Vita Columbae c.23. St. Columba takes leave of his horse before his death.

The nice thing about mediaeval Latin is that it is often not that difficult. This piece of Latin is far less difficult than my previous post. It is a charming story about St Columba, founder of the monastry on the isle of Iona. He was born on 7 december 521 in Ireland and passed away onn 8 june 597 in front of the altar at his monastry. On the morning 0f 7 december 597 he returns to his moneastry with his servant Diarmuid, after having blessed a barn. At that blessing God revealed to him that he would die that night. On his way home he meets his old horse, who wants to take leave of his master for the last time.

The text is taken from the Vita Columba c.23, by Adomnan of Iona (627/8-704).

Post haec Sanctus horreum egreditur, et ad monasterium revertens, media residet via, in quo loco postea crux, molari infixa lapidi hodieque stans, in margine cernitur viae. Dumque ibidem Sanctus, ut praefatus sum, senio fessus, paululum sedens, requiesceret, ecce albus occurit caballus, obediens servitor, qui scilicet lactaria bocetum inter et monasterium vascula gestare consueverat. Hic ad Sanctum accedens, mirum dictu, caput in sinu ejus ponens, ut credo inspirante Deo, cui omne animal rerum sapit sensu quo jusserit ipse Creator, dominum a se suum mox emigraturum, et ipsum ultra non visurum sciens, coepit plangere, ubertimque, quasi homo, lacrymas in gremium Sancti fundere, et valde spumans flere. Quod videns minister, coepit illum flebilem repellere lamentatorem: sed Sanctus prohibuit eum, dicens, ‘Sine hunc, sine nostri amatorem, ut in hunc meum sinum fletus effundant amarissimi plangoris. Ecce tu, homo cum sis, et rationalem animam habeas, nullo modo scire de meo exitu potuisti, nisi quod tibi ego ipse nuper manifestavi: huic vero bruto et irrationali animanti, quoque modo ipse Conditor voluit, egressurum a se dominum manifeste revelavit.’ Et haec dicens maestum a se revertentem equum benedixit ministratorem.

horreum                                 storehouse, barn

egredior                                 to leave

reverto                                   to return

media via urbs condita construction: on the middle of the way

resideo                                   to sit down

crux, crucis                            cross

lapis molaris                          mill-stone

infixus                                    fastened in (infigo)

hodie                                      today  

margo, marginis                    side

cerno                                      to see

dum                                        while

ibidem                                    at that place

ut praefatus sum as I told earlier

senium                                   the feebleness of age

paululum                                a little, a short time

requiesco                               to rest

albus                                      white

caballus                                  horse (maybe a loan-word from Celtic. in classical Latin it                                           denotes an inferior horse, but not so in later Latin.)

oboedio                                  to obey

servitor                                   servant

scilicet                                               as you may know, namely (but often this particle gives only a                                       slight emphasis)

lactaria bocetum inter et monasterium vascula gestare consueverat:  lactaria vascula inter bocetum et monasterium gestare consueverat

lactaria vascula                     milk-jugs

bocetum                                 stall for cows (non-classical Latin)

gesto                                      to bring

consuevo                                to be used to

cui omne animal rerum sapit sensu quo jusserit ipse Creator:  to (= of) whom every animal intuitively (sensu rerum) knows, what (quo litt.  `to what’)  the Creator self has deceided (iusserit coni. perf.)

accedo                                               to come closer

mirum dictu dictu is a supine form, actually a u-class noun used as infinitive:

sinus, -us                                bosom

dominum a se suum mox emigraturum, et ipsum ultra non visurum sciens : sciens (+ aci) dominum etc.

mox                                        soon

emigraturum prtc. fut., like visurum below.

ultra                                       further

plango                                    to lament, wail

ubertim                        abundantly

lacrymas = lacrimas

gremium                                 lap

spumo                                    to foam

minister the servant Diarmuid

coepo                                     to begin, start

flebilis                                    weeping, crying

lamentator, oris                     weeper

sino                                         to let, allow

amator, -oris                          friend

fletus, -us                               tears (acc. pl.!)

effundo                                   to pour out

amarus                                   bitter

plangor, -oris  nomen agentis from plango    

exitus, -us                              departure

manifesto                               to make manifest

nollo modo                             in no way

huic vero bruto et irrationali animanti, quoque modo ipse Conditor voluit, egressurum a se dominum manifeste revelavit:  And in the way the Founder (of the world) himself wanted, he revealed clearly (manifeste) to this truelydull (brutus) and irrational animal, that his master was to depart from him.

equum ministratorem ministratorem stands in apposition to equum: the servant horse

maestus                                 sad

The abbey at Iona, founded by Saint Columba.

Suetonius, Nero c.26, The hooligan emperor!

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (69-122) was a Roman historian, who wrote biographies of  twelve Roman caesars, starting with Julis Caesar and ending with Domitian. He had a great preference for gossip and saucy details, making him more a journalist of The Sun than  ofThe Independent. For this reason his trustworthyness is doubted, but without Suetonius, Robert Graves could never have written his I Claudius!

The gossip and saucy details are especially evident in the biographies of those emperors he disliked, like Nero (37-68). Nero came to power at the age of 17 and as a young emperor he liked to roam incognito the streets of Rome after dark and beat up people, as Suetonius tells us.

The Latin is not exactly simple, but here is a link to a translation:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Suet.+Nero+26&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0132

I have given a lot of words, but when you need to know more, load the Latin text on the site obove (upper right), click on the Latin word and you will be connected to some dictionaries.

XXVI. Petulantiam, libidinem, luxuriam, avaritiam, crudelitatem sensim quidem primo et occulte et velut iuvenili errore exercuit, sed ut tunc quoque dubium nemini foret naturae illa vitia, non aetatis esse. Post crepusculum statim adrepto pilleo vel galero popinas inibat circumque vicos vagabatur ludibundus nec sine pernicie tamen, siquidem redeuntes a cena verberare ac repugnantes vulnerare cloacisque demergere assuerat, tabernas etiam effingere et expilare. Quintana domi constituta ubi partae et ad licitationem dividendae praedae pretium absumeretur. Ac saepe in eius modi rixis oculorum et vitae periculum adiit, a quodam latriclavio, cuius uxorem adtrectaverat, necem prope ad caesus. Quare numquam postea publico se illud horae sine tribunis commisit et occulte subsequentibus. Interdiu quoque clam gestoraria sella delatus in theatrum seditionibus pantomimorum e parte proscaeni superiore signifer simul ac spectator aderat. Et cum ad manus ventum esset lapidibusque et subselliorum fragminibus decerneretur, multa et ipse iecit in populum atque etiam praetoris caput consauciavit.

petulantia                   petulance, capricious ill humor

crudelitas, -atis          cruelty

sensim quidem primo et occulte …..exercuit In the beginning (primo) he (Nero) practised indeed (quidem) gradually (sensim) and secretly (occulte)

sed ut tunc but (in such way) that even then

foret = esset

crepusculum               evening twilight

adrepto pilleo vel galero abl.abs. a hat or a wig being grasped (arripio)

popina                        eating-house, low tavern

vicus                           quarter

vagor                          to roam

ludibundus                  playful, frolicsome

pernicies                    mischief

siquidem                     since indeed

redeuntes from red-ire

cena                            dinner (either from the popina or from friends. Inviting each other for                          dinner was a wide-spread custom.)

verbero                      to beat

repugno                      to fight back

vulnero                       to wound

cloaca                         sewer, drain (Rome had a sysrem of artificial canals by which the filth                          was carried from the streets into the Tiber.)

demergo                     plunge

assuesco                    to be used to (assuerat = assueverat  plq.pf. )

taberna                       shop

affringo                      to break open

expilo                         plunder

quintana                     market (quintana via: the fifth street in a Roman army camp, where the                                  market place was.)

domi at home. The i denotes the locative case, which in Latin has only survived in a couple of words as `humi `on the ground’. In place-names ending on a it was written ae so Romae `at Rome’.

ubi partae et ad licitationem dividendae praedae pretium absumeretur difficult Latin: where the booty (praeda, pl)  divided (partae!) and being sold (dividendae! from mecantile language `to sell piecemeal’. The gerundive has here hardly the force of `have to, must’) by auction, the money (pretium) was squandered. The difficulty lies in the unusual meaning of some words

in eius modi rixis litt. ìn scuffles of this sort

perculum adiit `he ran into danger

laticlavius                   senator (actually an adiective` having a broad purple stripe’ , the mark                                    on the toga of a senator.)

attracto                       to touch in an indecent manner

necem prope ad caesus almost beaten to death (what would have happened to Roman history if that senator had succeeded in beating Nero to death?)

illud horae…..commisit =  he committed (himself) to that (kind) of hour.  horae is a genitivus qualitatis.

tribunus                      guard

subsequentibus goes with tribunis, from subsequor to follow

interdiu                       during day time

clam                            secretly

gestoraria sella          sedan-chair, litter (abl.!)

delatus                       carried

seditionibus pantomimorum e parte proscaeni superiore signifer simul ac spectator aderat. he was present at the uproars (seditionibus) of the pantomime plays, from the upper part of the proscenium (kind of balcony) giving signs (for the uproars) and  being spectator at the same time..

The pantomime was a form of theatre in which actors danced and enacted a story without speaking. The theme could be anything, but especially love and adultry was popular. Nero himself often acted himself in pantomimes.

cum ad manus ventum esset and when it came to handfights. An impersonal construction

subsellium                  low bench

decerno                      to fight (decernetur: impersonal construction) The first meaning of                               decerno is `to decide’, hence to decide by military means `to fight,                            combat’.

iecit from iacio            to throw

consaucio                   to wound severely

           

Carmina Burana 211: My belly is my god!

Whenever the Carmina Burana is mentioned, the music by Carl Orff will come to mind. It is less known that Orff only orchestrated 24 of the 228 songs and that many of these songs have their own musical notation in the manuscript of the Carmina Burana. This song was not selected by Orff.

Song nr 211 is a parody on excessive eating and drinking, but I think that for many people in the Middle Ages this would have been a dream come true, as there were often food shortages. It is therefore not surprising that the idea of  the land of Cockaigne, in which one only had te open the mouth and fried chickens were flying in, was much cherised at that time. Try to imagine that all of a sudden a person  from the Middle Ages would be here: where would he run to? Indeed: the Mcdonnalds!

Here is a live performance of this song by a Serbian early music group:

Unfortunately, I was unable to find an english translation on the internet. Is anyone able or willing to make a poetic translation in english?

1.

Alte clamat Epicurus:

«venter satur est securus.

venter deus meus erit.

talem deum gula querit,

cuius templum est coquina,

in qua redolent divina.»

2.

Ecce deus opportunus,

nullo tempore ieiunus,

ante cibum matutinum

ebrius eructat vinum,

cuius mensa et cratera

sunt beatitudo vera.

3.

Cutis eius semper plena

velut uter et lagena;

iungit prandium cum cena,

unde pinguis rubet gena,

et, si quando surgit vena,

fortior est quam catena.

4.

Sic religionis cultus

in ventre movet tumultus,

rugit venter in agone,

vinum pugnat cum medone;

vita felix otiosa,

circa ventrem operosa.

5.

Venter inquit: «nichil curo

preter me. sic me procuro,

ut in pace in id ipsum

molliter gerens me ipsum

super potum, super escam

dormiam et requiescam.»

alte                 from afar

Epicurus: Greek philosopher (341 – 270), unfairly accused of hedonism by his opponents, - under whom Cicero -  but as his writings are largely lost, it was believed to be true.

venter, ventris                       stomach, belly

satur ura urum                       full

securus           untroubled, cheerful (se = sine, curus from cura)

talis                 such

gula                 throat

quero = quaero          to ask, strive (supply esse)

deum, cuius

coquina           kitchen

redoleo           to smell (from red-oleo, not re-doleo!)

opportunus     convenient, usefull, agreeable (somehow there must be a more fitting                           translation for this word within this context, tell me if you have a brilliant               idea!)

ieiunus            fasting

cibum matutinum       an early meal

ebrius             drunk

eructo (1)        to vomit          

mensa             table

cratera            wine-bowl

beatitudo vera            the true beatitude was of course the devotion to a religious life and the reward in heaven.

cutis, cutis      skin

uter, utris       a bag or bottle made of an animal's hide, a skin for wine, oil, water, etc

lagena             a large earthen vessel with a neck and handles, a flask, flagon, bottle:

iungit prandium cum cena the American way of life?

iungo iunxi iuctum         to connect ( from the same root as english `yoke’)

prandium        breakfast

cena                dinner

unde                in classical Latin `from which (place)’, but here `till’

pinguis            fat

rubeo              to become red

gena                cheek(s) (in classical Latin the plural is more common)

si quando        when

surgo              to arise, swell

vena                here: penis (vena originally means `tube, `pipe’)

fortior             stronger

catena             chain

rugio               to roar

agon –onis      battle

medo, -onis     non classical Latin, but a loan word from Germanic `mead       ‘, an alcoholic              honey   beverage (there is a Latin root MAD as  in madeo and madesco `to                  become  wet’, `to become drunk’, but this is not connected with the Proto Indo                         – European root . *med<sup>h</sup>-u- `honey’. This root has survived in Germanic, Greek              Sanskrit and some other languages, but not in Latin. From personal experience                       I can tell that the Indo-European ancestors of the Romans were right in                                prefering wine and forgetting all about mead.

vita felix otiosa, circa ventrem operosa `What a happy life, doing nothing (otiosa), is                                  busy (operosa) around belly’ operosa goes grammatically with vita, but of                         course the belly is busy.

inquit              is saying

nichil curo preter me = nihil curo praeter me `I care for nothing, except for my self’

sic me procuro,

ut in pace in id ipsum

molliter gerens me ipsum

super potum, super escam

dormiam et requiescam

The Latin is not difficult, but unclassical. Literally: so I take care (procuro), that in peace handling myself gently after drink and food, I will sleep and rest.

Line 3 and 6 are taken from Psalm 4:9:

In pace in id ipsum dormiam et requiescam

The in id  ipsum is a bit problematic. It is a literal translation of a hebrew word meaning `together’, `at once’, a particle implying that  both actions take place at the same time, but in Latin it gives little sence.

Ovid Amores 1.5 Two lovers meeting on a hot summer afternoon

Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC – 17/18 AD) -  Ovid for the English speaking world – is well-known to every student of Latin because of his Metamorphoses. With Caesar and Livy he belongs to the authors who are read at an early stage of learning Latin, but whereas the other two have often been cursed by students for their long sentences and boring descriptions of battles, Ovid has been popular through the ages because of his vivid descriptions of myths in the Metamorphoses.

Between his 17^th and late twenties he wrote his first collection of poems, the Amores, a series of love-poems in 3 books. They are dedicated to Corinna, a young married woman with whom Ovid had an affair and in which he describes their encounters. There has been much speculation about  the identity of Corinna, which was certainly not her real name  It is however quite possible that Corinna was purely a literary construction.

In Amores 5.1 Ovid describes an encounter with Corinna in his room on a warm summer afternoon. I think there is hardly a poem which describes with more passion and eroticism the meeting of two lovers.

This is how Christopher Marlowe (1564-94) has translated this poem:

In summers heate, and midtime of the day,
To rest my limbes, uppon a bedde I lay,
One window shut, the other open stood,
Which gave such light, as twincles in a wood,
Like twilight glimps at setting of the sunne,
Or night being past, and yet not day begunne.
Such light to shamefaste maidens must be showne,
Where they may sport, and seeme to be unknowne.
Then came Corinna in a long loose gowne,
Her white necke hid with tresses hanging downe,
Resembling faire Semiramis going to bed,
Or Layis of a thousand lovers sped.
I snatcht her gowne: being thin, the harme was small,
Yet strivde she to be covered therewithall,
And striving thus as one that would be cast,
Betrayde her selfe, and yeelded at the last.
Starke naked as she stood before mine eie,
Not one wen in her bodie could I spie,
What armes and shoulders did I touch and see,
How apt her breasts were to be prest by me,
How smoothe a bellie, under her waste sawe I,
How large a legge, and what a lustie thigh?
To leave the rest, all likt me passing well,
I clinged her naked bodie, downe she fell,
Judge you the rest, being tyrde she bad me kisse.
Jove send me more such afternoones as this.

But now the Latin!

Aestus erat, mediamque dies exegerat horam;
     adposui medio membra levanda toro.
Pars adaperta fuit, pars altera clausa fenestrae;
     quale fere silvae lumen habere solent,
5qualia sublucent fugiente crepuscula Phoebo,
     aut ubi nox abiit, nec tamen orta dies.
Illa verecundis lux est praebenda puellis,
     Qua timidus latebras speret habere pudor.
Ecce, Corinna venit, tunica velata recincta,
10      candida dividua colla tegente coma —
qualiter in thalamos famosa Semiramis isse
     dicitur, et multis Lais amata viris.
Deripui tunicam — nec multum rara nocebat;
     pugnabat tunica sed tamen illa tegi.
15Quae cum ita pugnaret, tamquam quae vincere nollet,
     Victa est non aegre proditione sua.
Ut stetit ante oculos posito velamine nostros,
     In toto nusquam corpore menda fuit;
quos umeros, quales vidi tetigique lacertos!
20      Forma papillarum quam fuit apta premi!
Quam castigato planus sub pectore venter!
     Quantum et quale latus! quam iuvenale femur!
Singula quid referam? nil non laudabile vidi
     Et nudam pressi corpus ad usque meum.
25Cetera quis nescit? lassi requievimus ambo.
     Proveniant medii sic mihi saepe dies!

aestus             summer

exigo               to pass.

The day has passed the middle hour, not the middle of the hour, but in the next line medio toro is an urbs condita construction

membra levanda        limbs to be lightened i.e. limbs to rest

torus               bed, sofa

Pars adaperta fuit, pars altera clausa fenestrae

Roman houses had no windows of glass, but shutters with horizontal louvers to let light through. This gives the pattern of  light and shade making the room half dark Ovid is describing in lines 4-6

adapertus       open

quale fere       almost like

silva                wood

subluceo         shine a little, gleam

qualia sublucent fugiente crepuscula Phoebo: qualifying lumen in line 4

crepusculum   (evening) twilight

Phoebus          the sun

ortus               risen

verecundus     shy, modest

praebeo          to offer

qua abl.

latebra            hidding-place

pudor              shame

tunica recincta abl. covered (only) in an ungirded tunic

candida dividua colla tegente coma abl. abs: her hair which is divided in two parts is covering her white neck. colla is a poetic plural. Roman women normally wore their tunic girded and their hair tied in a knot. Both the loose tunic and the loose hair of Corinna imply sexual readiness. This is of course in sharp contrast with the timidus pudor in line 8!

thalamus         bedroom (thalamos poetic plural)

Semiramis was a legendary Assyrian queen - though derived from the real queen Shammuramat (824-811 BC). In legend she was a warrior queen, leading her army into battlefields and also a lustful queen, therefore Ovid describes her as formosa `beautiful’.

isse dicitur      is said to have come

Lais was a famous courtisan of Corinth said to be the most beautiful woman of her time, around 430-400 BC.

deripio            to tear off

nec multum rara nocebat Corinna’s tunic was thin (rara), so it didn’t do much harm in hiding her body.

pugnabat tunica sed tamen illa tegi in english wordorder: sed tamen illa pugnabat tunica tegi

pugnaba the imperfect denotes that she is trying to fight

tunica abl.

tegi passive infinirive of tego to cover

quae cum (but) since she

tamquam quae vincere nollet like one who doesnt want to conquer – unlike Semiramis!

non aegre       without difficulty

proditio, -onis betrayal

posito velamine abl. abs, `with her clothing put aside’

menda             fault, blemish

umeros           shoulder

tango tetigi tactum    to touch

lacertus          upper arm

papilla             nipple, breast

quam               how

premi passive infinitive of premo to press

planus venter flat stomach

castigatus here `slender, well-formed’

latus, lateris   flank

iuvenale as Roman girls married at the age between 14 and 16, this needs not to be mere flatering

femur, - oris   thigh

corpus ad usque meum = ad usque (close to) corpus meum

lassus             fatiguated, tired

requiesco requievi to rest

provenio         appear

medii dies: urbs condita construction

saepe              often