Language teachers sometimes use the term “exploiting” a text. That doesn’t mean copying its content – which is pointless plagiarism – but identifying vocabulary, phrases and grammar which can be used in any context. The Wilkes extracts show some simple examples of that.
How did the Romans attract
somebody’s attention in the street? Again, what may seem straightforward in
English or other languages, takes a bit of digging in Latin.
Dā mihi veniam: excuse me
The Roman poet Catullus is
well-known for his on-off love entaglements with his “fairweather” girlfriend,
Lesbia. Lesbia, however, was not his only target …
I commend myself and my
lover to you, Aurelius. I come with a modest request that, — if you longed for
anything with your heart which you desired chaste and untouched — you will
preserve my boyfriend's chastity from — I do not say from the people: I fear
not at all those who hurry along the thoroughfares here and there occupied on
their own business: in truth, my fear is from you…
I’ve often wondered why, if
Catullus was so keen to preserve this young man’s chastity, he introduced him
to his mate Aurelius who – and Catullus already knew it – would do anything but
preserve it! Anyway, that group of poems called the Juventius cycle is a juicy
little soap opera which is worth a read even in English. Did Aurelius grant
Catullus that modest favour and keep his hands off Juventius? You’ll have to
read it for yourself.
That was a roundabout way of
introducing a word:
Commendō tibi mē ac meōs
amōrēs, / Aurēlī. Veniam petō pudentem, ¦ I commend myself and
my lover to you, Aurelius. / I come with a modest request.
[i] Mī gnāte, dā
veniam hanc mihi: redūce illam. (Terence) ¦ My son, do
grant me this indulgence: take her back.
[ii] Date nōbis hanc veniam.
(Cicero) ¦ Give us this indulgence. [Cicero often
wrote “we / us” when referring to himself]
Two for the price of one!
[iii] Dā mihi hanc veniam,
[ii] ignōsce, īrāta nē siēs. (Plautus) ¦ [i] Grant
me pardon; [ii] forgive (me), don't be angry.
So, the phrase dā
mihi veniam can be used to ask somebody for a favour. Whether or not
it was actually used in the street is another matter. Wilkes, however, writing
for modern needs, uses it as an equivalent of “Pardon me” or along the lines of
“Would you do me a favour?”
Traupman, on the other hand,
uses ignōsco, ignōscere[3]: forgive; pardon. The verb takes the
dative:
- ignōsce mihi:
pardon me
Of course, unless we
accidentally step on somebody’s foot, the English phrase “Pardon me” is just a
polite way of attracting somebody’s attention whereas in Classical Latin it
generally refers to a request for forgiveness if you’ve done something wrong. But,
again, if your aim is purely to speak Latin, then it’s perfectly acceptable,
but the verb crops up a lot in the literature and so it's useful to know.
And so, have we reached a
definitive conclusion? Probably not, but what does matter is that you can get
some important points out of the two extracts, and we’ll focus on one here:
Dā mihi … Give (to) me …
- Dā mihi, quaesō, illum
librum. Please give me that book.
- Dā mihi, quaesō,
pōculum vīnī. Please give me a glass of wine.
- Dā mihi ducentōs nummōs
… tē obsecrō. (Plautus) ¦ Give me two hundred … coins, I
implore you.
- Dā mihi argentum.
(Plautus) ¦ Give me the silver (i.e. money; Fr. argent: money
or silver)
And here’s a spot of upset
from Plautus where the phrase is used. In bold are some handy words to say in
the bank when they refuse to give you a loan!
“Vir summē populī, stabulum
servitūtium, / scortōrum līberātor, sūduculum flagrī, / compedium
trītor, pistrīnōrum cīvitās, / perenniserve, lurcō, edāx, fūrāx, fugāx,
/ cedo sīs mī argentum, dā mihi argentum, impudēns, / possum
ā tē exigere argentum?”
“Fellow, dregs of the
populace, you stable for she-slaves, you liberator of harlots, you
surface for the lash, you wearer-out of the fetters, you citizen of the
treadmill, you slave everlastingly, you gormandizer, glutton, pilferer, runaway,
give me the money, will you. Give me the money, impudence. Can
I get the money out of you?”
And another jig-saw
piece: Possum ¦ ā tē ¦ exigere [infinitive] ¦
argentum? Can I get = Am I able ¦ to get ¦
the money ¦ from you?
And if you regret having
called the bank manager a liberator of harlots, you can say: ignōsce
mihi (forgive me).
There are far stronger
insults - including doing unspeakable things with vegetables - but you need to
ask Catullus about them!
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