Dē autumnō
Autumnō sōl paulātim ad austrum dēscendit. Singulī diēs breviōrēs fīunt. Singulae item noctēs longiōrēs sunt. Tempestās frīgidior esse incipit. Prīmō autumnō arborēs frūctibus curvant. Zephyrus lēniter spīrat. Sōl autumnī iam nōn ūrit. Autumnus omnibus grātus est.
Frīgus autem in diēs singulōs crēscit. Folia arborum paulātim variōs trahunt colōrēs. Terra frīgēscit. Iam agrī māne pruīnā albēscere incipient. Herba paulātim moritur. Tum dēmum folia ārēscunt, moriuntur, cadunt. Hinc atque hinc pīnūs nigrae stant. Reliquae arborēs nūdae foliīs* sunt. Avēs in austrum migrant. Hominēs mātūrant ultimōs frūctūs legere, bovēs ex agrīs colligere, omnia in hiemem parāre.
Extrēmō autumnō caelum nūbibus nigrēscit. Ventus saevit atque arboribus sonat. Madēns auster gelidum imbrem fert. Omnēs hominēs tēctum petunt et circum focum suum congregantur.
*Reliquae arborēs nūdae foliīs sunt. │ The rest of the trees are (literally) bare of leaves i.e. they have no leaves, are without leaves; this is an example of the ablative of separation. The term is used to refer the idea of something / someone being deprived of / freed from / in need of something. We’ll look at it again when a summary of all the ablative uses will be discussed.
Vocabulary
paulātim: gradually
Item: just like
curvō, -āre; curvāvī [1]: bend
zephyrus, -ī [2/m]: the west wind
lēniter: slowly
moritur: (it) dies; is dying
moriuntur: (they) die; are dying
tum dēmum: finally
pīnūs, -ūs [4/f] or -ī [2/f]: pine tree
hinc atque hinc: on each side
mātūrō, -āre; mātūrāvī [1]: rush; hasten
madēns, -entis: dripping
tectum, -ī [2/n]: roof; shelter (can also refer to ‘house’)
focus, -ī [2/m] fireplace; hearth
congregō, -āre, -āvī [1]: gather together
[A]
- Where does the sun descend to in Autumn?
- What are the trees like in early Autumn?
- How does the west wind blow?
- How does the heat of the sun change?
- What does everybody feel about Autumn?
- How do the leaves change?
- What are the fields like in the morning?
- What happens to the grass?
- What finally happens to the leaves?
- How are [i] the pine trees and [ii] the rest of the trees described?
- What do the birds do?
- What three things do men hurry to do?
- What is the sky like in late Autumn?
- How is the wind described?
- What does the south wind bring?
- What does everybody do?
[B] Identify [i] the case and [ii] the number of the following nouns from the text, and [iii] give the nominative singular of the noun:
- autumnō
- colōrēs
- focum
- folia
- frūctūs
- hiemem
- imbrem
- nubibus
- pīnūs
- pruinā
[C] Identify the case of the word in bold and explain why that case is being used.
- [i] Prīmō autumnō arborēs [ii] frūctibus curvant.
- Autumnus omnibus grātus est.
- [i] Folia [ii] arborum paulātim variōs trahunt [iii] colōrēs.
- Avēs in austrum migrant.
- present active participle
- conjunction
- A preposition conveying:
[i] movement towards a place
[ii] movement out of a place
[iii] surrounding
