Latin · Unit 10

Capita 6–10

Puer Romanus

Iūppiter rēgem avium creāre voluit; Rōma; Nocturna Lemūria; Dē mānibus; Dē somniīs

304 lines

Iūppiter rēgem avium creāre voluit (Puer Rōmānus 6)

1
When we had left Fundi, and were laughing at the man's boasting and vanity, our mother said, 'Now then, do you want me to tell you a story about a jackdaw?'
Ubiwhere
FundīsFundi: sling
discessimus,discedo: go/march off, depart, withdraw
rīdēbāmusquerīdeō: laugh
hominishomo: man, human being
glōriamgloria: glory, fame
ācatque: and
vānitātem,vanitas: emptiness, untruthfulness
mātermater: mother
nostra,noster: our, ours
‘Heushey!, ho!, ho there!, listen!
vōs,’tu: thou, you
inquit,inquam: say (defective)
‘voltisnevolt
fābulamfabula: story, tale, fable
vōbīstu: thou, you
dēde: down from; concerning
grāculōgraculus: jackdaw
dīcam?’dico2: say, speak, tell
2
To which I said, 'Tell it, I beg you, tell it, so long as he is no relation of Hannibal's.'
3
But my mother said, 'Hold your tongues, and you shall hear.
4
When Jupiter wished to make a king of the birds, he called an assembly of the birds for a fixed day, on which they were all to be present, and he was to make the most beautiful bird of all their king.
5
Then the jackdaw, mistrusting his own ugliness, ranged over woods and fields, and gathered up the most beautiful feathers he saw anywhere and put them round himself.
6
So with the feathers of the peacock and of the other birds he was made the most beautiful of them all.
7
The appointed day came, and all the birds flew to Jupiter.
8
Nor was the jackdaw himself missing, most splendid with the many colours of his feathers.
9
Jupiter was now about to make him king, as the worthiest of them all, but the others in their anger each took back her own feather from him; and so, stripped bare, he was made a jackdaw again, as he had been before.'
10
When this story had been told, my brother said, 'Why was Jupiter going to make the most beautiful bird king?

glōriam: glory, fame, from gloria
vānitātem: emptiness, untruthfulness, from vanitas
voltisne: volt
cōgnātus: related, related by birth
creāre: make, from creo
fōrmōsissimam: beautiful, finely formed, from formosus
praeficeret: put in charge, place in, from praeficio
dēfōrmitātī: ugliness, deformity, from deformitas
diffīsus: divine
nemora: wood, forest, from nemus
arva: arable land, plowed field
peragrāvit: travel over every part of, from peragro
plūmāsque: feather
collēctās: contribution, from collecta
circumposuit: put, from circumpono
pāvōnis: peacock, from Pavo
aliārumque: by another
plūmīs: feather, from pluma
indictus: not said
advolant: fly to, dash to, from advolo
singulae: apiece, from singulus
nūdātus: lay bare, strip, from nudo
dictā: dictate, from dicto

11
Surely the bravest and wisest was worthier of the kingship?'
12
Then I said, 'But who was made king?
13
But she said, 'Do not ask too many questions.
14
The story shows how foolish it is to claim other people's merits for oneself, as that prefect does.
15
But we have talked enough; look, Anxur!'
16
Then we see the town set on its broad gleaming rocks, from which we had to go on by boat along the canal.
17
The town was crammed with boatmen and innkeepers.
18
What abuse between the slave boys and the boatmen!
19
The fare is demanded, the mule is harnessed: 'Bring the boat in here!
20
Closer, closer, or we shall fall into the water!

ineptum: silly, foolish, from ineptus
arrogāre: ask, question, from arrogo
collocūtī: talk, from colloquor
Ānxur: ring, circle
candentibus: be of brilliant whiteness, shine, from candeo
canālem: channel, from canalis
lintre: boat, skiff, from linter
differtum: full, filled, from differtus
convīcia: noise, chatter, from convicium
nautāsque: sailor, seaman
Aes: money, pay
exigitur: drive out, expel, from exigo
adligātur: bind, from adligo
Propius: nearer, closer
dēcidāmus: detach, cut off

21
What?
22
Are you packing in three hundred?
23
You will sink the boat, you rascal!
24
Hold on, that is enough now!'
25
So a whole hour goes by.
26
When at last we get aboard, and the mule creeps along the bank, wicked gnats and marsh frogs take away our sleep, while the boatman, who steers the boat, and a traveller, who leads the mule, sing to each other in turn.
27
At last the muleteer, tired and soaked with wine, wants to sleep; he lets the mule out to graze, ties the rope to a rock, and lies on his back snoring.
28
Day was there already; we wake up, and notice that the boat is not moving on.
29
At once my father, a hot-headed man, leaps up and beats the boatman's head and loins with a stick; and only at the fourth hour, and barely then, are we put ashore at the Forum of Appius.
30
Setting out from here we reached Rome, on the sixteenth day after we left Brundisium.

Trecentōs: three hundred
īnseris: plant, sow, from insero
dēmergēs: submerge, from demergo
Ohē: hey! hey there!
cōnscendimus: climb up, ascend, from conscendo
rēpitque: creep, crawl, from rēpō
culicēs: gnat, midge, from culex
palustrēsque: marshy
rānae: frog, from rana
adimunt: withdraw, take away, from adimo
viātor: traveler
mūtua: borrowed, lent, from mutuus
mūliō: muleteer, mule driver
madidus: wet, moist
ēmīttit: hurl, from emitto
retinācula: rope, from retinaculum
religat: tie out of the way, from religo
supīnusque: lying face upwards, flat on
stertit: snore, from sterto
expergīscimur: awake
cerebrōsus: liable to be affected with
prōsilit: jump, from prosilio
lumbōsque: loins, from lumbus
fuste: staff club, from fustis
dolat: hew, fashion, from dolo
quartā: four
Hinc: from here, hence

31
On the sixteenth day, then, we finished the journey at last, for, as I said before, we had been held up by rain for the first three days.
32
But at last we reached Rome in high spirits.
33
We enter the city through the Capena gate.
34
What a crowd of people!
35
How many soldiers!
36
What an uproar!
37
I had believed, for my part, that Rome would be like our Brundisium.
38
But among other cities she lifts her head as high as an oak among brushwood.
39
At the Capena gate everyone must get down from horses and carts; for in the streets of the city one may ride with horses and carriages by night, but not by day.
40
We were allowed to, however, because my father is a magistrate of the highest rank.

cōnfēcimus: make together, from confacio
namque: for, and in fact
oppressī: press down, from opprimo
Capēnam: cape, cloak, from Capena
effert: stuffed
dūmēta: thicket, from dumetum
carrīsque: wagon

41
So we ride past the Circus Maximus to the Tiber bridge, then, leaving the bridge, we climb the Janiculum through the trees, where a friend of my father's has a splendid house.
42
We go in, we greet and are greeted, we are invited to dinner; after dinner we go out into the gardens to look at the city from the top of the hill.
43
As we admire it our host declaims the verses which a very famous poet composed about his own house.
44
Listen.
45
The few acres of Julius Martialis,
46
more blessed than the gardens of the Hesperides,
47
lie along the Janiculum's long ridge.
48
From here one may look on the seven ruling hills
49
and take the measure of all Rome,
50
the hills of Alba and Tusculum too,

Tiberīnum: Tiber-, from Tiberinus
Iāniculum: the Janiculum
māgnificam: splendid, from magnificus
salūtāmur: greet
cēnatī: having dined, from cenatus
Admīrantibus: admire, respect, from admiror
versūs: line, verse
composuit: compare, from compono
iūgera: jugerum, from jugerum
beātiōra: blessed, blissful, from beatus
recumbunt: recline, lie at ease, from recumbo
aestimāre: value, assess, from aestimo
Albānōs: white precious stone, from Albani
Tusculōsque: little frankincense
collēs: hill, from collis

51
old Fidenae and little Rubrae.
52
From there the traveller of the Flaminian and Salarian ways
53
is in view, his carriage making no sound,
54
so that the wheel may not disturb gentle sleep,
55
which neither the boatmen's din
56
nor the shouting of the haulers can break,
57
though the Mulvian bridge is so near, and the keels
58
go gliding down the holy Tiber.
59
This country place, or rather this house as it should be called,
60
its master commends; you will think it your own,

Fīdēnās: faith, loyalty, from Fidena
veterēs: ancients, men of old
brevēsque: Papal letter, Brief
Flāminiae: priest-assistantess, from Flaminia
Salāriaeque: regular official payment to the
gestātor: one who is carried, a
patet: stand open, be open, from pateo
essedō: war chariot, from essedum
blandō: flattering, coaxing, from blandus
rota: wheel
nauticus: nautical, naval
tumultus: commotion, confusion
helciāriōrum: he, from helciarius
carīnae: keel, bottom of ship, from carina
seu: or if, from sive
potius: able, capable, from potis
commendat: entrust, give in trust, from commendo

61
so ungrudging and so generous,
62
so kindly is the welcome it offers.
63
Are they not composed with the greatest art and the greatest genius?
64
When our host had finished declaiming we all applauded; then we go back to sleep, because, worn out by so long a journey, we want to enjoy our rest, so as to look at the city closer tomorrow.
65
It happened that Jupiter … a king of the birds.
66
Jupiter was on the point of … a king of the birds.
67
It can in no way come about that Jupiter … a king of the birds.
68
Jupiter could not bring it about that … a king of the birds.
69
How did it come about that Jupiter … a king of the birds?
70
It is in the birds' interest that Jupiter … a king of the birds.

invida: hateful, ill disposed, from invidus
līberālis: honorable
cōmī: courteous, from comis
hospitālitāte: hospitality, entertainment of guests, from hospitalitas
compositī: made-up, from compositum
ingeniō: trick, clever device, from ingenium
plausimus: clapping
fatīgātī: weary, tire, from fatigo
fruī: enjoy, profit by, from fruor
efficere: bring about, from efficio

71
It remains that Jupiter … a king of the birds.
72
It happened that Jupiter … about to make the jackdaw king.
73
It could in no way come about that Jupiter … the jackdaw king.
74
It happened that the other birds each … her own feather from the jackdaw.
75
When the story of the jackdaw had been told, what did my brother ask?
76
What did I ask next?
77
What did my mother answer?
78
What did the story show?
79
Why did my brother and I find fault with the story?
80
What sort of town was Anxur?

Restat: stand firm, from resto
grāculum: jackdaw
reprehendimus: hold back, seize, from reprehendo

81
How did we travel on from there?
82
Why could we not sleep?
83
What did we notice when we woke in the morning?
84
What then did my father do?
85
I shall give you a reward; I think you are worthy of a reward.
86
Jupiter was going to make the jackdaw king of the birds; he thought him the worthiest of all.
87
The master found fault with the boy; he thought he was not paying attention.
88
I gave food to the beggar; I thought he was hungry.
89
We were laughing at the prefect; we thought he was a braggart.
90
We are afraid of the master; we think he is quick-tempered.

inde: from that place, thence
experrēctī: awake, from expergiscor
attentō: attentive, heedful, from attendo
Mendīcō: beg for
ēsurīre: be hungry, hunger
irrīdēbāmus: ridicule, mock
īrācundum: angry, from iracundus

91
The master praises me; he thinks I have done my lesson well.
92
The master praised me; he thought I had done my lesson well.
93
The master was getting angry; he thought the pupils were playing.
94
The master exacts a penalty from my brother; he thinks he is lazy.
95
The window must be opened by me.
96
or I must open the window.
97
Everyone must get down.
98
or It is necessary that everyone get down.
99
The door must be shut by me.
100
At school we must learn, not play.

claudenda: limp, stumble, from claudeo

101
We had to make the journey.
102
Roman boys had to go to school at first light.
103
I must speak in a clear voice.
104
You must do your lesson.
105
We had to keep quiet.
106
They had to pay the money.
107
Everyone had to hurry.
108
This book must be read aloud by all the boys.
109
Is Rome like Brundisium?
110
At the Capena gate what did everyone have to do?

solvere: loosen, release, from solvo
Festīnandum: hasten, hurry, from festino
recitandus: read aloud, recite

111
When may one ride on horseback through the streets of the city?
112
Why were we allowed to by day, all the same?
113
Where did my father's friend have his house?
114
Why did we go out into the gardens after dinner?
115
What did Martial say his few acres were like?
116
What could we see from this place?
117
Why does the traveller of the Flaminian Way ride in a carriage that makes no sound?
118
Why did we want to enjoy our rest?
119
How are gnats a nuisance to us?
120
What is a man soaked with wine like?

incommodō: inconvenience, obstruct

121
Why do some men snore while they sleep?
122
What does the oak bear?
123
What sort of vehicles do we use in making a journey?
124
What do the haulers do?
125
What is a kindly host like?
126
When do we take our leisure?
127
When do we do business?
128
What does carina properly mean?

stertunt: snore

Rōma (Puer Rōmānus 7)

129
It would take long to describe everything that is at Rome.
130
The city of Rome is built on seven hills: the Palatine, the Aventine, the Capitoline, the Quirinal rise, the Viminal rise, the Esquiline, the Caelian.
131
Why two of them are called rises and five hills, I myself do not know.
132
Across the Tiber there are also the Janiculum and the Vatican hill.
133
Between the Palatine, the Capitoline and the Esquiline lies the Forum.
134
On the Palatine hill was the first city, which they call the Square Rome, and its wall still stands.
135
Yesterday we went down into the Forum.
136
Here at the foot of the Palatine we saw the Hall of Vesta.
137
In the Forum there are the old shops on the left and the new shops on the right; in the middle is the pool of Curtius, into which that noble young man leapt down, to save his country by dying.
138
Opposite we catch sight of the rostra, which are the platforms from which the orators make their speeches to the people.

Palātīnō: Palatine, from Palatinus
Aventīnō: willing, cheerful, from Aventinus
Capitōlīnō: belonging to the Capitol, Capitoline, from Capitolinus
Vīminālī: twig, shoot
Caeliō: kind of beer, from Caelius
Vāticānus: kept-outwards
quadrātam: square up, make square, from quadro
lacus: lake
Curtius: mutilated
Adversa: enemy
pulpita: stage, wooden platform, from pulpitum
ōrātōrēs: orator, from orator

139
Round the Forum there are other buildings: the Senate House, in which the senate debates; the Regia, in which the Chief Priest lives; three basilicas, the Porcian, the Aemilian, the Julian.
140
In the basilicas the courts meet and the men of business do their business.
141
From here one goes up by the Sacred Way to the Capitol.
142
By this road generals ride in triumph, to give thanks to Jupiter of the Capitol.
143
The Capitol has two summits; on one is the temple of Jupiter, on the other the Citadel.
144
Between the Viminal and the Esquiline is the Subura.
145
Here the common people live; the grandest men live on the Palatine.
146
There are other forums too: the forum of Julius, which Gaius Julius Caesar made, and the forum of Augustus, which two with the Roman Forum are the three greatest forums; but there is also the vegetable market, where they sell greens, and the cattle market, in which there is a great statue of an ox.
147
As there are three forums, so there are three theatres in which we watch the plays.
148
In the Circus Maximus there are horse races, in the Amphitheatre gladiators fight each other.

Cūria: senate
dēlīberat: weigh, from delibero
Pontifex: high priest
Porcia: sow, female swine
Aemilia: Aemilian, from Aemilius
iūdicia: trial, legal action, from judicium
negōtiātōrēs: wholesale trader or dealer, from negotiator
triumphantēs: triumph over, from triumpho
Vīminālem: twig, shoot
Subūra: valley between Esquiline and Viminal
plēbēiī: plebeian, from plebeius
lautissimī: elegant, fashionable
Augustī: Augusta, from Augustus
holitōrium: pertaining to vegetables, from olitorius
holera: vegetables, from holus
boārium: of oxen, from bovarius
scaenicōs: theatrical, from scaenicus
Amphitheātrō: amphitheater, from amphitheatrum

149
In the hot baths and the baths we wash.
150
But it would take long to tell of these; so much for that.
151
For I am afraid you may grow as sick of Rome as I did of Hannibal.
152
While I was walking through the city, I saw in the Tuscan Street a roomy and splendid house, on the front of which was a notice of this kind:
153
THIS HOUSE IS TO LET FROM THE FIRST OF JULY. LET THE TENANT APPLY TO BALBUS, THE SLAVE OF MARCUS FRONTO.
154
While I was reading this through, one of my companions laughed.
155
I said to him, 'What are you laughing at?'
156
But he said, 'Surely you know that this house has a bad name?
157
For ghosts live here.
158
Through the silence of the night the sound of iron is heard and the clanking of chains.

thermīs: warm, from thermae
balneīsque: baths, from balnea
hāctenus: thus far
Vereor: fear
Tuscō: your, from Tuscus
spatiōsam: spacious, wide, from spatiosus
titulus: title
hūiusmodī: of this kind
CONDVCTOR: employer, from conductor
CONVENĪTŌ: be appropriate to, fit
BALBVM: unidentified plant, from Balbus
FRONTŌNIS: man with broad, from Fronto
perlegō: read over
comitibus: companion, comrade, from comes
īnfāmem: notorious, disreputable, from infamis
Mānēs: flow, pour, from mano
sonus: noise, sound
ferrī: iron, from ferrum
strepitus: noise, racket

159
Soon a shape appears, an old man with a long beard and bristling hair, and he wears iron chains on his legs and hands and shakes them.
160
The people who live there are struck with terror and lie awake the whole night; from that comes illness, and, as their fear grows, death as well.
161
So the house stands deserted, as you see, and left wholly to that monster.
162
All the same Marcus Fronto, a very shrewd man, has put up the notice, in case anyone who knows nothing of so great an evil should be willing to rent it.'
163
Some days later, while we were walking along the same street, we saw the notice torn down and the door open; we heard that some philosopher had rented the house.
164
'What a fool,' I said, 'he will soon be sorry for his rashness.'
165
'On the contrary,' said my companion, 'he has been told everything.
166
For when he had heard how small the rent was, he suspected it was cheap for a reason, and asks about every detail so shrewdly that he cannot be deceived; but he rents it none the less, or rather all the more.'
167
But I said, 'All the same I am afraid the man may be sorry one day.'
168
We go away and wait to see what will happen.

simulācrum: likeness, image
prōmīssā: promise, from promissum
barbā: beard
horrentī: dread, shrink from, from horreo
catēnās: chain, from catena
ferreās: iron, made of iron, from ferreus
quatitque: shake
terrōre: terror, fear, from terror
perculsī: strike down, from percello
vigilant: remain awake, be awake, from vigilo
morbus: sickness, illness
īnsequitur: pursue, from insequor
timōre: fear, from timor
dēserta: abandoned
Prōscrīpsit: announce, make public, from proscribo
callidissimus: crafty, sly, from callidus
īgnārus: ignorant
condūcere: draw, collect, from conduco
dēreptum: seize, from deripio
philosophum: philosophical, from philosophus
temeritātis: rashness, from temeritas
pēnsiō: payment, installment
vīlitātem: cheapness, from vilitas
suspicātus: mistrust, suspect, from suspicor
acūmine: sharpened point, spur, from acumen
dēcipī: cheat, from decipio
nihilōminus: never, notwithstanding
ēventūrum: come out, from evenio

169
The next day we do not fail to go to the house; a very great crowd is there, a funeral is being led out, they are chanting the dirges, everyone is going to the burial.
170
'Did I not say,' I said, 'that the philosopher would be sorry for his rashness?
171
Yesterday he rented the house, today he is being buried.'
172
At once someone out of the crowd calls out, 'Hold your tongue, for the philosopher is still alive, and it is he who is burying the man.'
173
Then in astonishment I said, 'What has happened then, my good man?'
174
He answers in this way: 'When evening began to come on he orders a bed to be made for him in the front part of the house, and calls for his tablets, his pen and a lamp; he sends all his household into the inner rooms; he himself fixes his eyes, his hand and his mind on his writing, so that his mind might not be empty and invent shapes and groundless fears.
175
At first there was nothing but the silence of the night; then iron was rattled and chains were moved.
176
He did not raise his eyes or let go his pen, but steadied his mind.
177
Then the noise grew, came nearer, and now it is on the threshold, now it is heard inside the threshold.
178
He looks round; he sees and recognizes the figure that had been described to him.

turba: commotion, uproar
fūnus: burial, funeral
nēniās: funeral dirge sung, from nenia
exsequiās: funeral procession, obsequies, from exsequiae
sepelītur: bury, from sepelio
Tunc: then, thereupon
ergō: therefore
advesperāscere: evening is coming on, it, from advesperasco
coepit: begin, commence, from coepio
sternī: spread, strew, from sterno
poscit: ask, demand, from posco
cērās: wax, beeswax, from cera
lūmen: light
interiōra: those within
intendit: hold out, from intendo
vacua: empty, vacant, from vacuus
inānēs: void, empty, from inanis
metūs: fear
fingeret: mold, form, from fingo
Initiō: beginning, commencement, from initium
concutī: shake, from concutio
remīttere: send back, remit, from remitto
crēbrēscere: become frequent, increase
fragor: noise, crash
adventāre: approach, come to, from advento
līmine: threshold, entrance, from limen
Respicit: look back at, from respicio
āgnōscitque: recognize, realize
effigiem: image, likeness, from effigies

179
It stood and beckoned with its finger, like someone calling; he bends over his tablets and pen again.
180
It rattled its chains over the head of the writer; he looks round again, sees the same thing beckoning as before, and without waiting takes up the lamp and follows.
181
It went with a slow step, as if weighed down by its chains; after it had turned aside into the courtyard of the house, it suddenly melted away into the air.
182
Then he digs up the place; bones are found set about and tangled with chains, and now they have been gathered up and are being buried.'
183
When I had heard this I exclaimed, 'And yet there are people who deny that there are ghosts.
184
Let them come here, then, and learn from those who know.'
185
Where is the Roman Forum situated?
186
Where is the Janiculum?
187
What is in the Forum?
188
Why did Curtius leap down into the pool?

innuēbatque: nod or beckon
rūrsus: again, in turn
incumbit: lean forward, press on, from incumbo
īnsonābat: make a loud noise, from insono
innuentem: nod or beckon, from innuo
quasi: as if, just as if
dēflexit: bend downwards, from deflecto
āream: area, from area
repente: sudden, unexpected, from repens
dīlāpsa: run, spread, from dilabor
aurās: air, breeze, from aura
effodit: dig out, excavate
ossa: bones, from ossum
īnserta: fiber
implicita: implicate, from implicito
expertīs: free from, from expers

189
Why do generals ride up to the Capitol by the Sacred Way?
190
Where are horse races held?
191
Where do we wash?
192
In what place do gladiators fight?
193
Why is the cattle market so named?
194
Where do we watch the plays?
195
I am afraid you may grow sick of Rome.
196
I am afraid you may be tired.
197
We pupils are afraid the master may get angry.
198
They are afraid the gladiators may hurt them.

laedant: strike, from laedo

199
He is afraid of being drowned in the baths.
200
We were afraid we should not be able to buy greens.
201
I was afraid he would make a speech.
202
I was afraid the carriage would slip while it climbed the hill.
203
We were afraid we should not be able to find a frog in the marsh.
204
They were all afraid the crowd of people would sink the boat.
205
What did I ask the man who was laughing while I read through the notice fixed to the front of the house?
206
What did he tell me about the house?
207
What did he say the shape was like?
208
What did I say when I had heard that a philosopher had rented this house?

summergātur: plunge under, submerge
emere: buy, purchase, from emo
palūde: swamp, marsh, from palus
affīxum: fasten, annex, from adfigo
audiissem: hear, listen

209
What did I think the next day when I saw the funeral?
210
Why did the philosopher call for his tablets, his pen and a lamp?
211
What did he hear in the middle of the night?
212
What was the figure doing?
213
After the philosopher had dug up the place the figure had shown him, what did he find?
214
What did he then do?
215
What is done from the rostra?
216
What happens in the basilicas?
217
What do men of business do?
218
Where is the Subura? What sort of people live there?

219
What is the vegetable market?
220
Who lets a house?
221
What is the opposite of the verb 'to let'?
222
Why do we put up notices on houses?
223
What is a dirge?
224
When do we go to a burial?

locat: place, put, from loco
prōscrībimus: announce, make public

Nocturna Lemūria (Puer Rōmānus 8)

225
When I had got home I asked my father whether there were ghosts in our house too.
226
'I do not think there are,' he answered, 'for every year I drive them all out of our house.'
227
'You drive out the ghosts, father!' I exclaimed.
228
'Indeed today,' he said, 'I shall drive them out; for they must be driven out on the seventh day before the Ides of May (May, of course, takes its name from the elders), and while you are asleep in your little bed I shall in the middle of the night perform certain rites, which are called the Nightly Lemuria, so that no spectres may live in our house.'
229
When I had heard this I begged my mother to let me stay awake until midnight, so that I might see my father performing these rites; and my kind mother gave me leave.
230
So now I shall tell you what I saw.
231
My father, mindful of the old rite, gets up in the middle of the night and walks through the house with bare feet.
232
With his right hand stretched out he made the holy sign, so that no spectre might meet him; he made the sign in this way: with the forefinger and the little finger stretched out, he pressed the middle finger and the one next to the little finger into the palm, joined by the thumb.
233
Then he washed his hands clean and put seven black beans in his mouth, and threw other beans over his shoulder with his face turned away; and while he throws them
234
'With these beans,' he says, 'I redeem myself and mine.'

reversus: turn back, go back, from reverto
ēiciō: accomplish, perform
d: ante diem, from a. d.
Māiās—Māius: May, from Maius
Nocturna: nocturnal, of night, from nocturnus
Lemūria: malevolent ghosts of the dead
celebrābō: celebrate, from celebro
ūllae: any, from ullus
lārvae: evil spirit, from larva
pervigilāre: remain awake all night, from pervigilo
memor: remembering
rītūs: rite
nūdīsque: bare, naked, from nūdus
minimōque: cinnabar-red, from minimus
pollice: thumb, from pollex
iūnctōs: connected in space, adjoining, from junctus
palmam: palm, from palma
dēpressit: suppress, force, from deprimo
fabās: bean, from faba
ōrī: breeze, breath, from aurum
voltū: face, expression, from vultus
redimō: buy back, recover

235
He said this line nine times, and did not look back; the ghost is thought to gather up the beans and, with no one seeing, to follow the man from behind.
236
When my father had purified himself again with water and made a ringing with bronze, he begged the ghosts to go out of his house.
237
Nine times he cried, 'Go out, ghosts of my fathers'; then at last he looked back, and the rites were duly finished.
238
Why does my father not think that there are ghosts in our house too?
239
Why does he keep the Nightly Lemuria?
240
Why did I beg my mother to let me stay awake until midnight?
241
What did my mother do?
242
When did my father get up?
243
Why was he making the holy sign while he walks through the house?
244
How did he make this sign?

Noviēns: new, fresh
vidente: way, road, from videns
lūstrāvit: purify cermonially, cleanse by sacrifice, from lustro
tinnītum: ringing, clanging, from tinnitus
paternī: father's, paternal, from paternus
rīte: duly, according to religious usage

245
What did he do next?
246
What did he say while he throws the beans over his shoulder?
247
What do men think happens to these beans?
248
Why is the month of May so named?
249
What is the forefinger?
250
What are the other fingers called?
251
Why is a ghost pale?
252
What does fulcrum properly mean?
253
For what purpose do we carry men out?
254
What is a wise woman?

salūtāris: healthful, health-giving
lūrida: sallow, wan, from luridus
fulcrum: fulcrum
efferimus: savage, cruel
sāga: witch, sorceress

255
By what other name are the lemures called?
256
What is a lame man like?
257
What is a ladle?

lemurēs: malevolent ghosts of the dead
cyathus: 1

Dē mānibus (Puer Rōmānus 9)

258
And indeed the poets teach that there are ghosts, for I remember reading this poem in Propertius:
259
The ghosts are something; death does not end everything,
260
and the pale shade escapes the pyre it has overcome.
261
For Cynthia seemed to lean over my bed's head,
262
lately buried by the murmur of the road's edge,
263
while my sleep hung in suspense after the burial of my love,
264
and I was mourning the cold kingdom of my bed.
265
She had with her the same hair with which she was carried out,
266
the same eyes; her dress was scorched along her side.
267
The fire had eaten away the beryl she used to wear on her finger,

Etenim: and indeed, because
Propertium: praetor, from Propertius
lētum: death
fīnit: limit, end, from finio
ēvictōs: overcome, conquer, from evinco
rogōs: funeral pyre, from rogus
Cynthia: tree in Arabia that produced
murmur: murmur
humāta: inter, bury, from humo
amōris: love, from amor
frīgida: cold, cool, from frigidus
ēlāta: make wild, from effero
laterī: brick, from later
adūsta: burn
bēryllon: beryl
adēderat: eat up, eat into, from adedo

268
and the water of Lethe had worn away her lips.
269
She sent out a living spirit and a voice, but her
270
frail hands rattled at the thumbs.
271
My schoolfellows, however, sometimes laugh at me because I admit that I believe there are ghosts; but I remind them of the lines of Horace.
272
Do you laugh at dreams, magic terrors, marvels, wise women,
273
the ghosts of the night and the portents of Thessaly?
274
Indeed I asked my father again what he himself really thought about ghosts.
275
'I do not know,' he answered, 'whether there really are ghosts.
276
For I once had a poor friend, lame from boyhood, who lived in the country.
277
One day a stranger knocked at his door in the evening; the poor man told him to come in, and he came in and asked for wine; the poor man begged him to look for a ladle himself, since being lame he could not look for a ladle.

Lēthaeus: of Lethe
liquor: be in molten, from liquo
spīrantīsque: coil
fragilēs: brittle, frail, from fragilis
increpuēre: rebuke, chide, from increpo
Condiscipulī: fellow pupil, from condiscipulus
irrīdent: ridicule, mock, from irrideo
cōnfitear: confess, admit, from confiteor
commemorō: recall
Somnia: dream, vision, from somnium
magicōs: magic, magical, from magicus
mīrācula: marvelously ugly woman
portentaque: omen, portent
mānibus: morning, morn, from Manes
cēnsēret: think, judge, from censeo
verā: wether, from verum
quondam: formerly, once
advena: foreigner, immigrant
forēs: gangway in a ship

278
So the stranger asked how long he had been lame, and the poor man answered that he had been so from boyhood.
279
The stranger said to him, 'I can cure you.
280
If you eat bay leaves soaked in this wine of yours for several days, you will be brought back to your former health of body; but take particular care to worship the gods duly.'
281
My friend followed these instructions religiously and won, as they say, a sound mind in a sound body.
282
This stranger was wrapped in a purple cloak, such as no one in that region had ever seen before; nor did any of the passers-by ever see a man dressed in such a garb after midday.
283
To me at least there is no doubt that it was an apparition.'
284
Why does Propertius think that there are ghosts?
285
How did Cynthia seem to him?
286
Why do my schoolfellows sometimes laugh at me?
287
What was my father's friend like who lived in the country?

sānāre: cure, heal, from sano
imbūtās: wet, soak, from imbuo
complūrēs: many, several
prīstinam: former, old-time, from pristinus
valētūdinem: health, from valetudo
redigēris: drive back
cūrā: care, trouble
praecepta: teaching, lesson, from praeceptum
religiōsē: carefully
adeptus: gain, secure, from adipiscor
palliō: cover, coverlet, from pallium
purpureō: purple, dark red, from purpureus
ūsquam: anywhere, in any place
quīn: so that not, without
imāgō: likeness, image

288
Who visited him in the evening?
289
Why could he not look for a ladle?
290
What did the stranger ask?
291
What did the other answer?
292
What did the stranger say next?
293
What did he particularly order him to do?

Dē somniīs (Puer Rōmānus 10)

294
When my father had told me this story I was very glad, because he too thought that there are ghosts.
295
But because I wanted to find out what he thought about dreams, I asked him whether dreams too were true; and he answered me that some are true and some are false: 'Surely you remember, my son,' he said, 'what Virgil wrote?
296
There are two gates of sleep, of which one is said
297
to be of horn, by which an easy way out is given to true shades,
298
the other made shining with gleaming ivory,
299
but by it the ghosts send false dreams up to the sky.'
300
But so that you may understand well that some dreams foretell the truth, I shall tell you a story, if only you will pay attention.
301
Surely not all dreams are true?
302
By which of the two gates do the true shades come?
303
What is the other gate like?
304
What comes out by this one?

falsa: falsehood, untruth, from falsum
geminae: twin, double, from geminus
cornea: made of, from corneus
exitus: exit, departure
perfecta: complete, finish, from perficio
nitēns: shine, glitter, from niteo
īnsomnia: wakefulness
Cēterum: whale
praedīcere: proclaim, from praedico

The particulars

The course: Paine and Mainwaring, Prīmus Annus (Oxford, 1912) and Secundus Annus (1917); Appleton and Jones, Puer Rōmānus (1913); D'Ooge, Latin for Beginners (Boston, 1911); Ritchie, Fabulae Faciles (1903). Public domain. The teaching pages, the glosses and the narration are ours.
Reading aloud: Digital narration, directed by 1732 Studios.
The app: The course on your phone, with the drills, your place kept and the audio offline.
App Store Google Play
The book: The Aeneid, the work this course leads to, free to read here.
Data: JSON · Markdown · A guide for agents