Chapter 28 38 Latin Stories

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EllenMac10
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Chapter 28 38 Latin Stories

Post by EllenMac10 »

I am an independent Latin learner and I am struggling with the two excerpts in 38 Latin Stories. I've searched around and can't seem to find any translations of it to base my own questions off of and to check my own. Could anyone possibly help please?

Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus; omnesque rumores senum graviorum aestimemus unius assis. Soles occidere et redire possunt; ubi semel occidit haec brevissima lux,una nox perpetua nobis est dormienda. Da mihi basia mille, deinde centum; deinde mille altera, deinde secunda centum: deinde, ubi plurima basia fecerimus, conturbemus illa, ne sciamus numerum basiorum, aut ne quis malus numerum invenire possit atque invidere.

Mihi proponis, mea vita, iucundum amorem nostrum futurum esse perpetuum. Di magni, id sincere Lesbia dicat et ex animo, ut possimus totam vitam agere in hac felicissima amicitia!

Note that these are two different translations. Please help me out - Thank you!

modus.irrealis
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Re: Chapter 28 38 Latin Stories

Post by modus.irrealis »

People are usually hesitant to provide straight-out translations just in case they're doing homework, so it's always better to ask specific questions or to give a translation to be critiqued. But here are some comments on the things I think are tricky, so hopefully they help.
EllenMac10 wrote:Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus; omnesque rumores senum graviorum aestimemus unius assis.
The subjunctives here are like "let us..", "senum graviorum" = "of serious old men", "aestimo unius assis" ~ "I consider something worth one penny"
Soles occidere et redire possunt; ubi semel occidit haec brevissima lux,una nox perpetua nobis est dormienda.
"ubi semel" = "once" (as a conjunction). "...nobis est dormienda" = "we must sleep a perpetual night"
Da mihi basia mille, deinde centum; deinde mille altera, deinde secunda centum: deinde, ubi plurima basia fecerimus, conturbemus illa, ne sciamus numerum basiorum, aut ne quis malus numerum invenire possit atque invidere.
"ne quis malus ... possit ..." ~ "so that no evil person can..."
Mihi proponis, mea vita, iucundum amorem nostrum futurum esse perpetuum.
"proponis" ~ "you say", "iucundum amorem nostrum futurum esse perpetuum" = "that iucundus amor noster erit perpetuus."
Di magni, id sincere Lesbia dicat et ex animo, ut possimus totam vitam agere in hac felicissima amicitia!
"dicat" here is subjunctive, something like "let Lesbia say (or mean) this sincerely and from the heart", "vitam agere" = "to spend life"

Interaxus
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Re: Chapter 28 38 Latin Stories

Post by Interaxus »

EllenMac10:

To get the big picture, you might start with this …

http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/005.html

... then listen to this ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzs2Fq1ICZU

… and this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmNxgiFtbj4&NR=1

Then go back to study the language. :)

Cheers,
Int

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