Croesō, Lȳdiae rēgī, fīlius erat, nōmine Atys. Hunc Croesus in somniō vīdit, ferreā cuspide trāiectum et cruōre cōnspersum. Expergēfactus ille, domī fīlium retinet; deinde iacula et hastās abdit in āreā.
[B] ____________________
Interim Sardēs vir advēnit obstrictus scelere. Eum Croesus expiāvit, et benignē accēpit. Tum eum percontātur hīs verbīs: "Quis es? Quem virum occīdistī!"
[C] ____________________
Respondit hospes tālia: "Ō rēx, Gordiae sum fīlius, est autem mihi nōmen Adrastō. Frātrem meum invītus occīdī. Adsum ā patre ēiectus, rēbus omnibus dēstitūtus." Tum Croesus inquit: "Ex virīs amīcīs oriundus es, et ad amīcōs vēnistī." Ita ille in Croesī aedibus vītam agēbat.
[D] ____________________
Per idem tempus in monte Olympō aper exstitit mīrā magnitūdine. Hic Mȳsōrum arva vastābat.
[E] ____________________
Mȳsōrum lēgātī ad Croesum vēnēre haec dīcentēs: "Appāruit, ō rēx, in regiōne nostrā immānis magnitūdinis aper. Hic agrestia opera omnia corrumpit. Mitte fīlium tuum et dēlēctōs iuvenēs canēsque; nam bēluam ē terrā nostrā tollere volumus.'
[F] ____________________
Haec illīs precantibus Croesus, somnium recordātus, ita respondit: "Fīliī quidem meī nē amplius fēceritis mentiōnem. Nōn enim illum vōbīscum ēmittere possum. Lȳdōrum autem dēlēctam manum canēsque mittam.'
[G] ____________________
Audītīs Mȳsōrum precibus intervenit Atys. Patrem movēre hīs verbīs cōnātur: "Antehāc, ō pater, hoc mihi honestissimum et nōbilissimum vīsum fuit, bellō et vēnātiōne glōriam parāre. Nē igitur mē domī retinuerīs. Quis tandem esse vidēbor cīvibus? Quālis vidēbor uxōrī?"
Vocabulary
abdō, -ere, abdidī, abditus [3]: hide
agrestis, -e: of / pertaining to land (fields, the countryside); rustic, rural
area, -ae [1/f]: a piece of vacant ground
arvum, -ī [2/n]: field; farm land
bēlua, -ae [1/f]: wild animal; monster
expergefaciō, -ere, -fēcī, -factus [3-iō]: wake up; arouse
expiō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: purify, relieve guilt
exsistō, -ere, exstitī [3]: [i] be, exist; [ii] appear, arise
hospes, hospitis [3/m]: [i] guest; [ii] host; [iii] (here) stranger, foreigner
invītus, -a, -um: unwilling; note the use of an adjective to describe the performer of the action, a common feature of Latin, rather than an English adverb to describe the action itself
obstringō, -ere, obstrīnxī, obstrictus [3]: bind, tie, fetter; with scelus, sceleris [3/n]: crime; evil deed, the perfect passive participle can be translated as “having been involved in / found guilty of”
percontor, -ārī, percontātus sum [1/dep]: question strictly; interrogate
recordor, -ārī, -ātus sum [1/dep]: remember; note: recordātus = having remembered
venātiō, vēnātiōnis [3/f]: hunt; hunting
Notes
nē (mentiōnem) fēceritis: do not make (mention); nē … mē domī retinuerīs: do not keep me at home
This is an alternative way of making a negative command in Latin. It involves the use of the subjunctive and will be discussed in a later post.
[1] Fill in the blanks in the text with the appropriate title [A] – [G] of each section:
A huge wild boar ravages the country.
Atys implores his father to let him go.
Croesus has a bad dream about his son Atys.
Croesus refuses.
He purifies a man who comes to him stained with crime.
The people beg Croesus to send his son to kill it.
The stranger tells his story — Croesus receives him as a friend.
[2] Find the Latin:
[a]
- Here I am [i] driven out ¦ by my father and [ii] bereft ¦ of all things.
- send the chosen young men
- the chosen band (of men)
- having been woken up, he …
- having been pierced by an iron weapon (i.e. the pointed end of, for example, a javelin)
- having been strewn / spattered with blood
- having remembered the dream
- involved in a crime [literally: having been bound …]
[b]
- with the prayers having been heard [ = after the prayers had been heard]
- (Croesus replied) to them praying / begging for these things [ = as they were begging for these things]
- while saying these things
[c]
- this has seemed to me
- Who shall I seem to be (to the citizens)?; How (what kind of person) shall I seem (to my wife)?
____________________
[A] Croesus has a bad dream about his son Atys.
[B] He purifies a man who comes to him stained with crime.
[C] The stranger tells his story — Croesus receives him as a friend.
[D] A huge wild boar ravages the country.
[E] The people beg Croesus to send his son to kill it.
[F] Croesus refuses.
[G] Atys implores his father to let him go.
[A] Croesus, king of Lydia, had a son by name Atys. Croesus, in a dream, saw him pierced with an iron weapon, and sprinkled with blood. On awaking [ = having been woken up], he keeps his son at home; next he hides the javelins and spears in a piece of vacant ground.
[B] Meanwhile there arrived at Sardis a man involved in a crime. Croesus purified him, and received him kindly. Then he questions him in these words: ‘Who are you? What man have you slain?’
[C] The stranger replied as follows: ‘O king, I am the son of Gordias; moreover, my name is Adrastus. I killed my brother by accident / unwillingly. Here I am, expelled by my father, deprived of all my property.’ Then Croesus said: “You are descended from friends, and have come to friends.” So he began to lead his life in the palace of Croesus.
[D] About the same time there appeared in Mount Olympus a wild boar of wonderful size. It began to ravage the farm lands of the Mysians.
[E] The ambassadors of the Mysians came to Croesus saying these words: ‘O king! a boar of huge size has appeared in our district. He is destroying all the works / labours of the countryside [= everything done in the countryside]. Send your son and chosen youths and hounds, for we wish to remove the brute from our country.’
[F] To them making this prayer, Croesus, remembering / having remembered his dream, replied as follows: ‘Of my son, indeed, make mention no more. For I cannot send him out with you. But I shall send a chosen band of Lydians and hounds.’
[G] With the prayers of the Mysians having been heard [ = after the prayers … had been heard] Atys interrupts / intervens. He tries to move his father with these words: ‘Formerly, my father, this seemed to me most noble and glorious to win honour in war and the chase / hunt. Therefore, do not keep me at home. What, in the end, shall I seem to the citizens to be? What kind of man shall I seem to my wife!’
