Lectio undetricesima

Nōnne linguam habēs?

Don't you have a tongue?

In tribūnālī1: Praeses. — Cūr hoc autocinētum fūrātus es2?

In court: the chairman. — Why did you steal this automobile?

Reus. — Cum esset ad coemētēriī portam, autocinetī dominum mortuum3 esse putāvī.

The defendant. — Since it was (impf. subj.) at the gate of the cemetery, I thought the owner of the automobile was dead / had died (to be dead / to have died).

Magister. — Quid fēcit Christophorus Columbus, cum in Americam pervēnit, postquam dē nāve dēscendēns4 pedem humī posuit?

The teacher. — What did Christopher Columbus do, when he arrived in America, after, descending from the ship, he put his foot on the ground?

Discipulus. — Alterum posuit et5 pedem.

The pupil. — He put also his other foot.

Ē Palaestrā Latīnā, n° 169.

From Palæstra Latina, nº 169

Pater. — Cūr magister tē in lūdō6 hodiē retinuit?

The father. — Why did the teacher detained you in school today?

Fīlius. — Quod nesciēbam ubi Syrācūsae7 essent8.

The son. — Because I didn't know where Syracuse was.

Pater. — Nē immemor9 sīs ubi rēs collocāverīs.

The father. — [You should pay attention] (don't be forgetful) where you have put [your] things.

Ex Actīs Diurnīs, LV.

From Acta Diurna, nº 55

Dum cēnat, puer brāchium10 suprā11 mēnsam porrigit12 ad cibum capiendum.

While [having] (he has) dinner, a boy reaches his arm over the table to grab [some] food (for food taking).

Māter. — Nōlī brāchium suprā mēnsam ita porrigere! Nōnne linguam habēs?

The mother. — Don't reach ([your] arm) over the table! Don't you have a tongue?

Fīlius. — Habeō, sed brāchium longius13 est.

The son. — I do (have), but [my] arm is longer.

Ex Actīs Diurnīs, LIV.

From Acta Diurna, nº 54

Prōverbia

Proverbs

Cōnsuētūdinis14 magna vīs est (aiēbat Cicerō).

The force of habit is strong (big) (Cicero used to say).

Dulce et decōrum est prō patriā morī. (Horātius.)

‘Tis sweet and honorable to die for the fatherland (Horace).

Omnia vincit amor. (Vergilius.)

Love conquers all (Virgil).

Notes

  1. Tribunal, alis, n.; dat. and abl. sing. tribunali; nominative and acc. pl. tribunalia; gen. pl. tribunalium. Some nouns of the 3rd declension make the ablative in -i (as for the dative) and not in -e.

  2. Furatus sum, furatus es, etc. (furata if the subject is a female), perfect of furor, -aris, -ari, to steal (deponent verb, cf. R. and N. 28). Autocinetum, -i, n., automobile vehicule (Greek origin).

  3. Mortuus, -a, -um, perfect participle of morior, -eris, -i, to die; present inf. mori; perfect ind. mortuus (-a, -um) sum; perfect inf. mortuum (-am, -um) esse, to have died.

  4. Descendens, -entis (for all three genders), present participle of descendo, -is, -ere, -i, sum (descensum), to go down.

  5. Et, when it does not link two words or two sentences, means also.

  6. Ludus, -i, m., means at the same time the game and the school! Ludi magister, the schoolmaster.

  7. Syracusae, -arum, f. pl., Syracuse, formerly the greatest city of Sicily.

  8. Essent, imperfect subj. of esse (essem, esses, esset, essemus, essetis, essent). Equally further down collocaverim, perfect subj. of collocare (collocaveris, collocaverit, etc.). We use the subjunctive in the indirect question and in some subordinate clauses. We shall discuss this again.

  9. Immemor, -oris, opposite of memor, -oris, adj., who remembers.

  10. Brachium, -ii, n., the arm.

  11. Supra + acc., above, over.

  12. Porrigo, -is, -ere, -rexi, -rectum, to stretch, tend, offer (perfect porrexi, porrexisti, porrexit, porreximus, porrexistis, porrexerunt; supine porrectum).

  13. Longius, -ioris, longer: comparative of longus, -a, -um, long.

  14. Consuetudo, -inis, f., the custom, the habit.

The only difficultlies of the 3rd declension are the ablative singular in -i instead of -e and the genitive plural in -ium instead of -um. Thus the parisyllabics such as aedes, gen. aedis, f., which means in the singular the temple and in the plural the house; navis, gen. navis, f., etc., make regularly their genitive plural in -ium: aedium, navium. However canis, gen. canis, m., and some others (cf. R. and N. 35) make it in -um: canum, of the dogs. We point out these features to you so that they do not surprise you. Do not try to remember them yet, but let yourself be guided by usage: don't we do the same to get used to the thousand and one features of our mother tongue?

Exercitatio

Ubi est hōrum aedium dominus? — Mortuus est.

Where is the owner of this house (these buildings)? — He is dead / He [has] died.

Prōnus erat ad bibendum: bibendō moritūrus erat.

He was prone to drinking: he was to die from drinking.

«Avē Caesar, moritūrī tē salūtant!» aiēbant gladiātōrēs in circum intrantēs.

“Hail Caesar! Those-who-are-about-to-die salute you”, the gladiators would say as they entered the arena (entering the circus).

Quantum pendis? — Nōnāgintā sex kilogrammāta.

How much do you weigh? — 96 kg.

Nimis gravis es; nimis cerevisiae bibis.

You are too heavy; you drink too-much (of) beer.

Nāvīs in magnō perīculō est: paulātim mergitur.

The ship is in great danger: it is sinking little-by-little.

Cōnsuētūdine mea trāmen jam prōfectum currendō assecūtus sum.

[As usual] (by my custom/habit) I caught the train on its way (already having-departed) by running.

Ad trāmen assequendum cucurrī.

I ran to catch the train.

Tramīne Aquās Sextiās pervēnī.

I arrived in Aix-en-Provence by train.