So, do you literally think that this person is telling someone to fall? No, it's clearly a metaphor here, and I think that the idea of "being thrown down or under" (subjecta) might render that metaphor more safely. I think the underlying idea is something like, "if you have been defeated" or "if you have failed." "Fall" might work here in Latin, but I would have to see a precedent. When I briefly looked at the verb "
cado" in Lewis and Short, I could not find the word used in this sense.
Yes, it is a metaphor, but metaphors are not forbidden in Latin. Now it seems indeed that the imperative
cade wasn't that widely used - I searched in the Latin library and got no result. On the other hand, as we're asked for translations by modern people, we're bound to have to say things that weren't exactly said in Latin before... Now to tell the truth, I never asked myself the question whether an imperative could be used in Latin "figuratively" like here - not really ordering the person. I'd like to know what others think of it actually (
Aurifex,
Imber Ranae ?). If the imperative is really a problem, I'd simply go for
si cecideris, resurge ac perge. If you fall, get up and go on.
"concido" might better get the notion of "falling" as a defeat or failure.
After a quick look at my dictionary, it seems like
concido is even more specifically what you wanted to avoid, that is "to die" - that's its first definition. Whereas that of
cado is simply "to fall" (figurative meanings like "to die" coming only later).
(I'm not sure that "[re]surge" is semantically correct in this composition; I'd have to investigate its use more.)
Resurgere = to rise again, get up again (stresses the fact that you used to be up, then fell, then get up again. It really seems the most appropriate to me).
The semantic ranges of words are very tricky, and I'm not sure I understand what "cado" would mean here. I fear that the most obvious meaning to a Latin speaker would be "to die." I'm not sure. "cado" probably will work because this is an extended metaphor through three verbs, but my Latin is not good enough to know. "cado" is actually fairly rare in prose; instead, its compounds are used in prose: concido, incido, decido, and so on; it's more common in poetry, and that complicates the picture.
Honestly I don't know whether it's more common in poetry, but looking only in my dic (I'll just copy the first definition for each one):
Concido, as I said = To fall down (especially in dying), to collapse. So that's no what we need.
Incido = To fall or drop (into), to throw oneself or rush (into). (Precisely the meaning "to drop" which you were talking about.) Not what we need either.
Decido: to fall down (from a position), fall off. Not so bad as the other ones, but we're not especially talking about a high position here. Just about someone who's on one's feet, then falls.
Cado: (of persons or things initially in contact with the ground or not) To fall over, assume a prostrate or recumbent position, collapse. I think that's the best one.
"ac" seemed a bit strong to me. But, really, I may be mistaken.
So may I, I suppose. It's always difficult to tell which one of
et, ac/atque or
-que is the best one to use in a given context, because in our languages we've got one only word for all of them, which is "and" (for me in French "et"). But according to my dic again, one of its uses is "to connect the preliminary action with the main action or purpose" (and gives examples, among which some with imperatives). It seemed to me that here "get up" is some kind of a preliminary action to the purpose that is "to go on". But of course
et would be completely ok too.
By the way, Pacis Puella, your English is awesome! How did you learn it so well?
Thank you...! I learnt it by a correspondence course (finished some two years ago).
