Monday, February 20, 2012

Pretiosum Quod Utile

Here is today's emblem and distich by Joachim Camerarius, 2:14. The image for this emblem alludes to the discerning power of the unicorn's horn; for another example, see the emblem about the unicorn's horn being able to separate out the poison from the water.

Pretiosum Quod Utile
Commoda quae est usu non fama, res pretiosa est;
Displicet haec paucis, at placet illa magis.



Here is the vocabulary:

pretiosus - costly, valuable, dear
qui - who, which, that
utilis - useful
commodus - convenient, advantageous
sum - be, exist
usus - use, usefulness
non - not, no
fama - reputation
res - thing
displiceo - displease
hic - this, this one
paucus - few
at - but, on the other hand
placeo - please
ille - that, that one
magis - more