the mountain in labour
Preserved but no longer current.
A mighty effort made for a small effect. The allusion is to the celebrated line "Parturiunt monies , nascetur ridiculus mus (Ars Poetica, 139), which Horace took from a Greek proverb preserved by Athenaeus.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the mountain in labour” mean?
A mighty effort made for a small effect. The allusion is to the celebrated line "Parturiunt monies , nascetur ridiculus mus (Ars Poetica, 139), which Horace took from a Greek proverb preserved by Athenaeus.
Is “the mountain in labour” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.