Ben-Hur Translation Page 19: Thirst for Knowledge

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The Sheik leads Ben-Hur past many tents and paddocks of fine Arabian steeds to the tent of Balthasar the Egyptian…

Senior, præteriens multa tabernacula atque septa bonorum Araborum equorum, adducit Benhur ad tentorium Baltassar Ægyptii.

Ὁ πρεσβύτερος, διερχόμενος πολλὰς σκηνάς τε καὶ ἀγρίδια καλῶν Ἀραβικῶν ἵππων, ἄγει τὸν Βενὼρ πρὸς τὴν σκηνὴν Βαλτασὰρ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου.

Greetings, oh wise Balthasar! The memory of the favor that I did for you this morning makes it easier for me to ask a greater one of you.

Ave, o sapiens Baltassar! Ob memoriam beneficii pro te mane facti, facilius est mihi a te aliquid majus petere.

Χαῖρε, ὦ σοφὲ Βαλτασάρ. Διὰ τὴν μνήμην τοῦ εὐεργετήματος ὑπὲρ σοῦ πρωῒ ποιηθέντος, ῥᾷδιόν ἐστί μοί σε μεῖζόν τι αἰτῆσαι.

Surely it was the Lord who sent thee to save my daughter and myself. It is God’s will that I grant thee anything you may ask.

Dominus vero misit te ut servaret filiam meam et memet ipsum. Deus igitur vult me tibi concedere quodcumque petieris.

Ὁ μὴν Κύριος ἀπέστειλέ σε σῶσαι τὴν θυγατέρα μου καὶ ἐμαυτόν. Ὁ οὖν Θεὸς θέλει μέ σοι συγχωρεῖν ὅ τι ἂν αἰτήσῃς.

The good Simonides has told me of your wondrous tale, and I come to beg that I may hear it.

Cum bonus Simonida miram narrationem tuam mihi dixerit, venio obsecrans ut audiam hanc.

Τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Σιμωνίδου τὸν θαυμάσιον λόγον σου εἰρηκότος μοι, ἔρχομαι δεησόμενος ἀκούειν αὐτόν.

Malluch, thy servant, has already said that you have good reason to hear all I have to tell. Come let us withdraw to the shelter of my tent.

Maloch, servus tuus, jam dixit justam tibi causam esse audiendi omnia quæ dicam. Age, cedamus sub tegmen tentorii.

Ὁ Μαλώχ, ὁ δοῦλός σου, ἤδη εἴρηκε δίκαιόν σοι λόγον εἶναι ἀκούειν πάντα ἅπερ ἐρῶ. Ἄγε, πορευθῶμεν ὑπὸ τὸ στέγασμα τῆς σκηνῆς.

T’was in the desert of thine own country of Judea in the early winter 29 years ago, that alone and unarmed I had made the journey from my home in far-off Egypt, warned by a heavenly dream, I awaited there two wise men from distant lands…

Et factum est in deserto tuæ patriæ, Judææ, incipiente hieme XXIX abhinc annos, cum solus et inermis a domo mea in longinqua Ægypto processissem, responso autem accepto in somnio de cælo, illic præstolabar duos e longinquo sapientes...

Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τῆς σῆς χώρας, τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ἀρχομένου τοῦ χειμῶνος πρὸ κθ' ἐτῶν, μόνος καὶ ἄοπλος ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας μου τῆς ἐν μακρᾷ Ἀιγύπτῳ πορευθείς, χρηματισθεὶς δὲ κατ' ὄναρ οὐράνοθεν, ἐκεῖ ἔμενον δύο ἀπὸ μακρόθεν σοφούς...

But, no! I shall not tell you of myself. Let me rather relate the story in the manner that it will someday be written down to be read by millions still unborn.

Immo, non de me tibi narrabo. Sine potius me persequi res sicut istæ aliquando describentur ut legantur a multitudine nondum natorum.

Ἀλλὰ οὐ περὶ ἐμοῦ διηγήσομαί σοι. Ἔα μᾶλλόν με οὕτω διέρχεσθαι τὸν λόγον ὡς οὗτός ποτε ἀπογραφήσεται ἀναγιγνωσκόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἀγεννήτων.

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