Ἡ ______ ἐν φάτνῃ.
Ἐφέσια ______.
______ ὀρχεῖται.
Πλούτει ______.
Μίδας ______ ὦτα.
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Ἡ κύων ἐν φάτνῃ.Ἐφέσια ______.
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Ἐφέσια γράμματα.______ ὀρχεῖται.
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Κάμηλος ὀρχεῖται.Πλούτει ______.
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Πλούτει δικαίως.Μίδας ______ ὦτα.
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Μίδας ὄνου ὦτα.The dog in the manger.
This alludes to the fable of the dog in the manger: he cannot eat the hay that is there, but he will not let the other animals eat it either. So, the dog in the manger is a proverbial miser, not enjoying his wealth in any way while at the same time not sharing it with others. You can see some English versions of the fable here: The Dog in the Manger.
Ἐφέσια γράμματα.
Ephesian letters.
This refers to meaningless words with magical power that were inscribed on the famous statue of Artemis at Ephesus. The words in and of themselves were "senseless" (ἄσημα ὀνόματα), but they supposedly offered supernatural protection to the person who could pronounce them correctly. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Ephesia Grammata. Compare the English phrase "mumbo jumbo" and other "gibberish."
Κάμηλος ὀρχεῖται.
The camel is dancing.
This is another example of something ridiculous: camels have many talents, but dancing is not one of them. There is an Aesop's fable in which a camel attempts to make a good impression on the other animals by dancing, and instead they just laugh.
Πλούτει δικαίως.
Get rich fairly.
In other words, as you pursue wealth play by the rules, δικαίως, doing what is right. The word πλούτει is an imperative of the contract verb πλουτέω, from the noun πλοῦτος, meaning wealth, riches, etc. Πλοῦτος is also the name of the Greek god of wealth; find out more at Wikipedia: Plutus.
Μίδας ὄνου ὦτα.
Midas (has) the ears of a donkey.
This saying refers to an ancient legend about Midas and his barber, which you can read at Wikipedia. Midas kept his donkey ears wrapped up in a turban, a secret known only to his barber, but his barber could not resist whispering the secret into a hole in the ground; grass grew in that spot, and then the grass whispered the story to every passerby — and so Midas's secret became common knowledge. There are similar stories in many different cultures; see Midas and other folktales of type 782 collected by Dan Ashliman, which includes examples from Europe, India, and the Philippines. You can see the root of Greek οὖς (ὠτός) in English medical terms such as otologist and otolaryngologist.
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Ἡ κύων ἐν φάτνῃ.Ἐφέσια ______.
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Ἐφέσια γράμματα.______ ὀρχεῖται.
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Κάμηλος ὀρχεῖται.Πλούτει ______.
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Πλούτει δικαίως.Μίδας ______ ὦτα.
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Μίδας ὄνου ὦτα.
And to finish up, here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:
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