en en en en en it la en en de en en ku en en en en en en la la en es en en es en en en ru en en en en en en la en en la en en en en en en en en en nl en en fr en ru en en en en en en en fr pt en it en ca it en de it fr it en de en fr it it it en en en it en de pt la ceb ceb it it en sv en en ca nl sv sv en fr it en en it it it en de en en en en en fr it pt en fr en de pt en it en en la ceb it en ru en en en en cs en en en cs cs da en da cs en en cs da en en en cs cs da en da cs en en cs cs en en en de cs da en da cs en en cs da en en en cs cs da en da cs en en cs cs en en en en cs da en da cs en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en
The Latin reading blog: Seneca ad Lucilum 1.1 Dont waste your time!
Seneca  (around 4 BC - 65 AD) was the richest man of his age and so had enough time to read and write. Opinions have differed about him: `That eloquent moral weakling,, the advisor through his works of thousands of better men than himself' was the verdict of H.J. Rose in his handbook on Latin literature. I feel some sympathy for this statement, but still, Seneca had to say something  useful now and then. The following  text is the first letter in his collection of letters to Lucilius, who may or may not have been just  an imaginairy addressee. In this letter Seneca tells us not to waste our time. In this he had a point, I think....
I. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM
[1] Ita fac, mi Lucili: vindica te tibi, et tempus quod adhuc aut auferebatur aut subripiebatur aut excidebat collige et serva. Persuade tibi hoc sic esse ut scribo: quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est iactura quae per neglegentiam fit. Et si volueris attendere, magna pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, maxima nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus. [2] Quem mihi dabis qui aliquod pretium tempori ponat, qui diem aestimet, qui intellegat se cotidie mori? In hoc enim fallimur, quod mortem prospicimus: magna pars eius iam praeterit; quidquid aetatis retro est mors tenet. Fac ergo, mi Lucili, quod facere te scribis, omnes horas complectere; sic fiet ut minus ex crastino pendeas, si hodierno manum inieceris. [3] Dum differtur vita transcurrit. Omnia, Lucili, aliena sunt, tempus tantum nostrum est; in huius rei unius fugacis ac lubricae possessionem natura nos misit, ex qua expellit quicumque vult. Et tanta stultitia mortalium est ut quae minima et vilissima sunt, certe reparabilia, imputari sibi, cum impetravere, patiantur, nemo se iudicet quicquam debere qui tempus accepit, cum interim hoc unum est quod ne gratus quidem potest reddere.  [4] Interrogabis fortasse quid ego faciam qui tibi ista praecipio. Fatebor ingenue: quod apud luxuriosum sed diligentem evenit, ratio mihi constat impensae. Non possum dicere nihil perdere, sed quid perdam et quare et quemadmodum dicam; causas paupertatis meae reddam. Sed evenit mihi quod plerisque non suo vitio ad inopiam redactis: omnes ignoscunt, nemo succurrit. [5] Quid ergo est? non puto pauperem, cui quantulumcumque superest, sat est; tu tamen -  malo - serves tua, et bono tempore incipies. Nam ut visum est maioribus nostris, 'sera parsimonia in fundo est'; non enim tantum minimum in imo sed pessimum remanet. Vale.
1.         vindico (1): to protect
tempus quod adhuc:     the time, which has thusfar
aufero (3): to take away
excido (3): escape, slip out
2          Quem mihi dabis, qui aliquod pretium tempori ponat: Whom shall  you show me, who puts some price on time. i.e. who values time.
attendo (3): to pay attention
male agentibus; `while doing something bad’ an abl.abs. with `nobis’ understood
qui intellegat se cotidie mori: i.e. because every day we come closer to our death
In hoc enim fallimur, quod mortem prospicimus: magna pars eius iam praeterit; quidquid aetatis retro est mors tenet. i.e. our past already belongs to death.
quidquid aetatis retro: what of our life is behind us
complecto (3): to embrace
sic fiet: may it thus happen
ut minus ex crastino pendeas: that you would be less depending on tomorrow
hodiernuo (tempori) on todays’ time
manum inicere (3) : to put your hands on
3.         diferro : to postpone
alienus: not one’s own
in huius rei unius fugacis ac lubricae possessionem natura nos misit. In English the wordorder would be:  natura misit nos in possessionem huius rei unius fugacis ac lubricae. Mind the way of saying: nature has sent us to the possession of that fugative and slippery thing.  We would  say: nature has sent us the possession etc, but Senaca may also have written it because it is a reciprocal thing: we posses time, yes, but time also possesses us.
ex qua (nos) expellit quicumque vult: from which he expells us, whoever wants.
imputari sibi cum impetravere, patiantur: .`they allow (patiantur) for them (these things)  to be put on the reckoning, once they have obtained it (impetravere= impetraverunt.’i.e. if someone gives you something, you have to give a gift back at some time.
gratus; a grateful person
4.         ingenue: openly, freely
quod apud luxuriosum sed diligentem evenit, ratio mihi constat impensae. What happens to a rich but careful person, my expense account balances.
causas paupertatis meae reddam: how moving to hear that from the richest man of Rome!
causas reddo (3) : give reasons
Sed evenit mihi quod  (evenit) plerisque non suo vitio ad inopiam redactis
non suo vitio: not by their own fault
ad inopiam redigo (3): to reduce to poverty
5          non puto pauperem, cui quantulumcumque superest, sat est; I do not reckon him poor, for whom whatever little has survivd, is enough.
malo: from malle, not malus!
'sera parsimonia in fundo est' (cf. Hesiod Erga, 369). Parsimony is too late (once one) is in the bottom. `Parsimony when the bottom  is in sight, is too late’
imus: the lowest, deepest, last
Posted by Leo Tepper at 08:37
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest
Hans-Georg Lundahl25 February 2014 at 06:55
Nimis literaliter prehendunt Borussi et Bataves istud. Melius est Belgis et Siculis in hac re!
Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
There was an error in this gadget
caesarius of heisterbach (1)
early christian latin (1)
gregory of tours (6)
johannis de capua (2)
paulinus of nola (1)
pliny the younger (4)
Walter of Ch√Ętillon (1)
Petronius, Cena Trimalchionis c. 61 and 62. A wer...
Some Roman Epitaphs. Memento mori!
Martial, Liber Speculatorum VII. A gruesome scene ...
Phaedrus I.1 The lamb and the wolf.
Martial XI.21 Warning: explicit material!
Seneca ad Lucilum 1.1 Dont waste your time!
These blogs are meant for anyone interested in Latin and are the result of my own curiosity. Have f
View my complete profile
Lucretius I.80-101: tantum religio potuit suadere malorum or on the crimes of religion.
The Roman poet Lucretius (99-55 BC) was a follower of the Greek philosopher Epicurus   (341-270 BC). Epicurus did not believe in gods a...
An early Cristmas post.
I know it is still a bit early for Christmas posts, but a befriended cellist and leader of a baroque ensemble asked me to translate the...
Martial, Liber Speculatorum VII. A gruesome scene at the arena.
I n this poem Martial describes the performance of a mimus in the amphitheatre.  A mimus is a kind of play with often comic situations es...
Carmina Burana 211: My belly is my god!
Whenever the Carmina Burana is mentioned, the music by Carl Orff will come to mind. It is less known that Orff only orchestrated 24 of t...
Paulus Diaconus, Historia Longobardorum 1.4: the miracle of the seven sleepers
During the great migrations of the 4 th -6 th century, the Roman empire, or rather what was left of it, was invaded by Germanic tribes...
Propertius 2.12: war with Amor.
This week I returned from a short holiday to Normandy and Brittany.   A lovely countryside with many remains from the Middle Ages and m...
Some Roman Epitaphs. Memento mori!
Whenever I see an old church, I walk around the graveyard, reading the inscriptions on the graves, provided they have not faded away thro...
Propertius 3,12: Don't join the army!
In 22 BC a certain Postumus was about to enter the army for an expedition to Armenia. Augustus wanted to confront the Persians there ...
Song of songs: Nigra sum, sed formosa!
Some time ago I saw a documentary on Dutch television about a new trend amongst dark skinned women, namely to use cream to whiten their...
Petronius, Cena Trimalchionis c. 61 and 62. A were-wolf story....
This extract is from the Cena Trimalchionis  `Trimalchio’s Dinner’, which is a part of the Satyricon written by Petronius Arbiter (27-66)...
There was an error in this gadget
Watermark theme. Powered by Blogger.