Lectio tricesima prima

Eō piscātum

I am going fishing

Avē Mauricī! Quid agis hodiē?

Hello (hail) Maurice! What are you doing today?

Eō in stadium. Certāmen est magnī mōmentī1. Augustānī Taurīnēnsēs2 adversus Gratianopolītānōs3. Quid dē hōc arbitrāris4?

I'm going to the stadium. The match (contest) is of great importance. Turin (The Augustan Taurinians) against Grenoble (the Gratianopolitans). What do you think about this?

Nihil! Praetereā tāle certāmen futūrum esse5 ignōrābam. Dē quō lūdō agitur?

Nothing! Moreover I didn't know such a match was going to take place (going-to-be to-be I-ignored). What game are we talking about (about what game is-discussed)?

Incrēdibile est! Nōnne scīs factiōnēs6 ambārum urbium7 folle rotundō excellere? Anceps erit exitus8.

It's unbelievable! Don't you know [that] the teams of both cities [excel in] (to excel by) [football] (round ball)? The outcome will be uncertain (two-headed).

Nihil hōrum nōveram9. Mihi nōn displicet lūdum follis10 rotundī vel ovālīs aspicere. Sed dē hujus certāminis exitū nihil augurārī11 possum.

I knew nothing of these things. To watch a game [of football or of rugby] (of round or oval ball) does not displease me. But I can surmise nothing about the outcome of this contest.

Sī certāmen aspicere exitumque statim nōsse cupis, venī mēcum!

If you wish to see the contest and know the outcome immediately, come with me!

Grātiās12! Impossibile est. Cum Stephanō hodiē piscātum īre dēbeō. Ēī dēesse nōn possum.

Thanks! It's impossible. Today I must go fishing with Stephen. I can't let him down (be-missing/lacking to-him).

Ōtia placida māvīs13 quam āthlēticā. Nōnne vērum est?

You prefer quiet pastimes to athletics. Isn't it true?

Minimē! Tū per tōtum postmerīdiānum tempus sedēbis14. Nōs autem ad tructās captandās in montibus praeter torrentem decem passuum mīlia percurrēmus, et...

Not at all! You will be sitting during the whole afternoon. We on the other hand will trudge (run through) ten miles along the torrent in the mountains to catch trout, and…

forte sine ūllō pisce domum revēniēmus.

perhaps we will return home without any fish.

Nē ab uxōre increpēris, hujus reī mementō: piscāriae in urbe nostrā nōn dēsunt!

So that you are not told off by your wife, remember this: fish shops are not lacking in our city.

Notes

  1. Magni momenti: these two words are a complement (possessive phrase) of the noun certamen, -inis, n., fight, competition, match. This complement is often in the the genitive, which otherwise matches the English constuction, but it can also be in the ablative (vid. L 25: canis brevibus cruribus). In certain cases, one can chose between the two cases, but not in others. Usage will guide you. By considering magni momenti as an idiomatic phrase, you avoid any risk of error.

  2. Augusta Taurinorum: there are many cities named Augusta, in memory of emperor Augustus. To distinguish them from each other, an adjective was added, or, as here, a possessive phrase specifying the identity of its inhabitants (so gen. pl.). Similary, Augusta Vindelicorum, Augsburg (Germany) or Augusta Praetoria, Aosta (Italy).

  3. Gratianopolis, Genoble (= city of Gratian). Gratianopolitanus, -a, -um, an inhabitant of Grenoble. The names of inhabitants of cities are formed in -ensis or in -anus.

  4. Arbitror, -aris, -ari, -atus sum, to estimate, to think. But, although it is used here in reference to a match, do not translate it as to arbitrate (to referee), which would rather be judico, -as, -are, -avi, -atum, to judge.

  5. Futurus, -a, -um: future participle of the verb sum. If we add the infinitive esse to it, we obtain the future infinitive (active). See exercise phrase 8: capturum, -am, -um esse.

  6. Factio, -onis, f., the action of making, doing (facere), political party (faction), team. Here in the accusative plural and the subject of an infinitive clause.

  7. Urbium, gen. pl. of urbs, urbis, f., the city.

  8. Exitus, -us, m., the way out, the outcome (4th declension) derived from exire. A great number of abstract nouns are equally formed from verbs; e.g.: cursus, -us, m., the race, from currere.

  9. Noveram has the form of a pluperfect, and the sense of an imperfect, since the perfect novi (see L 6) has the sense of a present.

  10. Folle, abl. of follis, -is, m., the bellows (of a forge) or the (inflatable) ball. We also use its diminutive folliculus, -i, m.

  11. Auguror, -aris, -ari, -atus sum, to take the auspices, to prophesy. Note that this verb is deponent (active sense, passive form).

  12. Gratias is in the accusative plural because tibi ago is implied (vid. L 23, P 8). Compare with the other sense of agere (P 1).

  13. Mavis: the pres. indic. of malle = magis velle, to prefer (to want more), is conjugated as follows: malo, mavis, mavult, malumus, mavultis, malunt. We have already seen nolle = non velle (L 19, N 1).

  14. Sedeo, -es, -ere, sedi, sessum, to be sitting down; future sedebo, -bis, etc. But the future of percurro, -is, -ere, -curri, -cursum, to run through, is: percurram, percurres, percurret, etc. Be reassured, there are only two forms of the future!

Some unknown items have slipped into our exercise:

Sardina, -ae, f., the sardine; rete, -is, n., the net; linea, -ae, f., line (in the different senses of this word; e.g., linea recta, a straight line); hamus, -i, m., the hook; plané, adv., drawn from planus, -a, -um, united, tidy, obvious.

The adjective dulcis, -e, sweet (to the taste) was seen (L 29, P 12) under its neuter form and the majority of the words of phrase 9 were given as examples in the last revision, but under a less Latin form.

ATTENTION! If the form piscatum is not familiar to you, or if you have difficulties with phrases 6 and 9 of the exercise, it is because you need to revise again lesson 28. Do not forget that a small step backwards will often translate into a saving of time.

Exercitatio

Quō vadīs? — Eō piscātum.

Where (Whither) are you going? — I'm going fishing.

Quid piscārī optās?

What do you wish to fish?

Tructās piscārī optō.

I wish to fish trouts.

Piscārīs in aquīs dulcibus. Ego in marī piscārī cupiō.

You fish in fresh (sweet) water(s). I wish to fish in the sea.

Capisne sardinās? Num ē nāvī piscārīs?

Are you catching sardines? You are not fishing from a boat, are you?

Sardīnae rētibus captantur. Ad hōc efficiendum nāvis est necessāria.

Sardines are caught by means of nets. To do that (for that doing) a boat is necessary.

Ego nāvem nōn habeō. Līneam dē terrā mittō. Piscēs hāmō capiō.

I don't have a boat. I cast a line from land. I catch the fish by hook.

Uxor piscēs in piscāriā emit: plānē scit virum suum nihil captūrum esse.

The wife buys fish(es) in a fish shop: clearly she knows [that] her husband will catch nothing (future infinitive).

Tructā piscātū difficilis est, eādem tamen ēsū suāvissima.

Trout is difficult to fish, but (the same nevertheless) most agreeable to eat.