09.05.25: Level 3; Beasts in Egypt and Libya [5];Wonderful Animals in Libya

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.

08.05.25: Level 2; review; prīmus annus [1]; praepositiōnēs: cāsus ablātīvus (1); cāsus accūsātīvus

Review: prepositions that are followed by the ablative case and those followed by the accusative case. What is the difference between ā / ab and ē / ex both of which can, at times, have the same translation as ‘from’?

Camera

Tertia hōra est: discipulī cameram intrant, ad sellās eunt, cōnsīdunt. Nunc magister etiam intrat et omnēs ex sellīs surgunt et exclāmant: "Salvē, ō magister!"

Ille crētam ā mēnsā sūmit et sententiās scrībit. Tum cōnsīdit et "Recitāte," inquit, "omnēs."

Discipulī ex tabulā recitant. Deinde magister "Tū, Mārce!" inquit, "ad tabulam ī et eam extergē!"

Mārcus ā sellā ad tabulam it, prope tabulam stat, tabulam exterget; tum ā tabulā ad sellam redit. Quīntus et Titus ā sellīs ad fenestrās eunt, fenestrās aperiunt, ā fenestrīs ad sellās redeunt.

Magister, "Aperīte," inquit, "librōs! Tu, Sexte, ex librō recitā."

Sextus autem respondet: "Nūllum librum hīc habeō: extrā enim cameram est."

Magister, "Ī igitur," inquit, "ex camerā et librum tuum pete!"

Sextus ex camerā exit, librum petit, in cameram redit, ex librō recitat. Omnēs nunc ex librīs recitant. Ūnus autem ex discipulīs Gallus est; ex Galliā venit neque Anglicam linguam intellegit: sed Latīnās sententiās bene recitāre potest.

Post lūdum magister ā mēnsā abit et ex camerā exit. Tum discipulī ā sellīs abeunt, ē lūdō exeunt, per campum currunt, domum redeunt.

[1] Respondē:

1. Unde surgitis? (sellae)
2. Unde magister crētam sumit? (mēnsa)
3. Unde discipulī recitant? (tabula)
4. Quō Mārcus it? (tabula)
5. Quō Quīntus et Titus eunt? (fenestrae)
6. Unde abeunt? (fenestrae)
7. Unde Sextus recitat? (liber)
8. Unde Gallus venit? Germānus? Hispānus? Ītalus?
9. Quō īs, cum tertia hōra est? (lūdus)
10. Unde post lūdum puerī exeunt? (campus)
11. Quō redeunt?

[2] ablative case; find the Latin:

[a]

1. Go out of the room!
2. They go out of school.
3. He comes from Gaul.
4. He recites from (out of) the book.
5. They recite from the books.
6. They get up from (out of) (their) seats.
7. one of the pupils (literally: one out of the pupils)

[b]

1. The teacher goes away from the table.
2. The teacher takes the chalk from the table.
3. Marcus goes (away) from (his) seat.
4. Quintus and Sextus go away from (their) seats.
5. They go back (away) from the windows.

[3] accusative case; find the Latin:

1. Go to the board!
2. He goes back to (his) seat.
3. They go to their seats.
4. They go to the windows.
5. He stands near the blackboard.
6. It’s outside the room.
7. He comes back into the room.
8. after school
9. They run through the field.
10. They go back home.

08.05.25: Level 2; topic; Mankind; the human body; accident and illness [7]

Complete Comenius’ descriptions of the functions of the five senses by including the words from the box below. Most of these you already know or can easily work out.

Sunt quīnque externī ______; │There are five outward senses;

Oculus videt ______ quid album vel ______, ______ vel caeruleum, rubrum aut ______, sit. │ The eye sees colours, what is white or black, green or blue, red or yellow.

Auris audit ______ tum nātūrālēs, ______ et ______, tum artificiālēs, ______ mūsicōs. │ The ear hears sounds both natural, voices and words, and artificial, musical tunes.

Nāsus ______ ______ et fētōrēs. │ The nose scents smells and stinks.

Lingua cum palātō ______ sapōrēs quid ______ aut amārum, ācre aut ______, acerbum aut ______, sit. │ The tongue with the roof of the mouth tastes flavours, what is sweet or bitter, keen or biting, sour or harsh.

Manus ______ tangendō rērum quantitātem et quālitātem: │ The hand by touching distinguishes the quantity and quality of things:

calidum et ______, │ the hot and cold,

______ et siccum, │ the moist and dry,

______ et molle, │ the hard and soft,

laeve et asperum, │ the smooth and rough,

______ et leve. │ the heavy and light.

acidum; asperum; ātrum; austērum; colōrēs; dignōscit; dulce; dūrum; frīgidum; grave; gustat; hūmidum; lūteum; odōrēs; olfacit; sēnsūs; sonōs; tonōs; verba; viride; vōcēs

07.05.25: Level 1; readings [6] - [11]: review (18); verbs; esse

If you are a non-native learner of, for example, French – or, indeed, English, you may be familiar with the term “irregular” verb; these are verbs which do not follow the normal pattern of endings, for example:

I work – I worked; I play – I played; I jump – I jumped

but:

I swim – I swam; I see – I saw; I sing – I sang; note: at the risk of being pedantic, these verbs are technically not irregular but, as in German, strong verbs that undergo a vowel change. However, most books teaching English refer to them as irregular which is an easier way to deal with them.

Latin has very few irregular verbs but, as in English, French and German, the verb ‘to be’ is completely irregular. Latin, however, is far more user-friendly since it retains personal endings, including -m which is also an indicator of the first person singular and will come up again later when dealing with other verbs and tenses:

esse │ to be

sum │ I am

es │ you (singular) are

est │ he / she / it is; note: est can stand alone as the equivalent of English there is i.e. indicating the existence of something

sumus │ we are

estis │ you (plural)

sunt │ they are; note again that, like est, sunt can translate as there are