Now he only could lie as he was, breathing slowly, almost ready to fall asleep again, paralyzed in the airless room, not

Latin Learning Latin
1

Now he only could lie as he was, breathing slowly, almost
ready to fall asleep again, paralyzed in the airless room, not waiting for
twilight but staying as he was until it should come. (form P. Bowles The Sheltering Sky)
This ’ should’ was probably introduced into English to play the role of the Latin subjunctive here.
For instance: He was lying awaiting when twilight should come can be best rendered (I think) Cubebat expectans diluculi adventum. But also: Cubebat expectans donec adveniat diluculum. Is this correct?

2

I would use more common jacēbat. The subjunctive should be in the imperfect.

3

yes of course, just a typo, but what do u think about the supposition that the english ‘should’ here has the latin subjunctive at its source?

4

PS: the present subjunctive can still be used here as a kind of repraesentatio (I guess).

5

The subjunctive indicates some kind of purpose and sounds fine to me. However, I do think you should respect the cōnsecūtiō temporum and use the imperfect subjunctive.

Allen and Greenough /Latin Grammar: DUM, DŌNEC, AND QUOAD

6

but what do u think about the supposition that the english ‘should’ here has the latin subjunctive at its source?

I don’t think that this is correct. “Should” is simply the preterite form of “shall”, a modal verb.

“twilight …until it should come” means that I know twilight will come but I don’t know exactly when. I dont see a subjunctive here.

Happy to be corrected.

7

The English sentence is a quote from The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles. I think this subjunctive is called by Thomas/Ernous le subjonctif éventuel, p.236.
PS. If you make it present, you would probably still use ‘should’ and not ‘shall’: ‘He is lying, expecting that twilight should come.’
So, in this case, it is not like the past tense of ‘shall’.

8

Cf., Gildersleeve & Lodge, 654, note:
NOTE. By assuming the point of view of the speaker, greater liveliness as well as
greater accuracy is imparted to the discourse. This form is technically called Repraesentatio.
In Conditional Sentences Repraesentatio often serves to prevent ambiguity.
The point of view not unfrequently shifts from reporter to speaker, sometimes in
the same sentence; this has the effect of giving additional emphasis to the primary
verb, and is therefore common in commands and in favorable alternatives.
It is like a kind of oratio obliqua, quoting his thought.