(ii.) _Translation._--You will see there is only one principal verb,
+flexit+ (or +flexerunt+), with several principal subjects, +fasces+,
+purpura+, +discordia+, +res Romanae+, +perituraque regna+, and no
subordinate clauses. You may therefore translate at once:--
(a) _Him fasces of the people or purple of kings sway not, not maddening
discord among treacherous brethren, nor the Dacians swarming down from
the leagued Danube, not the Roman State, or realms destined to decay;_
OR
(b) _He is not (1) moved by honours that the people confer, or the
purple of empire, or civil feuds, that make (2) brothers swerve from
brothers’ duty; or the Dacian coming down from the Hister, his sworn (2)
ally; no, nor by the great Roman State and the death-throes of subject
kingdoms._
N.B.--(b) is superior to (a) in--
(1) the use of Passive for Active;
(2) the predicative use of +agitans+, +infidos+, +coniurato+.
+IV.+
+neque ille
Aut doluit miserans inopem, aut invidit habenti.+
(i.) _Vocabulary._--You will probably know the meanings of the words in
this sentence. Thus the meaning of--
+doluit+ is suggested by +dolor+.
+miserans+ „ „ +miser+. Cf. _miser-able_.
+inopem+ „ „ +in + ops+. Cf. _op-ulent_.
+invidit+ „ „ +invidia+. Cf. _envy_.
(ii.) _Translation._--You have here two principal verbs, +doluit+,
+invidit+, joined by +aut+, and a principal subject +ille+.
Notice that +inopem+ must be the object of the participle +miserans+,
and that +habenti+ is used as a noun.
_He never felt the pang of pity for the poor, or of envy for the rich._
Copy of a rendering shown up by a boy of fifteen in a recent scholarship
examination:--
‘Happy is the man who _is able_ to discern the reason of things, and
_controls_ under his feet all changes and inexorable destiny, and the
_groaning_ of greedy Acheron! |I| Blessed also is he who knows the
rustic gods, Pan and old Silvanus, and those sisters, the nymphs! |II|
He is not moved by _the people’s axes_, nor by the regal purple, nor by
discord that rouses brothers to _distrust_ each other. He is not moved
by _Dacus_, coming down from the _sacred_ Danube, nor by _the
affairs_ of Rome, and the realms about to perish. |III| He neither
_grieves for nor pities the helpless_, nor does he envy the rich.’ |IV|
The above version is fair, but notice the following points:--
_Sentence I._--
_is able ... and controls_. The connection in thought is not shown: ‘He
is happy because he _knows_ and ∴ fears not.’
_groaning_--_i.e._ +gemitum+; +strepitum+ = _roar_, _din_.
_Sentence III._--
_by the people’s axes_. This suggests quite a wrong idea; contrast the
version, ‘by the honours that the people confer.’
_sacred_. This is quite wrong. +con-iurato+ = _allied by oath_.
_the affairs of Rome_. A very weak, and inadequate rendering.
_Sentence IV._--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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