Translate into English:
Sunt in Libyā immānī magnitūdine serpentēs, sunt ibīdem leōnēs, et elephantī,
et ursī, et aspidēs, et asinī cornūtī. Sunt etiam hominēs capita cānum
habentēs. Sunt aliī sine capitibus, oculōs in pectore habentēs, et ferī
hominēs. Sunt etiam mūrēs bipedēs, et parvī serpentēs singulīs cornibus
īnstrūctī. Dēnique magnus numerus mīrārum bēstiārum in hīs regiōnibus
invenītur.
Vocabulary
aspis, aspidis [3/f]: viper
bipēs, bipedis:
two-legged
cornūtus, -a, um:
having horns, horned
ferus, -a, -um:
wild, savage
ibīdem (adverb):
at / in the same / that very place
īnstruō, -ere,
īnstrūxī, īnstrūctus [3]: (here) equip, furnish, provide
Notes
[1] present active
participle
Sunt etiam hominēs
… habentēs │ There are even / also men … having / who have
…
[2] parvī
serpentēs singulīs cornibus īnstrūctī │ small snakes are each
‘equipped / provided’ with a horn = with one horn apiece / each
singulus, -a, -um:
while this adjective can translate as “single”, that is slightly misleading
since, in Classical Latin, it was only used in the plural meaning “each one”, “one
at a time” (i.e. since it is referring to more than one), one apiece
in singula
diēī tempora (Caesar) │ in every hour of the day
Caesar cum [...] singulās
legiōnēs appellāret (Caesar) │ When Caesar … addressed every legion (i.e.
each legion one by one)
Persequī singulōs
longum est … (Seneca the Younger) │ It is tedious to recount each man (in turn
/ individually) …
[3]
sed antīquitās
quidem obscūra (Tacitus) │but all antiquity is, of course, obscure
Is it fabricated,
exaggerated, misinterpreted or true?
With reference to
the phoenix, Tacitus (Annales 6.28) writes:
haec incerta et
fābulōsīs aucta: cēterum aspicī aliquandō in Aegyptō eam volucrem nōn ambigitur
│All this is full of doubt and legendary exaggeration. Still, there is
no question that the bird is occasionally seen in Egypt.
[i] That
uncertainty as to whether tales of ‘fabulous’ beasts are actually true
continues through the Middle Ages into the Renaissance period:
Gaspar Schott:
Physica Curiosa (1662):
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/10/120125-level-1-topic-school-20-science.html
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/10/120125-level-1-topic-school-21-science.html
[ii] Sunt etiam
hominēs capita cānum habentēs.
More information
on this belief is at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynocephaly
https://www.theoi.com/Phylos/Kunokephaloi.html
____________________
[5] There are in Libya serpents of huge size; in the same place there are lions, and elephants, and bears, and vipers, and horned asses. There are also human beings having the heads of dogs. There are others without heads, having eyes in the breast, and wild men. There are also two-legged mice, and small serpents each equipped / provided with one horn (a-piece). In a word, a great number of strange animals is found in these regions.
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