Laudator Temporis Acti

The Dialogue of Solomon and Marcolf: A Dual-Language Edition from Latin and Middle English Printed Editions. Edited by Nancy Mason Bradbury and Scott Bradbury (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 2012), pp. 95-102 = Appendix of "Proverb exchanges present in the 'long' versions of The Dialogue of Solomon and Marcolf in the manuscripts but not included in the Latin and vernacular prints" (excerpts, with footnotes omitted; the bracketed translations are in the original):

B 15a S: Subtrahe pedem tuum a muliere litigiosa!
[Withdraw thy foot from a quarrelsome woman!]
B 15b M: Subtrahe nasum tuum a culo jussoso!
[Withdraw thy nose from a farting ass!]

B 26a S: Inter bonos et malos repletur domus.
[Between good men and bad the house is filled.]
B 26b M: Inter podiscos et merdam repletur latrina.
[Between arse-wipes and shit the privy is filled.]

B 38a S: Quatuor evangeliste sustinent mundum.
[The four evangelists uphold the world.]
B 38b M: Quatuor subposte sustinent latrinam, ne cadat qui sedet super eam.
[Four posts uphold the privy, lest he fall in that sits over it.]

B 40a S: Optime convenit in clipeo candido nigra bucula.
[A black boss fits perfectly on a white shield.]
B 40b M: Optime considet inter albas nates niger culus.
[A black arsehole sits perfectly between white cheeks.]

B 46a S: Eice derisorem et exibit cum eo jurgium cessabuntque cause et contumelie.
[Cast out the scoffer, and contention shall go out with him, and quarrels and reproaches shall cease.]
B 46b M: Eice inflacionem de ventre et exibit cum ea merda cessabuntque torciones et jusse.
[Drive out wind from the belly, and shit shall go out with it, and cramps and farting shall cease.]

B 60a S: Venter meus dolet et fluctuat.
[My belly is in pain and churning.]
B 60b M: Vade ad latrinam, bene preme ventrem; culus evomat de quo fluctuat venter.
[Go to the privy, press hard on your belly; your arse will get rid of what’s making your belly churn.]

B 89a S: Da sapienti occasionem, et addetur ei sapiencia.
[Give a wise man an opportunity, and wisdom shall be added to him.]
B 89b M: Infarcire ventrem et addetur tibi merda.
[Stuff your belly, and shit shall be added to you.]

B 90a S: Qui amat sapienciam, additur illi.
[He that loves wisdom, more is added to him.]
B 90b M: Laxa culum pedere, et ipse concuciet se.
[Let the arsehole fart, and it will shake itself.]

B 91a S: Bonum convivium malumque convivium suppis decoratum.
[A good meal and a bad meal are enhanced by soups.]
B 91b M: Suppe faciunt teneras buccas et culum viscosum.
[Soups make the mouth tender and the arsehole sticky.]

B 138a S: Benefac justo et invenies retribucionem magnam; et si non ab ipso, certe a Domino.
[Do good to the just, and you shall find great recompense; and if not of him, assuredly of the Lord.]
B 138b M: Benefac ventri et invenies eructuacionem magnam, et si non ab ore, certe a culo.
[Do good to the belly, and you shall find great belching, and if not of the mouth, assuredly of the arsehole.]

I have trouble seeing any connection at all between 90a and 90b. I might even go so far as to posit a lacuna in the archetype. By the way, I would translate 90a as "He that loves wisdom, it [i.e. wisdom] is added unto him."

On 26b see Jan M. Ziolkowski, ed. and tr., Solomon and Marcolf (Cambridge: Department of the Classics, Harvard University, 2008 = Harvard Studies in Medieval Latin, 1), pp. 134-135:

podiscos (ass-wipes): Benary prints podi(s)cos, with the unconventional use of the parentheses and without indicating very clearly which manuscripts offer which readings at this point. He advocates understanding the opening words to mean “between fundaments and shit” or, to be less polite, “between assholes and shit” (emphasis added). He speculates that the Latin podiscum, presented in a single codex, is an otherwise unattested noun that arose from the Classical Latin podex, -icis, “the anal orifice” either by conversion from the third to the second declension (podicus < podex) or by the supplying of a different second-declension ending as a result of metathesis (podiscus < podex). In either case the meaning would be clear. Yet a serious objection to this proposed etymology is that podex had no apparent resonance in Vulgar Latin and did not survive in any Romance language: see Adams, Latin Sexual Vocabulary, 112.

An alternative is that the word podiscus or pudiscus refers to whatever substances those at the latrine had at hand for cleaning themselves—the medieval equivalent of toilet paper. Taking the noun in this sense would clarify why the word is glossed sometimes as proprie arswisse (“properly ‘ass-wipes’”) and translated as mit arßwischen (“with ass-wipes”). On Arschwisch (“ass-wipe”), see Diefenbach 443. Supporting this interpretation is the evidence of the High and Low German prose, which translate as mit dreck und mit arßwischen (“with filth and with ass-wipes”). The word is nearly synonymous with the Latin cacatergito (“shit-wipe”). Such an interpretation is supported by proverbs, such as Walther 3:595, no. 19916 (and compare 3:598, no. 19932): Omnes pudiscum, sapientes, ferte vobiscum, / Ne confusa manus fiat, cum tergitur anus (“All who are wise, bring an ass-wipe with you, for fear that the hand become ruined [mixed up] when the asshole is being wiped”).

Benary = Walter Benary, ed., Salomon et Marcolfus: Kritischer Text mit Einleitung, Anmerkungen, Übersicht über die Sprüche, Namen- und Wörterverzeichnis (Heidelberg: Carl Winter’s Universitätsbuchhandlung, 1914 = Sammlung mittellateinischer Texte, 8).

Diefenbach = Laurentius Diefenbach, Glossarium latino-germanicum mediae et infimae aetatis e codicibus manuscriptis et libris impressis (Frankfurt am Main: J. Baer, 1857).

Walther = Hans Walther, Proverbia sententiaeque latinitatis medii aevi (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1963-1969), continued by Paul Gerhard Schmidt (1982-1986).

Related post: Dozens.

Labels: noctes scatologicae