Apuleius: Prose Set Texts Flashcards
Translate the following passage:
iuvenis ego Mileto profectus ad spectaculum Olympicum, cum haec etiam loca provinciae clarae vistare cuperem, peragrata tota Thessalia Larissam perveni.
When I was a young man, I set out from Miletus for the Olympic games and, having travelled through the whole of Thessaly, since I also wanted to visit this area of the same province, I reached Larissa.
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ac dum urbem pererrans tenuato viatico paupertati meae fomenta quaero, medio in foro senem conspicio.
And while I wandered through the city seeking remedies for my poverty, as my travelling allowance was diminished, I caught sight of an old man in the middle of the forum.
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insistebat lapidem magnaque voce praedicabat, si quis mortuum custodire vellet, magnum pretium accepturum esse.
He was standing on a stone and proclaimed in a loud voice that if anyone was willing to guard a dead man, he would recieve a great reward.
Translate the following passage:
et cuidam praetereunti “qui hoc”, inquam “audio? hic mortui solent aufugere?”
And I said to someone passing by “What’s this I hear? Do dead men make a habit of running away here?”
Translate the following passage:
“tace,” respondit ille. “nam puer et satis peregrinus es. mertitoque nescis in Thessalia te esse, ubi sagae ora mortuorum semper demorsicant, quae sunt illis artis magicae supplementa.”
“Be quiet,” he replied. “For you are a boy and quite a stranger, and naturally you do not know that you are in Thessaly, where witches are always biting pieces out of the faces of the dead, which are supplements for their magic art”
Translate the following passage:
contra ego, “quali custodela,” inquam, “opus est?” “iam primum” respondit ille, “totam noctem eximie vigilandum est apertis et inconivis oculis semper in cadaver intentis, nec acies usquam devertenda est, cum illae pessimae sage latenter arrepant, forma in quodvis animal conversa.
In reply I said, “What guarding is necessary?” He replied, “Now first of all, you must keep exceptionally awake the whole night with your eyes open and sleepless always directed at the corpse nor should you turn your gaze away anywhere, since those very evil witches creep up secretly, having changed their shape into any type of animal.
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nam et aves et canes et mures, immo vero etiam muscas induunt.”
For they take the form of both birds and dogs and mice, indeed even flies.”
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his cognitis animum meum commasculo et statim accedens senem “clamare” inquam “iam desine. adest custos paratus.”
When I learned these things, I strengthened my resolve and, immediately approaching the old man, I said, “Now stop shouting. A guard is at hand, prepared.”
Translate the following passage:
vix finieram, et statum me perducit ad domum quandam, ubi demonstrat matronam flebilem fuscis vestimentis contectam.
Scarcely had I finished, and he immediately led me to a certain house, where he pointed out a weeping woman wrapped in dark garments.
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illa surrexit et ad cubiculum me induxit. ibi corpus splendentibus linteis coopertum manu revelavit. ubi singula anxie demonstravit, exiit.
She rose and lead me into a bedroom. There with her hand she anxiously uncovered a body covered with shining white sheets. When she had anxiously shown the features one by one, she went out.
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sic desolatus ad cadaveris solacium, perfrictis oculis et paratis ad vigiliam. dum animum meum permulcebam cantationibus, usque ad mediam noctem pervigilabam
Left alone thus to console the corpse, I rubbed my eyes and prepared them for my sleepless watch. While I calmed down my mind with songs, I kept awake until midnight.
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tum autem mihi formido cumulatior cum repente introrepens mustela contra me constitit oculosque in me fixit. tanta fiducia in tantulo animali mihi turbavit animum.
Then, however, my fear became more intensifed when suddenly a weasel creeping in stopped opposite me and fixed its eyes upon me. Such great confidence in so small of an animal disturbed my mind.
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denique sic illi “abi” inquam “scelesta bestia, antequam meam vim celeriter experiaris! abi!” mustela terga vertit et e cubiculo protinus exit.
Finally I said to the weasel as follows: “Go away, wicked beast, before you quickly feel experience my force! Go away!” The weasel turned, retreated and immediately left the bedroom.
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sine mora somnus tam profundus me repente demergit, ut ne deus quidem Delphicus ipse facile discernere posset ex duobus nobis iacentibus, quis esset magis mortuus.
Without delay, such a deep deep suddenly overwhelmed me that not even the god of Delphi himself could have easily distinguished out of the two of us lying (there) was the more dead.
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tandem prima luce expergitus et magno pavore perterritus cadaver accurro, et admoto lumine revelatoque eius vultu, omnia diligenter inspicio: nihil deest. ecce uxor misera flens introrumpit: cadavere inspecto reddit sine mora praemium.
At last awakened at dawn and terrified by great fear, I ran up to the corpse, and having moved a lamp near it and uncovered its face, I examined everything carefully; nothing was missing. Behold, the wretched wife, weeping, burst in. Having examined the corpse, she gave me a reward without delay.
Translate the following passage:
‘per fidem vestram’ inquit ‘cives, per pietatem publicam, perempto civi subsistite et extremum facinus istius feminae nefariae scelestaeque severiter vindicate. haec enim nec ullus alius miserum iuvenem, sororis meae filium, in adulteri gratiam et ob praedam hereditariam exstinxit veneno.’
‘By your good faith, citizens’ he said, ‘by your public duty, help a murdered citizen and avenge with severity the vilest crime of that impious and wicked woman. For this woman, and no other, by the means of poison, destroyed a poor young man, my sister’s son, to win the favour of her adulterous lover and for the sake of inherited profit.’
Translate the following passage:
illa, lacrimis effusis quamque sanctissime poterat adiurans cunctos deos, tantum scelus abnuebat. ergo senex ille: “veritatis arbitrium in divinam providentiam ponamus.
That woman, pouring forth tears and swearing by all the gods as solemnly as she could, denied so great a crime. So the old man said: ‘Let us place the judgement of the truth in divine providence.
Translate the following passage:
Zatchlas adest Aegyptius propheta notissimus, qui mihi promisit se pro magno praemio spiritum istius cadaveris paulisper ab inferis reducturum esse corpusque animaturum.’
Zatchlas is here, a very famous Egyptian prophet, who, in return for a great reward, has promised me that he will bring back the spirit of that poor corpse from the dead for a short time and bring his body back to life.’
Translate the following passage:
inmitto me turbae et pone ipsum lectulum lapidem insistens omnia curiosis spectabam. iam tumore pectus cadaveris extolli, iam spiritu corpus impleri.
I pushed myself into the crowd and, standing on a stone behind the bier itself, watched everything with curious eyes. Now the corpse’s breast began to raise itself with swelling, now the body was filled with the breath of life.
Translate the following passage:
et surgit cadaver et profatur: “cur, oro, me post Lethaea pocula iam Stygiis paludibus innatantem ad momentariae vitae officia reducitis? desine iam, precor, desine, ac me in meam quietem permitte.”
And the corpse got up and spoke out: ‘I beg you, why do you bring me back to the functions of a fleeting life, when I was already floating on the Stygian marshes after drinking the waters of the Lethe? Stop now, I pray, stop, and let me go to my rest.”
Translate the following passage:
haec vox de corpore audita est, sed propheta aliquanto commotior ‘quin narras’ inquit “populo omnia de morte tua?’
This utterance was heard from the corpse, but the prophet, considerably more excited, said ‘Why don’t you relate all the details about your death to the people?’
Translate the following passage:
respondet ille de lectulo et imo cum gemitu populum sic adloquitur: ‘malis novae nuptae artibus peremptus et addictus noxio poculo, torum tepentem adultero reddidi. dabo vobis documenta veritatis perlucida, et quod prorsus alius nemo cognoverit vel ominaverit indicabo.’
He replied from the bier and with a deep groan addressed the peoples as follows: ‘Destroyed by the evil arts of my new bride and sentenced (to death) by the poisoned cup, I gave up the (still) warm bed to the adulterer. I will give you very clear proofs of the truth, and reveal what absolutely no one else has discovered or predicted.
Translate the following passage:
tunc digito me demonstrans: “nam cum corporis mei custos hic sagacissimus exsertam vigiliam mihi teneret, sagae quaedam exuviis meis imminentes forma mutata apparuerunt.
Then pointing to me with his finger, he said, ‘For when this very shrewd guardian of my body was keeping his extensive watch over me, some witches standing threateningly over my remains appeared in changed form.
Translate the following passage:
cum industriam sedulam eius fallere non potuissent, postremo iniecta somni nebula eum in profundam quietem sepeliverunt. tum me nomine excitare coeperunt neque prius desierunt quam dum hebetes artus mei et membra frigida ad artis magicae obsequia segniter nituntur.
When they were unable to deceive his unremitting diligence, they finally cast a cloud of sleep and buried him in deep slumber. Then they began to rouse me by name and did not stop until my sluggish joints and cold limbs slowly struggled to obey their magic art.
