Monique Palomares at Mama Lisa’s World en français sent me this Occitan saying about the end of the year. (Occitan was the language of the Troubadours.)…
“Per santa Luça lo jorn creis d’un pè de puça, per Nadal d’un pè de gal, per l’An Nòu d’un pè de buòu.”
“For St. Lucy, the day lengthens by a flea’s pace, for Christmas by a rooster’s pace, for New Year’s by an ox’s pace.”
Monique wrote, “…this saying was true before Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar on October 15th 1582. At that time St. Lucy’s was on December 23th (after the solstice). On December 23rd, the sun sets 1 minute later than on December 21st. On December 25th the sun sets two minutes later and on January 1st it sets eight minutes later (at 50° North latitude).
Many thanks to Monique and Mr. Palomares for this Occitan saying.
Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Occitan Page for Occitan songs.
This article was posted on Thursday, December 29th, 2005 at 9:51 pm and is filed under New Years, Nursery Rhymes about December, Nursery Rhymes about the Winter, Occitan, Occitan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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