Translation difficulty, please help.

Here you can discuss all things Latin. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Latin, and more.
Post Reply
Lumen_et_umbra
Textkit Member
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2003 1:12 am
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Translation difficulty, please help.

Post by Lumen_et_umbra »

I have translated this sentence a number of times, and, every time I do, it sounds all the more strange to me.<br /><br />Orator exemplum dignum petat ab Demosthene illo, in quo tantum studium tantusque labor fuisse dicu ntur (I spaced that word because the filter thought it was a dirty word.. ahem...) ut impedimenta naturae diligentia industriaque superaret. - Cicero<br /><br />Let the orator beseech from that Demosthenes a worthy example, in (which/whom/?) so much zeal and so much toil are said to have been that (he/it/?) conquered the impedimenta of nature by means of diligence and industry.<br /><br />Can anyone produce a more refined and accurate translation of this? (that shouldn't be difficult)

bingley
Textkit Enthusiast
Posts: 640
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 10:04 am
Location: Jakarta

Re:Translation difficulty, please help.

Post by bingley »

Orator exemplum dignum petat ab Demosthene illo, in quo tantum studium tantusque labor fuisse dic-untur ut impedimenta naturae diligentia industriaque superaret. - Cicero<br /><br />The orator should look for a worthy example in Demosthenes, who is said to have been so keen and hard-working that he was able to overcome his natural (speech) impediment by his painstaking efforts.<br /><br />Jeff, can we do something about the software's deleting what it thinks is a bad word?<br /><br />Later edit: Thinking about it to and from the bank, perhaps natural disadvantages might be better for impedimenta naturae.

User avatar
benissimus
Global Moderator
Posts: 2733
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 4:32 am
Location: Berkeley, California
Contact:

Re:Translation difficulty, please help.

Post by benissimus »

Use "V" like the Romans!
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

Lumen_et_umbra
Textkit Member
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2003 1:12 am
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re:Translation difficulty, please help.

Post by Lumen_et_umbra »

In certain contexts I will use the letter "u". In this case, I use "u" because of the inadequacies of this font setting which precludes the use of macrons and other such symbols...<br /><br />Either this, or I a simply a liar... ;)

Ptolemaios
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2003 7:15 am
Location: The Netherlands

Re:Translation difficulty, please help.

Post by Ptolemaios »

Demosthenes is said to have practised his speaking by speaking into the wind with pebbles in his mouth ... That's ambition!<br /><br />Ptolemaios

Keesa
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1108
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 10:59 pm

Re:Translation difficulty, please help.

Post by Keesa »

And dedication! ;D<br /><br />Keesa

Episcopus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 8:57 pm

Re:Translation difficulty, please help.

Post by Episcopus »

I am in every way of accordance with what bingley has said!<br /><br />I wrote "dicvnt" and I finished with "dicunt".

Post Reply