Here is another Rhyming Distich, and here are some more posts with Rhyming Distichs. This little poem is from Gartner's Dicteria Proverbialia (1598).
Cum Contentus, Tunc Dives
Semper egenus eris, si semper plus tibi quaeris:
Cum contentus eris, tunc dives efficieris.
Source: Andreas Gartner, Proverbialia Dicteria (1578). Meter: Dactylic Hexameter. Note the rhymes: eris-quaeris and eris-efficieris.
The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There is only one word in this poem that is not on the DCC list:
You will always be destitue (semper egenus eris), if you always (si semper) seek more for yourself (plus tibi quaeris): when you will be satisfied (cum contentus eris), then you will become rich (tunc dives efficieris).
egēnus, -a, -um: destitute, impoverished, in want
contineō -tinēre -tinuī -tentum: contain, restrain
cum: with (prep. + abl.); when, since, although (conjunction + subj.)
dīves, dīvitis: rich (poet. dīs, dītis)
efficiō -ficere -fēcī -fectum: bring about, complete; render (+ ut + subj.)
quaerō -rere -sīvī-situm: seek, inquire
semper: always, ever
sī: if
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
tū tuī tibi tē: you (sing.)
tum or tunc: then
