Lectio vicesima septima

Vīsne tympanum?

Do you want a drum?

Mihi ignōsce, Domne, ubi veneunt1 crepundia2?

Excuse me, sir, where are toys (rattles) sold?

Cujuslibet generis crepundia in tabulātō tertiō inveniētis.

You[pl.] will find toys of all kinds (of whatever kind you like) on the third floor.

Nōlīte hāc3 trānsīre, Domnae! Potius per scālās mēchanicās cōnscendite!

Don't come (cross) through here (by this [way]), Ladies! Use the escalator instead (rather go up through the mechanical stairs).

Ecce crepundiōrum locus! Pretiī modicī mūnus4 quaerimus.

Here's the toy department (behold the place of rattles). We are looking for a moderately priced present (gift of moderate price).

Puerōne an puellae dabitur5 hōc mūnus?

Will the present be given to a boy or girl?

Fīliō meō id dōnāre volō.

I want to present my son with it (it to my son).

Quot annōs nātus est?

How old is he (how many years has he been born)?

Novem annōrum est.

He is nine (he is of nine years).

Vīsne lūdicrum constructīvum6 ligneum? tubam aeream7? tympanum8?

Do you want a wooden construction set (wooden constructive toy)? a copper trumpet? a drum?

Lūdicrum illud eī nōn placēbit; tubā autem et tympanum mihi displicent.

He will not like that toy (that plaything will not please him). The trumpet and the drum, on the other hand, I do not like (displease me).

Hoc tramīne9 electricō dēlectābitur, vel illā nāve10 cum vēlīs.

He will be delighted by this electric train or-if-you-prefer by that sailing ship (ship with sails).

Quantī cōnstant?

How much do they cost?

Pretium trāminis HS (sēstertiīs)11 septemdecim, nāvis novem.

The price of the train, 17 dollars (sesterces); of the ship, 9.

Haec mūnera pulchra sed cāra sunt. Fīliō globulōs emam12.

These gifts are nice (beautiful) but expensive. I will buy my son (to my son) marbles.

At ego fīliae pūpam13 comparābō14.

And I will get a doll for my daughter.

Globulōs hic quoque habēmus. Pūpārum locus haud procul15 distat.

We also have marbles here. The dolls section (place of dolls) is not far away.

Notes

  1. Veneo, -is, -ire, to be sold; an irregular verb conjugated like ire, to go.

  2. Crepundia, -orum, n., toys [really rattle]; this 2nd declension neuter noun is used only in the plural.

  3. Hác, through here (place through which one passes) Do not forget the long á!

  4. Munus, -eris, n., gift (has other senses which we shall see later). Another (neuter) noun in -us of the 3rd declension.

  5. Dabitur: pass. future of dare, to give (general sense); donare, to make a gift, a present.

  6. Constructivus, -a, -um, adj., derived from construere, to build.

  7. Æreus, -a, -um, of copper (brass) or more precisely of bronze, an alloy containing copper (and tin).

  8. Tympanum, -i, n., drum or tympanum (in all senses of these words, that is to say a round membrane or body of scant thickness).

  9. Tramen, -inis, n., the train, a word of recent creation coming (as the English word “train”) from trahere, to drag (Fr., traîner).

  10. Navis, -is, f., gen. pl. navium, is one of those parisyllabics of which we will talk again next week.

  11. Sestertius, -ii, m., sesterce (Roman currency). Its symbol HS seems to have that of the American dollar ($), hence the daring translation we have allowed ourselves! This currency having been devalued, the “heavy sesterce” (sestertium, -ii) was also used, which is worth a thousand “light sesterces”!

  12. Emam: future of emere, to buy. Globulus, -i, m., the marble, diminutive of globus, -i, m., the sphere, the globe.

  13. Pupa. Do we still need to tell you that this word belongs to the 1st declension?: pupa, -ae, f., the doll.

  14. Comparare, to get hold of, to buy (cum + parare) gave rise to the Italian comprare (and also comperare), to buy.

  15. Procul, adv., far. Haud is a negative adverb, but which negates only the following word, whereas non negates the entire clause.

Let us take advantage of the fact that the lesson is short to put our knowledge about adjectives in order.

The declension of adjectives.— Adjectives are divided into two classes:

1. The 1st class borrows its forms from the 1st and 2nd declension:

— masculine in -us or -er gen. in -i (2nd decl.)

— feminine in -a gen. in -ae (1st decl.)

— neuter in -um gen. in -i (2nd decl.)

Ex.: bonus medicus, the good doctor;

bona raeda, the good car;

bonum remedium, the good remedy (medicine).

2. The second class borrows all its forms from the third declension: therefore, these vary greatly in the nominative, but, of course, the genitive is always in -is.

a) parisyllabics:

nom. gravis homo gravis femina grave onus

the serious person the serious woman the heavy burden (neuter)

gen. gravis hominis gravis feminae gravis oneris

abl. gravi homine gravi feminá gravi onere

gen. pl. gravium hominum gravium feminarum gravium onerum

b) imparisyllabics:

nom. ingens equus ingens locusta ingens plaustrum

the huge horse the huge lobster the huge wagon (neuter)

gen. ingentis equi ingentis locustae ingentis plaustri

abl. ingenti equo ingenti locustá ingenti plaustro

gen. pl. ingentium equorum ingentium locustarum ingentium plaustrorum

The declension of the adjectives of the 2nd class is even simpler than that of the nouns of the third declension: the ablative is almost always in -i, instead of -e, and the genitive plural in -ium. But there are some exceptions, such as vetus (old), gen. veteris, abl. vetere and gen. pl. veterum.

For the moment do not be surprised if you find one or the other form and wait until all that clears up through use.

Carmen

Periit gallus prōh dolor! (bis)
Numquam cānet sīc cirīcī cirīcī,
Nec sonābit vōx cocōrī cococō.
Nec sonābit vōx cocōrī cocō!

The rooster perished, oh, sorrow! (twice)
Never will it sing thus: cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo (kee-ree-kee, kee-ree-kee),
Nor will [its] voice sound: cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo (ko-ko-ree ko-ko-ko).
Nor will [its] voice sound: cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo (ko-ko-ree ko-ko)!

From Palæstra Latina, nº 169.