Helps to Latin Translation at Sight
Chapter 7 : (iv.) Napoleon's _Caesar_, vol. ii. cap. 4, and vol. ii. p. 405.DEMONSTRATION I.CAE

(iv.) Napoleon's _Caesar_, vol. ii. cap. 4, and vol. ii. p. 405.

DEMONSTRATION I.

CAESAR, _B. G._ i. 52: '_Reiectis pilis ... rest.i.tutum est._'

SENTENCE

Kind of Sentence CONNECTIVE SUBJECT _Simple_ _Enlarged_ PREDICATE _Simple_ _Enlarged_ OBJECT _Simple_ _Enlarged_

A. Id c.u.m animadvertisset Publius Cra.s.sus adulescens, qui equitatui praeerat, quod expeditior rat quam hi ui inter aciem versabantur, tertiam aciem laborantibus nostris subsidio misit.

PRINc.i.p.aL (complex) +CRa.s.sUS+ 1. Publius 2. adulescens 3. qui ... praeerat +MISIT+ 1. Id c.u.m ... adulescens (= _when_) 2. quod ... versabantur (= _why_) 3. laborantibus ... subsidio (= _how_) +ACIEM+ tertiam

A1. Id c.u.m animadvertisset Publius Cra.s.sus adulescens

Subordinate _adverbial_ to +MISIT+ in +A+ c.u.m Cra.s.sus Publius animadvertisset -- id --

A2. qui equitatui praeerat

Subordinate _adjectival_ to +CRa.s.sUS+ in +A+ qui qui (= Cra.s.sus) -- praeerat equitatui -- --

A3. quod expeditior erat quam hi qui inter aciem versabantur

Subordinate _adverbial_ to +MISIT+ in +A+ quod (Cra.s.sus) -- erat expeditior quam ... hi versabantur -- --

DEMONSTRATION II.

_The Music of Arion._

(a) Quod mare non novit, quae nescit Ariona tellus? I Carmine currentes ille tenebat aquas. II Saepe, sequens agnam, lupus est a voce retentus; III Saepe avidum fugiens rest.i.tit agna lupum; IV 4 Saepe canes leporesque umbra cubuere sub una, V Et stet.i.t in saxo proxima cerva leae: VI Et sine lite loquax c.u.m Palladis alite cornix VII Sedit, || et accipitri iuncta columba fuit. VIII 8 Cynthia saepe tuis fertur, vocalis Arion, IX Tamquam fraternis obstupuisse modis. 10

OVID.

_The Music of Arion._

(b) Quod +mare+ non +novit+, quae +nescit Ariona tellus+? I Carmine currentes +ille tenebat aquas+. II Saepe, sequens agnam, +lupus est+ a voce +retentus+; III Saepe avidum fugiens +rest.i.tit agna+ lupum; IV 4 Saepe +canes leporesque+ umbra +cubuere+ sub una, V Et +stet.i.t+ in saxo proxima +cerva+ leae: VI Et sine lite loquax c.u.m Palladis alite +cornix+ VII +Sedit+, et accipitri +iuncta columba fuit+. VIII 8 +Cynthia+ saepe tuis +fertur+, vocalis Arion, IX Tamquam fraternis +obstupuisse+ modis. 10

OVID.

DEMONSTRATION II.

OVID, _Fasti_ ii. 83-92 (Hallam's Edition).

_Heading and Author._--The heading will probably suggest to you the well-known story of Arion and the Dolphin, and the name of the author, Ovid, will lead you to expect a beautiful version of the legend.

_Read the Pa.s.sage carefully._--As you read, notice all allusions that help you to the sense of the pa.s.sage. Thus the first line (which you can no doubt translate at once) tells of the fame of Arion, and the succeeding lines describe the charm of his music.

_The Form of the Pa.s.sage: Elegiac Verse._--Scan[9] as you read, and mark the quant.i.ty in the verse of all finals in +-a+. You will see the value of this, as you translate.

[Footnote 9: See Introduction, pp. 6, 7, -- 10.]

[[Introduction 10. Help through Scansion and Metre]]

You can now begin to translate, taking one complete sentence at a time.

+I.+ +Quod mare non novit, quae nescit Ariona tellus?+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--You will know all the words here, but observe +novit+ = _knows_, not _knew_, for +novi+ means _I have become acquainted with, I have learned_, and ? _I know_; and notice also the important cognates from the v???-, ???-, +-gna+, +-gno+, ??-???-s??

= _I learn to know_, cf. our _know_, _ken_, _can_, _con_--??-??

(_mind_), +-gna-rus+ = _know-ing_; +no-sco+ (= +gno-sco+).

(ii.) _Translation._--This sentence contains no subordinates; the two finite verbs, +novit+, +nescit+, are both princ.i.p.al.

Next, the form of the sentence, with the question-mark at the end, shows that +mare+ must be the subject of +novit+, and +tellus+ of +nescit+.

(+Ariona+ cannot be nominative, for the suffix +-a+ is the usual Greek 3rd decl. Acc. Sing., where Latin has +-em+.) Also +quod+ and +quae+ are clearly interrogative and adjectival; so translate:--

_What sea does not know, what land is ignorant of Arion?_

N.B.--Try to render this line a little more poetically.

+II.+ +Carmine currentes ille tenebat aquas.+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--You will know all these simple words.

(ii.) _Translation._--Here again there are no subordinates. The princ.i.p.al verb is +tenebat+, the subject +ille+, and the object +aquas+; so translate:--

_He used to stay the running waters by his song._

N.B.--Notice force of Imperfect in +tenebat+.

+III.+ +Saepe, sequens agnam, lupus est a voce retentus;+

(i.) _Vocabulary._--All you need notice here is the force of +re-+ in +retentus+ = _held back_, cf. our _re_-tain.

(ii.) _Translation._--Before you translate, notice Ovid's frequent use of _parataxis_, _i.e._ placing one thought side by side with another thought, _without any connective_, even although one thought is, in sense, clearly subordinate to another. This is one of the ways in which all great poets _heighten the effect_ of what they say, and many examples of it are to be found in Ovid's best elegiac verse. As you look through this pa.s.sage you will find:

(a) Lines 1, 2, 3, 4 each form a complete sentence.

(b) In the whole pa.s.sage there is not _one_ subordinate conjunction.

(c) The only expressed connective is the simplest link-word +et+.

The princ.i.p.al verb is +retentus est+, the subject +lupus+. +Sequens agnam+ describes +lupus+, and +saepe+ and +a voce+ tell us _when_ and _why_ the wolf _was stayed_.

_Often has the wolf in pursuit of the lamb been stayed at the sound._

(For this use of +a+ or +ab+ to express _origin_ or _source_ cf. Ovid, _Fasti_, v. 655 [V. 709]: _Pectora traiectus Lynceo Castor_ +ab ense+.)