translation 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
kyle6212
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 8:59 am

translation help!

Post by kyle6212 »

Can you help me with the first and maybe, if you feel gracious enough, look over the completed sentences for mistakes? Anything to point me in the right direction would be great.

timet pater amantissimus huic puero, qui est ei vita multo carior. sic honestissimum se esse monstat.
"the most loving father fears this for the boy, ... I'm having problems with the rest. What is "monstat?"

omnes noverunt fortius esse verbum quam gladium
"All know the word to have been stronger than the sword."

nihil est sapientiae similius consiliis deorum.
"Of wisdom nothing is like the advice of gods."

minores maxima cura mores maiorum servant. hi enim sapientia carent, illi multo sapientiores erant.
"Those of inferior rank watch over the concerns of the ancestors. In fact, these people are free from wisdom, those were a great deal wiser."

User avatar
thesaurus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1012
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:44 pm

Re: translation help!

Post by thesaurus »

timet pater amantissimus huic puero, qui est ei vita multo carior. sic honestissimum se esse monstat.
"the most loving father fears this for the boy, ... I'm having problems with the rest. What is "monstat?"
"The most loving father fears for his boy, who is much dearer than life for him. Thus he shows himself to be most honorable."
Monstrat is from "monstrare" to show. Vita is here in the ablative case, multo is an adverb that goes with it and "carior" the comparative. "ei" is a dative referring to the father.
omnes noverunt fortius esse verbum quam gladium
"All know the word to have been stronger than the sword."
"Everyone knows that the word is stronger than the sword." It looks like just the tenses threw you off. "esse" is present, so it needs to be contemporaneous with the tense of the main verb. This part is a little tricky. It's technically the perfect tense, but a phrase like this uses what is called the "gnomic perfect," which is a way of expressing general truths/proverbs, but should be translated in the present tense in English. See section 5 here: http://books.google.com/books?id=HDg7Da ... t&resnum=1
nihil est sapientiae similius consiliis deorum.
"Of wisdom nothing is like the advice of gods."
"...more like the advice..." Remember similis is in the comparative here.
minores maxima cura mores maiorum servant. hi enim sapientia carent, illi multo sapientiores erant.
"Those of inferior rank watch over the concerns of the ancestors. In fact, these people are free from wisdom, those were a great deal wiser."
"The young attend to the customs of their elders with the greatest care. For these [the youth] lack wisdom, those [the elders] were much wiser."
You've got this one figured out. Remember to translate "maxima cura" which is an adverbial ablative here for the verb "servant." I think "minores" and "maiores" probably refers to age instead of rank. These are shorter ways of writing "maiores/minores natu," "greater in respect to birth." http://books.google.com/books?id=UZcRAA ... iores+natu

I hope this helps.
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

kyle6212
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 8:59 am

Re: translation help!

Post by kyle6212 »

thank you very much.

Post Reply