Lectio tricesima septima

In tramīne (sequitur)

On the train (continued)

Apud quam crepīdinem1 cōnsistit trāmen?

At what platform does the train stop?

Apud crepīdinem alteram, via tertia. Classis prior in parte anteriōre agminis2, altera in posteriōre.

At the second platform, track 3(rd). First class in the forward part of the train, second in the rear.

Bājule3, affer4 arcam meam mihique sēdem classis priōris invēnī5.

Porter, bring my case and find me a first-class seat.

Vectōrēs quī petunt Telōnem, Forum Jūliī, Antipolim, Nīcaeam, Albintimiliam, Genuam, Rōmam, in currūs6 cōnscendant! Valvās rogō claudite! In profectiōnem7 intendite.

Let passengers [for] (who make for) Toulon, Fréjus, Antibes, Nice, Ventimiglia, Genoa and Rome, board the train [now] (into the carriages let-them-board)! Close the doors [please] (I ask)! [Prepare for] (attend to) departure!

Ecce loculāmentum vacuum. In rēte8 sarcinās pōnāmus.

Here-is an empty compartment. Let’s put our baggage in the rack (net).

Nōlī id facere! Hoc loculāmentum tabacum nōn admittit. Ultrō prōgrediāmur9.

Don’t (want to) do that! This compartment does not [allow smoking] (admit tobacco). Let’s move (proceed) further on.

Vacantne sēdēs10 illae? Duae tantum sēdēs prope fenestram, ā domnō, domnāque jam mātūrā aetāte11, occupātae sunt.

Are those seats free? Only two seats near the window are occupied, by a gentleman and a lady of (with) mature age.

Domna canem parvulum in genibus12 tenet. Ēum sīcut puerum alloquitur.

The lady holds a tiny dog on her knees. She speaks to him as to a child.

Domnus oculō oblīquō canem spectat. Fortasse canēs parvulōs nōn amat.

The gentleman looks [askance] (with a slanting eye) at the dog. Perhaps he does not like tiny dogs.

Trāmen summā vēlōcitāte, strepēns et fūmāns, iter13 prōsequitur...

Clattering and smoking, the train pursues (its) way at top speed…

Notes

  1. Crepido, -inis, f., pedestal, foundation, platform (at the train station), quay (at the harbour).

  2. Agmen, -inis, n., an army on marching arrangement (idea of moving together); here the train of carriages.

  3. Bajule, vocative of bajulus, -i, m., porter.

  4. Affer, imperative of afferre, to bring, which is conjugated like ferre (fero, fers, ferre, tuli, latum), to carry, a very irregular verb.

  5. Inveni, imperative of invenire, to find.

  6. Can you find the declension and the case of currus?

    Answer.— After in it can only be an ablative, or, if there is movement, an accusative. Currus can therefore not belong to the 2nd declension. In point of fact currus, -us, m., belongs to the 4th: it is therefore in the accusative plural. It means chariot and here the carriage of a train.

  7. Profectio, -onis, f. (3rd), departure.

  8. Rete, -is, n., for the ablative singular, rete and reti are equally correct: reti would be more normal, because the word is a parasyllabic neuter. There should be no surprise at finding a few anomalies, of secondary importance besides, in a language that has already completed more than twenty centuries of active service, and is still far from being ready for reform!

  9. Progredior, -eris, -i, progressus sum, to advance (verb), progressus, -us, m., advance, progress (noun).

  10. Sedes, -is, f., seat.

  11. Aetas, aetatis, f., age.

  12. Genu, -us, n., knee, is one of the rare neuters of the 4th declension.

  13. Iter, itineris, n. We have already seen this word several times: notice to what extent the nominative form is shortened.

We do not always give you an indication for every new word in the lesson. If their meaning, declension or conjugation don’t immediately leap out at you, don’t waste time trying to analyze them from the moment you encounter them. You have many chances to find them again later, in another lesson or else during a revision, and to grasp them better at that time: don’t waste your energy!

Already you could use the dictionary for this research, but we don’t advise it yet. It is better to wait until you’ve seen a word several times before you begin to worry about its precise meaning: it is only once a word has begun to feel familiar that looking it up in the dictionary becomes truly fruitful… and leads sometimes to surprises, even with words in our native tongue.

For the moment we are giving you fairly numerous notes, and sometimes even intentionally repeated, to spare you research that have still little chance of fascinating you.

Finally, at the risk of repeating ourselves once more, we remind you that the primary task we ask of you is to read the Latin sentences out loud and to repeat them until they become perfectly familiar.

Exercitatio

Tramīne Augustam Vindelicōrum petimus.

We are going to Augsburg by train.

Londīnium autoraeda īre nōn potes.

You cannot go to London by car.

Cūr? — Quia Anglia ā Galliā marī sēparāta est.

Why? — Because England is separated from France by the sea.

Causa nōn est sufficiēns: sunt nāvēs in quās raedae accipiuntur.

This is not a sufficient reason: there are boats on which cars are [taken] (accepted).

Immō, ferriviāriīs nāvibus trāminā quoque trānsferuntur.

What’s more, trains also are transported by [ferries] (railway boats).

Quid agit caupō in thermopōliō? — Exspectat bajulum quī glaciem affert.

What is the waiter doing in the café? — He is awaiting the deliveryman who brings the ice.

Ubi est glaciēī pars cujus bajulus oblītus est?

Where is the block of ice that the deliveryman has forgotten?

Fortasse dē plaustrō ēlāpsa est.

Perhaps it has slipped out of the truck.

Quidquid id est, rēs nostra nōn est.

Whatever it is, it is not our business.