Saturday, July 4, 2026

11.01.27: Level 4; literature; Mediaeval; Gesta Rōmānōrum; Filia Piratae [2]

Statim puella, patre ignōrante, ipsum ā vinculis līberāvit et cum eō ad patriam suam fūgit. Cum vērō ad patrem suum venisset, ait eī pater: “Ō fīlī, dē tuō adventū gaudeō. Sed dīc mihī, quālis est ista puella, quam tēcum dūxistī!”

Ait ille: “Fīlia rēgis est, quam in uxōrem habeō.”

Ait pater: “Sub poenā amissiōnis hērēditātis tuae nōlō, ut eam in uxōrem dūcās.”

Ait ille: “Ō pater, quid dīcis! Plus eī teneor, quam tibī. Quandō captus eram in manū inimīcī et fortiter vinculātus, tibī prō meā redemptiōne scrīpsī, et nōluistī mē redimere. Ipsa vērō nōn tantum ā carcere, sed ā perīculō mortis mē līberāvit; ideō eam in uxōrem dūcere volō.”

Ait pater: “Fīlī, probō tibī, quod nōn possīs in eam cōnfīdere et per consequēns nūllō modō in uxōrem dūcere. Patrem proprium dēcēpit, quandō, ipsō ignōrante, tē ā carcere līberāvit. Prō quā līberātiōne pater eius multa perdidit, qu(a)e prō tuā redemptiōne habuisset. Ergō vidētur, quod tū nōn possīs in eam cōnfīdere et per consequēns nūllō modō in uxōrem dūcere. Item alia ratiō est. Ista licet tē līberāvit, hoc fuit causa libīdinis, ut posset tē in virum habēre, et ideō quia eius libīdō erat causa līberātiōnis tuae, nōn mihī vidētur, quod uxor tua erit.”

Vocabulary

[i]

amissiō, -ōnis [3/f]: loss

herēditās, -ātis [3/f]: inheritance

libidō, -inis [3/f]: desire, passion, lust

poena, -ae [1/f]: penalty

[ii]

cōnfīdō, cōnfīdere, cōnfīsus sum [3 semi-deponent]: to trust, rely on

Notes

[1] Ablative absolute using present active participles:

patre ignōrante

literally: with the father not knowing

> without her father’s knowledge

ipsō ignōrante

literally: with he himself not knowing

> without his knowledge

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/ablative%20absolute

[2]

Ista licet tē līberāvit, …

Although she freed you …

[3] Ista licet tē līberāvit, …

Although she freed you, …

The use of iste, ista, istud in a pejorative way – which was common in CL – is lost by the Mediaeval period; the demonstrative pronouns is, hic, ille and iste are used interchangeably although, in this particular text, given the father’s disdain of the girl, the original negative connotation could still be understood.

[2] Mediaeval use of quod in indirect statements:

probō tibī, quod nōn possīs in eam cōnfīdere

I prove to you that you would not be able to trust her

Ergō vidētur, quod tū nōn possīs in eam cōnfīdere

Therefore, it seems that you would not be able to trust her

nōn mihī vidētur, quod uxor tua erit.

It does not seem to me that she will be your wife

Subjunctive usage

[i] Cum vērō ad patrem suum venisset, …

But when she had come to his father …

cum-clause: circumstance

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20cum-clauses

[ii] nōlō, ut eam in uxōrem dūcās

I do not wish you to take her as your wife.

wishing; when negative: also known as prohibition

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20verbs%20of%20wishing

[iii] pater eius multa perdidit qu(a)e prō tuā redemptiōne habuisset

her father lost many things, which he would have received for your ransom

relative clause of characteristic i.e. referring to the type of thing the father would have received

The pluperfect subjunctive conveys contrary-to-fact i.e. it refers to a situation that happened in the past and cannot be altered: he would have had many things, but he did not receive them.

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20characteristic

[iv] quod tū nōn possīs in eam cōnfīdere

… that you could not / would not be able to trust her

potential

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20potential

[v] hoc fuit causā libīdinis, ut posset tē in virum habēre

this was for the sake of desire, so that she might be able to have you as a husband

purpose

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/subjunctive%3A%20purpose

____________________

Immediately the girl, without her father’s knowledge, freed him from his chains and fled with him to his homeland. But when she had come to his father, the father said to her: “O son, I rejoice at your arrival. But tell me, what sort of girl is this whom you have brought with you?”

He said: “She is the king’s daughter, whom I have as my wife.”

The father said: “Under pain of losing your inheritance, I do not wish you to take her as your wife.”

He said: “O father, what are you saying! I am more obliged to her than to you. When I was captured in the hand of an enemy and strongly bound in chains, I wrote to you about my ransom, and you were unwilling to ransom me. But she not only freed me from prison, but also from the danger of death; therefore I wish to take her as my wife.”

The father said: “Son,  I prove to you that you could not trust her and consequently in no way can you take her as your wife. She deceived her own father when, without his knowledge, she freed you from prison. For that liberation her father lost much, which he would have received for your ransom. Therefore it seems that you would not be able to trust her and consequently in no way can you take her as your wife. Likewise there is another reason. Although she freed you, this was for the sake of desire, so that she might be able to have you as a husband, and therefore because her desire was the cause of your liberation, it does not seem to me that she will be your wife.”

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