Practice
LAT30 36–54 · 21 lines · reload for a new passage
36Meliboeus
36Mirabar, quid maesta deos, Amarylli, vocares,
I used to wonder why you called on the gods in sorrow, Amaryllis,
37cui pendere sua patereris in arbore poma:
and for whom you let the fruit hang on its own tree:
38Tityrus hinc aberat.
Tityrus was away from here.
38–39ipsae te, Tityre, pinus, ipsi te fontes, ipsa haec arbusta vocabant.
The very pines, Tityrus, the very springs, these very orchards were calling for you.
40Tityrus
40Quid facerem?
What was I to do?
40–41neque servitio me exire licebat nec tam praesentis alibi cognoscere divos.
I was not allowed to escape from slavery nor to find gods so present anywhere else.
42–43hic illum vidi iuvenem, Meliboee, quotannis bis senos cui nostra dies altaria fumant.
Here I saw that young man, Meliboeus, for whom our altars smoke twelve days a year.
44hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti:
Here he was the first to give me an answer when I asked:
45“ pascite, ut ante, boves, pueri; submittite tauros.”
“Graze your cattle as before, lads; rear your bulls.”
46Meliboeus
46Fortunate senex, ergo tua rura manebunt,
Lucky old man, so your lands will stay yours,
47–48et tibi magna satis, quamvis lapis omnia nudus limosoque palus obducat pascua iunco.
and big enough for you, although bare stone and marsh cover all the pasture with muddy rushes.
49non insueta gravis temptabunt pabula fetas,
No unaccustomed fodder will try your pregnant ewes,
50nec mala vicini pecoris contagia laedent.
nor will the foul infections of a neighbour's flock harm them.
51–52fortunate senex, hic inter flumina nota et fontis sacros frigus captabis opacum.
Lucky old man, here among familiar streams and sacred springs you will catch the shady coolness.
53–54hinc tibi, quae semper, vicino ab limite saepes Hyblaeis apibus florem depasta salicti
On this side, as always, the hedge on your neighbour's boundary, its willow-blossom grazed by Hyblaean bees,
Questions
Answer before opening the key. Every answer here is taken from the text’s own analysis, so it cannot drift out of step with the passage above.
1.vocabulary
Give the dictionary form and meaning of sacros.
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sacer, sacra, sacrum — sacred, holy
In this passage it is acc. pl. masc..
2.vocabulary
Give the dictionary form and meaning of maesta.
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maestus, -a, -um — sad, sorrowful
In this passage it is nom. sg. fem..
3.parsing
Parse facerem.
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faciō, facere, fēcī, factum — verb, imperfect subjunctive active, 1st singular
deliberative subjunctive in past time: 'what was I to do?' — a real question with no answer expected, not a statement (do, make)
4.parsing
Parse patereris.
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patior, patī, passus sum — verb, imperfect subjunctive deponent, 2nd singular
still inside the indirect question governed by mirabar (suffer, allow)
5.translation
hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti:
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Here he was the first to give me an answer when I asked:
Translate literally first — keep the case, tense and force of each word, and only then let the English read naturally. The version given is the model answer; yours is right if it is defensible word by word, not if it matches word for word.
6.parsing
Parse cognoscere.
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cognōscō, cognōscere, cognōvī, cognitum — verb, present active infinitive
second infinitive under licebat (get to know, recognize)
7.parsing
Parse obducat.
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obdūcō, obdūcere, obdūxī, obductum — verb, present subjunctive active, 3rd singular
singular verb with two subjects, agreeing with the nearer (draw over, cover)
8.translation
nec mala vicini pecoris contagia laedent.
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nor will the foul infections of a neighbour's flock harm them.
Translate literally first — keep the case, tense and force of each word, and only then let the English read naturally. The version given is the model answer; yours is right if it is defensible word by word, not if it matches word for word.
9.vocabulary
Give the dictionary form and meaning of senex.
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senex, senis, m. — old man
In this passage it is voc. sg. masc..