“Qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus surgent.”
Unless you know Latin, you wouldn’t recognize “Qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus surgent” as the original version of, “If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.” The old proverb first made its way into English print back in 1573 in James Sanford’s Garden of Pleasure. It later popped up in 1612 in John Webster’s play, The White Devil, as “For they that sleep with dogs, shall rise with fleas.” But it was Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack that popularized the phrase as a warning about the company we keep.
Cartoonist, Victoria Roberts, has a different take.
“If you lie down with Pugs, wake up with Pugs” first appeared as a cartoon in The New Yorker on May 25th, 1992. The cartoon endeared Roberts (a staff cartoonist for the magazine since 1988) to Pug-owning readers, her affection for Pugs resonating with anyone who appreciates the breed’s lovable and quirky charm. The Manhattan-born artist saw her first Pug while she was living in Sydney, Australia, where she moved at the age of 13. She attended art school and began her cartoon career in Australia as a teenager, and she never forgot that “love at first sight” moment with the breed that she describing as “the perfect doll.” Her lifelong affection for Pugs is apparent. She frequently features Pugs as central characters in her work, and her own Pug, “Pogo” serves as a model for many of her drawings. Roberts’ first novel, After the Fall, features a quirky Upper East Side family who, after losing their penthouse, temporarily live in Central Park with their three Pugs. The dogs are illustrated throughout the book and play a charming role in the narrative.
We end where we started: Victoria Roberts’ “If you lie down with Pugs, wake up with Pugs.” The phrase turns a centuries-old warning into a love letter to one of the world’s most endearing breeds. While the original proverb warns against keeping sketchy company, Roberts’ cartoon celebrates the joy of waking up surrounded by wrinkly faces and snuffling snores. Perhaps the take-away of her cartoon is that when choosing friends, pick ones who are on your side and make you smile, whether they have two legs or four.
Image: Hand drawn via freepik