Lectio vicesima

Jentāculum sūmō1

I have (take) breakfast

Manē ē lectō septimā hōrā surgō.

In the morning I-get-up from bed at seven o’clock.

Barbam rādō; corpus2 lavō; induō mē vestibus.

I shave [my] beard; I wash ([my] body); I put on my clothes (dress myself with clothing).

Tintinnābulum agō. Famula jentāculum affert.

I ring (drive) the bell. The maid-servant brings breakfast.

Est in lance pōculum caffēī ac lactis, pānisque3 tostus cum būtȳrō.

On the tray there is a cup [of white coffee] (of coffe and of milk), and toasted bread with butter.

Caffeum nōn est calidum! Potesne id recalefacere?

The coffee is not hot! Can you reheat it?

Post decem minūtās famulā cum caffēō calidō nōndum rediit.

After ten minutes the maid-servant has not yet returned with the hot coffee.

Jānuam aperiō; calceōs meōs aspiciō, quōs puer4 polīre5 nōluit.

I open [the] door; I examine my shoes, which [my] valet (boy) did not want to polish.

Redit tandem famula; jentāculum statim sūmō.

At length the maid-servant returns; I have (take) [my] breakfast straightaway.

Vae! Ūritur mihi gula! Nunc caffeum fervēns est!

Ouch (woe)! My throat is burning (throat is burned to me)! Now [the/my] coffee is boiling!

Haec omnia mihi moram fēcērunt: ad trāmen assequendum6 curram7 oportet8.

All this (all these things) has made me late (made delay to-me)! To catch the train on its way (towards the-train that-is-to-be-caught-up-with), I have to run (it-behooves that-I-run).

Prōverbia

Proverbs

Ipsī agere9 dēbēmus id quod rēctius cūrāre volumus.

We must do our selves what (that which) we want to see to more properly (more-rightly)!

Quot servī tot hostēs.

We have as many enemies as we have servants (how many servants, so many enemies).

Notes

  1. Sumere (sumo, sumis, etc.), to take, seize, assume, swallow (to eat or drink). Its derivative consumere, to consume, destroy gave the French language both the verb consumer (to consume, destroy) and its popular doublet consommer (to consume, use up). A thousand and one vicissitudes of this sort came to Latin words in the course of their passage into the vernaculars.

  2. Corpus is a neuter noun. Both in the singular and in the plural the neuter nouns have the same form when they are subjects and when they are direct objects; plural corpora. In our sentence, there is no need to say lavo corpus meum, because it is obvious that it is my own body which I wash and not that of others!

  3. Panisque = et panis, and bread. Do you know the inscription S.P.Q.R. which appears on Roman monuments and corresponds in a way to the French R.F. (République Française, French Republic)? It is the abbreviation for Senatus PopulusQue Romanus (the Senate and the People of Rome).

    Ac lactis: ac, as well as et and as que (the latter after a word) have the same sense: and. Usage will guide us on their employment.

    In lance, the tray is lanx; of the tray, lancis; plural: lances, the trays, and also the scales (bi-lanx).

  4. Puer, child, but also servant, slave. It corresponds roughly to the French garçon (garçon de café, of course) or to the English boy.

  5. Polire, to polish, to make shiny; present tense: polio, polis, polit, polimus, politis, poliunt.

  6. Assequor (eris, inf., assequi), to pursue; assequendus (f. assequenda, n. assequendum), that which is to be persued, to pursue, is a verbal adjective.

  7. Curram (curras, etc.), that I run, is a subjunctive.

  8. Oportet (impersonal verb), it is important, it is required.

  9. Agere, to do, drive, compel, etc., which we have already seen, has: present tense: ago, agis, agit, agimus, agitis, agunt; future tense: agam, ages, aget, agemus, agetis, agent; perfect tense: egi, egisti, egit, egimus, egistis, egerunt.

This song, which you may know already, in not very tiring …It is normally sung in a canon with three voices.

Cantilena

Ego sum pauper!
Nihil habeō
Et nihil dabō!

I am poor!
I have nothing!
And I will give nothing!