edition for rooster - gallus - has bald - calvus: and perhaps it is not wrong: for our edition of Varro reports the words in the following way: While he started to sleep being as hairless as Socrates, he found himself like a bald hedgehog with white quills: The proverb will fit those who are naked and poor.

Vesparum examen metuit Phrynichus, velut Gallinaceus: Hic Phrynichus Tragicus[21] Mileti captivitatem agebat: Athenienses vero metuentem, per{r}horrescentemque lachrymantes eum eiecerunt: Author est Aelianus[22]: sed alii aliter. Quadrat in damnum passos. Indecens est, ut Gallina ante Gallum cantet: hoc est, non decet, ut mulier pro viro gubernacula teneat, quod neque animi magnitudo, qua potissimum civitatis salus nititur, neque consilium, quod ad urbanarum rerum temperationes maximam vim habet, satis praesidii ad constituendam remp. in ea vigeat. Feliciter natum, Albae Gallinae filium dicunt, ut Iuvenalis[23]{.}<:> quia tu Gallinae filius albae{:}<.> Vel quod laeta, et auspicata {latini} <Latini> alba vocant, vel quod proverbium alludit ad fatalem illam Gallinam[24], de qua antea cum auguriis ageremus, ex Suetonio [274] locuti fuimus.

Phrynicus feared a swarm of wasps, like a rooster: This Phrynicus, a writer of tragedies, was held captive in Miletus: for Athenians in tears sent him away full of fear and terror: Aelian is author of this: but others told this otherwise. It fits those who suffered amends. It is improper that a hen crows in front of a rooster: that is, it is improper that a woman holds the rudders instead of a man, since neither the greatness of soul on which the salvation of a State is largely standing, nor the wisdom which has the greatest importance for a balanced organization of the things of a city, in her there is not enough help for rearranging a republic. One who is happily born is called Son of a white hen, like Juvenal: Because you are son of a white hen. Either because Latins call white the cheerful things and with favorable auspices, or because the proverb alludes to that hen wanted by the fate of which we have previously spoken, gathering data from Suetonius, while we were dealing with the prophecies.