I post a lot of sections of the work of Comenius because they can be explored at different levels: you can simply focus on the key words e.g. the names of the animals, or look in more depth at some of the vocabulary or certain grammatical features. What’s clear is that Comenius knew exactly what he was doing; whatever features he includes, he uses them several times (as the vocabulary notes will show). Nobody else was creating this type of work for children at this time. As a (now retired) teacher of languages, I have a lot of admiration for him and the well controlled and well planned way in which he wrote; that his work was a best-seller in Europe for a century suggests that other teachers admired him too – and the kids would have loved the images and, above all, learning about the world around them. Comenius wanted the pupils to speak and to describe.
Wild-Beasts. │ Feræ Bēstiæ
[1] Wild Beasts have sharp paws, and teeth, and are flesh eaters. │ Bēstiæ habent acūtōs unguēs, & dentēs, suntque carnivoræ
[2] As the Lyon, 1. the King of four-footed Beasts, having a mane; with the Lioness. │ Ut Leō, 1. Rēx quadrupedum, jubātus; cum Leænā
[3] The spotted Panther, 2. │ Maculōsus, Pardus (Panthēra) 2.
[4] The Tyger, 3. the cruellest of all. │Tygris*, 3. immānissima omnium. [*tigris, -is; the spelling with /y/ is not attested; Engl. ‘tyger’ a now obsolete alternative spelling]
[5] The Shaggy Bear, 4. │ Villōsus Ursus, 4.
[6] The ravenous Wolf, 5. │ Rapāx Lupus, 5.
[7] The quick sighted Ounce, 6. │ Lynx, 6. vīsū pollēns,
[8] The tayled fox, 7. the craftiest of all. │ Caudāta Vulpēs, 7. astūtissima omnium.
[9] The Hedge-hog, 8. is prickly. │ Ērināceus, 8. est aculeātus.
[10] The Badger, 9. delighteth in holes. │ Melēs, 9. gaudet latebrīs.
Vocabulary and notes
[i] animals
bēstia, -ae [1/f]: beast
ērināceus, -ī [2/m]: hedgehog; also [i] īrēnāceus, -ī [2/m]; [ii] ēr, -is [3/m]
leaena, -ae [1/f]: lioness
leō, leōnis [3/m]: lion
lupus, -ī [2/m]: wolf; lupa, -ae [1/f]: she-wolf
mēlēs, -is [3/f]: badger
panthēra, -ae [1/f]: panther
pardus, -ī [2/m]: leopard
quadrupēs, quadrupedis [all three genders possible]: a four-footed animal
tigris, -is (or tigridis) [3 m/f]: tiger; it is also an example of a noun which can have an accusative in -im i.e. tigrem or tigridem or tigrim
ursus, -ī [2/m]: bear
vulpēs, -is [3/f]: fox; vixen; Engl. deriv. vulpine: fox-like; cunning
lynx, lyncis [3 m/f]: lynx; the Latin is fine, but the English ‘ounce’ in the 17th century text is from Old French lonce (which makes sense since it’s from the Latin lynx), but at some stage in the development of French, there was a minsintepretation of the word as l’once i.e. mistaking the /l/ as the French definite article l’ at which point it changed in French to once and ended up in English as ‘ounce’; luckily, we threw out that meaning; Modern English ‘ounce’ is from Latin ūncia, -ae [1/f] and, both in Latin and in English, refers to a unit of measurement and has nothing to do with animals!
In a description of part of America in 1634: “The Ounce or the vvilde Cat, is as big as a mungrell dog, this creature is by nature feirce, and more dangerous to bee met vvithall than any other creature, not fearing eyther dogge or man”
[ii] other words
latebra, -ae [1/f]: rather than simply ‘hole’, latebra refers to a ‘hiding place’ or ‘lair’; Melēs gaudet latebrīs │ literally: the badger ‘rejoices’ in hiding places = the badger delights in its burrows, or the badger loves to hide
unguis, -is [3/m] [i] fingernail; toenail [ii] (here) claw (Hoole translates it as “paw”, which sounds a bit too ‘fluffy’ to our modern ears!); also falcula, -ae [1/f]: talon; claw
astūtus, -a, -um: quick-witted; cunning; astute
ferus, -a, -um: wild; savage; Engl. deriv. feral
immānis, -e [i] enormous; huge [ii] (here) savage; brutal
