VIRGIL, A Self-Sufficient Farm

Question 1

namque sub Oebaliae memini me turribus arcis,
qua niger umectat flaventia culta Galaesus,
Corcycium vidisse senem, cui pauca relicti
iugera ruris erant, nec fertilis illa iuvencis
nec pecori opportuna seges nec commoda Baccho.

Answer 1

I certainly remember that, beneath the towers of the citadel of Tarentum
where the dark Galaesus waters the yellow crops,
I saw an old Cicilian, to whom belonged a few acres
of abandoned land, that was neither productive for oxen nor decent grazing for flocks nor any use for vines.

Question 2

hic rarum tamen in dumis olus albaque circum
lilia verbenasque premens vescumque papaver
regum aequabat opes animis seraque revertens
nocte domum dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis.

Answer 2

He, however, by planting the occasional cabbage in the brambles
and white lilies all around and verbenas and spindly poppies,
equalled in his mind the wealth of kings and, returning
home late at night, he would load his table with an unbought feast.

Question 3

primus vere rosam atque autumno carpere poma,
et cum tristis hiems etiamnum frigore saxa
rumperet et glacie cursus frenaret aquarum,
ille comam mollis iam tondebat hyacinthi
aestatem increpitans seram Zephyrosque morantes.

Answer 3

He was the first in spring to gather roses, and in autumn the first to gather apples,
and when gloomy winter was still cracking rocks with frost
and holding back flowing streams with ice,
he was already cutting the threads of the delicate crocus,
railing at the lateness of summer and the sluggish west winds.

Question 4

ergo apibus fetis idem atque examine multo
primus abundare et spumantia cogere pressis
mella favis; illi tiliae atque uberrima pinus,
quotque in flore novo pomis se fertilis arbos
induerat, totidem autumno matura tenebat.

Answer 4

So he was the first again to be rich in breeding bees and a large swarm
and to extract honey from the pressed combs;
to him belonged lime trees and the most prolific pines,
and however many fruits a fertile tree had dressed itself with, in its first blossom,
it always bore the same amount of ripe fruit in autumn.