Vita Merlini
I'm running out of time to post today, and I'm tired, and I have lesson planning to do, but I am not copping out of a journal entry for the day! It will just have to be a short one.
Last fall I took a Latin class in which one of the assignments was to compose a dialogue using a bunch of medical/physiological terms and some other vocab and grammatical features. I don't really see the point of Latin composition assignments, since English-to-Latin is not something I or anyone else I can think of will ever actually have to do, but I could at least make the assignment fun.
So, basically, I wrote Merlin fanfic in Latin.
You can probably tell that I did this assignment shortly after "The Crystal Cave" aired. I decided to call Merlin "Ambrosius," which is the Latin name by which Geoffrey of Monmouth identifies him ("Merlin, who was also called Ambrosius..."), in order to not make my cunning plan too obvious. This ended up being probably the most enjoyable composition I did all semester. I got to render, "When Arthur is king, things will be different" into Latin. :)
Latin:
Ambrosius, servus Artoriī, currit domum avunculī suī, cuius nōmen Gaius est. Gaius medicus est. Ambrosius refert sorōrem Artoriī, fēminam magnae pulchritūdinis, aegram esse.
Gaius: “Arbitrābam eam herī sanam esse.”
Ambrosius: “Nōn hodiē caput eius, sed enim crūs aegrum est. Per silvam equitūra erat, sed summō equō iēcta est. Itaque crūs nocitum est.”
Gaius: “Illa īnfēlīcissima est! Mēnse proximō cecidit et frontem īcit. Nunc crūs aegrum est.”
Ambrosius: “Potesne eam sanāre? Ea patrī vītā est cārior. Etenim pater rēx est!”
Gaius: “Proficiscar statim. Rēx solet civēs interficere, sī nōn laetus sit.”
Ambrosius: “Multō benignior est Artorius quam pater. Artoriō rēge, dissimilēs erunt rēs.”
English translation:
Ambrosius, Artorius’s servant, runs to the home of his uncle, whose name is Gaius. Gaius is a doctor. Ambrosius reports that Artorius’s sister, a woman of great beauty, is unwell.
Gaius: “I thought that she was well yesterday.”
Ambrosius: “Not her head today, but in fact her leg is unwell. She was going to ride through the forest, but she was thrown from the top of her horse. Therefore her leg was injured.”
Gaius: “That girl is most unfortunate! Last month she fell and hit her forehead. Now her leg is unwell.”
Ambrosius: “Can you heal her? She is dearer to her father than his own life. And indeed her father is the king!”
Gaius: “I will set forth immediately. The king is accustomed to kill citizens, if he should be unhappy.”
Ambrosius: “Artorius is much kinder than his father. When Artorius is king, things will be different.”
Last fall I took a Latin class in which one of the assignments was to compose a dialogue using a bunch of medical/physiological terms and some other vocab and grammatical features. I don't really see the point of Latin composition assignments, since English-to-Latin is not something I or anyone else I can think of will ever actually have to do, but I could at least make the assignment fun.
So, basically, I wrote Merlin fanfic in Latin.
You can probably tell that I did this assignment shortly after "The Crystal Cave" aired. I decided to call Merlin "Ambrosius," which is the Latin name by which Geoffrey of Monmouth identifies him ("Merlin, who was also called Ambrosius..."), in order to not make my cunning plan too obvious. This ended up being probably the most enjoyable composition I did all semester. I got to render, "When Arthur is king, things will be different" into Latin. :)
Latin:
Ambrosius, servus Artoriī, currit domum avunculī suī, cuius nōmen Gaius est. Gaius medicus est. Ambrosius refert sorōrem Artoriī, fēminam magnae pulchritūdinis, aegram esse.
Gaius: “Arbitrābam eam herī sanam esse.”
Ambrosius: “Nōn hodiē caput eius, sed enim crūs aegrum est. Per silvam equitūra erat, sed summō equō iēcta est. Itaque crūs nocitum est.”
Gaius: “Illa īnfēlīcissima est! Mēnse proximō cecidit et frontem īcit. Nunc crūs aegrum est.”
Ambrosius: “Potesne eam sanāre? Ea patrī vītā est cārior. Etenim pater rēx est!”
Gaius: “Proficiscar statim. Rēx solet civēs interficere, sī nōn laetus sit.”
Ambrosius: “Multō benignior est Artorius quam pater. Artoriō rēge, dissimilēs erunt rēs.”
English translation:
Ambrosius, Artorius’s servant, runs to the home of his uncle, whose name is Gaius. Gaius is a doctor. Ambrosius reports that Artorius’s sister, a woman of great beauty, is unwell.
Gaius: “I thought that she was well yesterday.”
Ambrosius: “Not her head today, but in fact her leg is unwell. She was going to ride through the forest, but she was thrown from the top of her horse. Therefore her leg was injured.”
Gaius: “That girl is most unfortunate! Last month she fell and hit her forehead. Now her leg is unwell.”
Ambrosius: “Can you heal her? She is dearer to her father than his own life. And indeed her father is the king!”
Gaius: “I will set forth immediately. The king is accustomed to kill citizens, if he should be unhappy.”
Ambrosius: “Artorius is much kinder than his father. When Artorius is king, things will be different.”