This post and the next are from two reading books for youngsters learning Latin. Like the previous posts they are here to show words operating in context.
https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Cornelia_Puella_Americana
“Cornelia” by Mima
Maxey was written for schools in 1933. She bases the story on an American girl
which would have helped her pupils to connect the language with the world
around them in the same way that Comenius did in the 17th century.
These little books
were carefully written to introduce language gradually. In this extract she
uses a range of present tense and imperfect tense verbs. She also includes some
very common adverbs and other key words.
One point to note is
that the author uses the present tense to describe past events. This was a
feature in some original Classical Latin writing i.e. to use the present tense
to make the action more vivid. The translation however, keeps the present tenses
to show how those present tense English verbs match with the Latin ones, but it
would be possible to put the entire text into the past which is the more usual
way in English.
The translation, if
you need it, is posted in the comments.
__________
Māne hodiē Cornēlia ad scholam ībat. Agrī
erant pulchrī et per agrōs laetē ībat. Per
agrōs fluēbat flūmen parvum. Prope flūmen erant flōrēs pulchrī. Diū inter flōrēs
prope flūmen Cornēlia manēbat quod diēs erat pulcher et puella
erat laeta. Ecce! Subitō cum puella nōn longē ā
flūmine abest, aliquis vidētur. Hic vir est paene caecus
et miser et malus. Quam timida est Cornēlia! Vir ācriter clāmat.
Pecūniam postulat. Puella nōn respondet quod multum timet. Ad mūrum quī
est circum agrōs currit. Vir puellam stāre iubet, sed Cornēlia
nōn stat. Vir quoque currit. Cum nōn longē
abest, iterum pecūniam postulat quod pecūniam multum
dēsīderat. Cornēlia pecūniam ad virum iacit sed nōn magnam pecūniam habet. Vir
est īrātus quod magnam pecūniam dēsīderat, sed nōn magnam pecūniam accipit. Puella
iterum currit et nunc ācriter clāmat quod est prope scholam et
sociōs. Vir pecūniam in flūmen iacit, et flōrēs frūmentumque agricolae
vāstat. Tum properat longē ab illō locō. Ubi puerī
puellaeque ad mūrum veniunt, vir nōn vidētur, neque posteā prope illum locum
vidētur.
__________
A few words of
vocabulary since most have come up before:
aliquis: someone
caecus, -a, -um blind
iubeō, iubēre [2]:
order, command (and what you order the person to do is in the
infinitive)
postulō, postulāre
[1]: ask for; demand
socius, -ī [2/m]:
(here) companion; in Classical Latin literature, especially with military
themes, it means 'ally'
vāstō, vāstāre [1]:
most often appears in vocabulary and dictionaries as 'lay waste' but can refer
to 'ruin' or 'destroy'; often used in the literature to refer to destroying
fields or 'flattening' territories.
Find the Latin
Verbs:
[present]
1. The man is
shouting.
2. He demands money.
3. The girl does
not reply.
4. Cornelia doesn’t
stand.
5. He destroys the
flowers.
6. The man orders Cornelia
to stand.
7. She is very
afraid [= she fears a lot]
8. Cornelia doesn’t
have much money.
9. She runs to
the wall.
10. Cornelia throws the
money to the man.
11. He doesn’t
receive / get much money.
12. The boys come to
the wall.
13. The man is angry.
14. Since he isn’t far away …
[imperfect]
15. It was a
beautiful day.
16. The fields were beautiful.
17. Flowers were near
the river.
18. Cornelia was
going to school.
19. She was
walking happily through the fields.
20. A small
river was flowing through the fields.
21. Cornelia remained for
a long time.
[passive]
22. Somebody is
seen / can be seen.
23. The man isn’t
seen / can’t be seen
Others [these are in
bold in the text above; try to match them]
1. afterwards
2. again
3. almost
4. also
5. among
6. and
7. around
8. because
9. bitterly; harshly
10. but
11. far
12. for a long time
13. happily
14. how (scared she is)
15. in the morning
16. nor
17. now
18. since
19. suddenly
20. then
21. today
22. when
23. this man
24. from that place
25. near that place
__________
Cornelia was going to school this morning. The fields were beautiful and she was walking happily through the fields. A small river flowed through the fields. There were beautiful flowers near the river. Cornelia remained among the flowers near the river for a long time because the day was beautiful and the girl was happy. Behold! Suddenly, when the girl was not far from the river, someone is seen. This man is almost blind and miserable and evil. How scared Cornelia is! The man shouts out sharply. He demands money. The girl does not answer because she is very afraid. She runs to the wall that is around the fields. The man orders the girl to stand, but Cornelia does not stand. The man also runs. Since he is not far away, he again demands money, because he greatly desires money. Cornelia throws money at the man, but she does not have much money. The man is angry because he desires a lot of money, but he doesn't get a lot of money. The girl runs again and now cries loudly because she is near the school and her friends. The man throws money into the river, and destroys the farmers flowers and grain. Then he hurries away from that place. When the boys and girls come to the wall, the man cannot be seen seen, nor is he seen near that place afterwards.
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