Dē porculō [4]
Senex igitur ad vaccam īvit, cui, “Dā mihi lac,” inquit.
Vacca tamen, “Dā mihi herbās,” respondit. “namque nisi herbās mihi dederis, lac
tibi nōn dabō.” Itaque senex ad agricolam īvit, cui, “Dā mihi herbās,” inquit.
Sed agricola senem aquam adportāre iussit. “Namque,” inquit, “nisi aquam in hāc
urnā adportāverīs, herbās tibi nōn dabō.” Senex igitur urnam laetus
cēpit sed – ēheu! – urna forāmen maximum habēbat, per quod aqua semper effluēbat.
Senex autem lapidem in urnam posuit et sīc aquam ad agricolam adportāvit.
Agricola igitur senī herbās dedit, quās vaccae dedit, quae lac eī dedit, quod
fēlī dedit, quae mūrem fugāvit, quī fūnem ēdit, quī fīlium suspendit, quī bovem
interfēcit, quī aquam bibit, quī ignem exstīnxit, quī baculum ussit, quod canem
pulsāvit, quī porculum momordit. Sīc igitur porculus tandem per portam
intrāvit.
Vocabulary
effluō, -ere, efflūxī [3]: flow out
forāmen, forāminis [3/n]: hole
lapis, lapidis [3/m]: stone
urna, -ae [1/f]: urn; medium-sized vessel for carrying water
Questions
[A]
- Quid dīxit senex vaccae?
- Quid dīxit vacca senī?
- Quis lac non dabit nisi senex ei herbas dederit?
- Cui senex dīxit: “Dā mihi herbās”?
- Quem agricola aquam adportāre iussit?
- Quid agricola non dabit nisi senex aquam adportaverit?
[B]
- What was the problem with the urn? [2]
- How did the old man solve the problem? [1]
- In which order are the following mentioned?
Agricola igitur senī herbās dedit, quās
vaccae dedit, quae lac eī dedit, quod fēlī dedit, quae mūrem
fugāvit, quī fūnem ēdit, quī fīlium suspendit, quī bovem
interfēcit, quī aquam bibit, quī ignem exstīnxit, quī baculum
ussit, quod canem pulsāvit, quī porculum momordit.
the cat; the cow; the dog; the farmer; the fire; the grass; the
little pig; the milk; the mouse; the old man; the ox; the rope; the son; the
stick; the water
Introduction to the future perfect tense
Here are three sentences from the whole text posts [1] - [4]
[1] “Cum bōs aquam [i] biberit, ¦ fortasse aqua
ignem [ii] exstinguet.”
[2] “Sī mūrem [i] fugāverō, ¦ sine dubiō quam maximē
[ii] sitiam.”
[3] “nisi herbās mihi [i] dederis, ¦ lac tibi nōn [ii]
dabō”
Point #1: the three sentences refer to events in the future
Point #2: event [i] will (or will not happen) before event
[ii] but – to be absolutely precise – event [i] will have happened before event
[ii] will happen
Take a look at the two possible English translations [A] and
[B] of the Latin verbs in bold. In the speaker’s mind, these events will
(or will not) happen at an unspecified or specific point in time in the
future.
An English speaker may opt for [A] but the Latin verbs
are closer – although not identical – to the
[B] translations.
[1] “Cum bōs aquam biberit, fortasse aqua ignem exstinguet.”
[A] When / once the ox drinks [present
tense] the water, perhaps the water will put out the fire.
or [B] When / once the ox has drunk [perfect
tense] the water, perhaps the water will put out the fire.
[2] “Sī mūrem fugāverō, sine dubiō quam maximē sitiam.”
[A] If I chase [present tense] the mouse
away, I’ll undoubtedly be as thirsty as possible.
or [B] If I’ve chased [perfect tense] the
mouse away, I’ll undoubtedly be as thirsty as possible.
[3] “nisi herbās mihi dederis, lac tibi nōn dabō”
nisi: unless; if not
[A]
If you don’t give [present tense] me the
grass, I won’t give you milk. / Unless you give [present
tense] me the grass, I won’t give you milk
or [B]
If you haven’t given me [perfect tense] the
grass, I won’t give you milk. / Unless you’ve given [perfect tense]
me the grass, I won’t give you milk.
Our point of interest are the [B] translations:
[i] When / Once you’ve done your homework (at some
point in the future), ¦ [ii] you’ll be able to go out i.e. [i] will have happened before [ii] will
happen
[i] If you’ve written up the minutes by
4pm (at a specific point in the future), ¦ [ii] you’ll be able
to leave early.
[i] Unless you’ve painted that wall this
afternoon (at a specific point in the future), ¦ [ii] I won’t
pay you.
[i] If you haven’t washed the dishes (at
some point in the future), ¦ [ii] I’m going to leave you.
[i] If you haven’t washed the dishes by the time I
get back (at a specific point in the future), ¦ [ii] you’ll
regret it for the rest of your life.
English, to emphasise completion, can sometimes make
use of the multi-purpose “get” e.g. When / once you’ve got your
homework done …; if you’ve not got those
dishes washed …
Latin also conveys this sense of completion but interprets
it differently because the action to be completed is in
the future i.e. [i] X will have happened and
then [ii] Y will happen.
Latin uses a tense called the future perfect, which
we’re going to look at in the next post.
This is what Latin is literally saying,
even if English can render it in different ways. It is the first part of the sentence
where English and Latin do not match.
[1]
[i] Cum bōs aquam biberit [future perfect; Engl. ≠
Latin], ¦ [ii] fortasse aqua ignem exstinguet [future; Engl. =
Latin].
> [i] Literally: when the ox will have drunk the
water ¦ [ii] perhaps the water will put out the fire.
> [i] When the ox drinks / has drunk the water, ¦ [ii] perhaps
the water will put out the fire.
[2]
[i] Sī mūrem fugāverō [future perfect], ¦ sine dubiō
quam maximē sitiam.
> [i] Literally: If I will have chased away the
mouse, ¦ [ii] I’ll undoubtedly be as thirsty as possible.
> [i] If I chase / have chased the
mouse away, ¦ [ii] I’ll undoubtedly be as thirsty as possible.
[3]
[i] nisi herbās mihi dederis [future perfect], ¦ [ii] I
won’t give you milk.
> [i] Literally: Unless you will have given me
the grass … or: “If you will not have given me the grass …” ¦
[ii] I won’t give you milk.
> [i] Unless you give / have given me the grass, ¦
[ii] I won’t give you the milk
or > [i] If you don’t give / haven’t given me the
grass, ¦ [ii] I won’t give you the milk.
