Saturday, May 04, 2024
A Punic Proverb
Augustine, Sermons 167.4 (Patrologia Latina, vol. 38, col. 910; tr. Edmund Hill):
H.J. Rose, "The Folklore of Saint Augustine," Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 133 (Lent Term, 1926) 5-21 (at 11, footnote omitted):
I don't have access to W.M. Green, "Augustine's Use of Punic," in Semitic and Oriental Studíes Presented to William Popper = University of California Publications in Semitic Philology 11 (1951) 179-190.
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There is a well-known Punic proverb, which I will of course quote to you in Latin, because you don't all know Punic. It's an old Punic proverb: "Pestilence is begging for a penny; give it two, and let it take itself off."Cf. Ps-Augustine, Sermons 111.6 (Patrologia Latina, vol. 39, col. 1966):
Proverbium notum est punicum, quod quidem latine vobis dicam, quia punice non omnes nostis. Punicum enim proverbium est antiquum: Nummum quaerit pestilentia; duos illi da, et ducat se.
pestilentia ante ostium venit et nummum quaerit; duos illi da, et ducat se.W. Wehle, "Punisches Sprichwort bei Augustin," Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 17 (1862) 638, emends Augustine, Sermons 167.4 as follows:
unum nummum quaerit pestilentia; duos illi da et ducet se.Veselin Čajkanovič, "Ein punisches Sprichwort bei Augustin," Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 13.10 (October, 1910) 436-437, argues in favor of Wehle's emendation.
H.J. Rose, "The Folklore of Saint Augustine," Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 133 (Lent Term, 1926) 5-21 (at 11, footnote omitted):
[O]n one occasion he borrows a Punic proverb, which I confess I cannot explain, and would be obliged if anyone could tell me exactly what it means. He translates it, nummum quaerit pestilentia; duos illi da et ducat se.Michael G. Cox, "Augustine, Jerome, Tyconius and the Lingua Punica," Studia Orientalia 64 (1988) 83-105 (at 90), asks "Can we reconstruct the proverb?" and answers:
