Contentions fierce,
Ardent, and dire, spring from no petty cause.

Contentions fierce,
Ardent, and dire, spring from no petty cause.

'Tis a hydra's head contention; the more they strive the more they
may: and as Praxiteles did by his read more

'Tis a hydra's head contention; the more they strive the more they
may: and as Praxiteles did by his glass, when he saw a scurvy
face in it, brake it in pieces; but for that one he saw many more
as bad in a moment.

The chiefs contend only for their place of burial.
[Lat., Ducibus tantum de funere pugna est.]

The chiefs contend only for their place of burial.
[Lat., Ducibus tantum de funere pugna est.]

And the combat ceased, for want of combatants.
[Fr., Et le combat cessa, faute de combattants.]

And the combat ceased, for want of combatants.
[Fr., Et le combat cessa, faute de combattants.]

Agreement exists in disagreement.
[Lat., Mansit concordia discors.]

Agreement exists in disagreement.
[Lat., Mansit concordia discors.]

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and
a man of contention read more

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and
a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on
usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them
doth curse me.

You will stir up the hornets.
[Lat., Irritabis crabones.]

You will stir up the hornets.
[Lat., Irritabis crabones.]

So when two dogs are fighting in the streets,
When a third dog one of the two dogs meets:
read more

So when two dogs are fighting in the streets,
When a third dog one of the two dogs meets:
With angry teeth he bites him to the bone,
And this dog smarts for what that dog has done.

Thus when a barber and collier fight,
The barber beats the luckless collier--white;
The dusty collier heaves read more

Thus when a barber and collier fight,
The barber beats the luckless collier--white;
The dusty collier heaves his ponderous sack,
And, big with vengeance, beats the barber--black.
In comes the brick-dust man, with grime o'er spread,
And beats the collier and the barber--red;
Black, red, and white, in various clouds are toss'd,
And in the dust they raise the combatants are lost.