Hi, I'm currently making a miniature wardrobe for my niece in which to hang her teddy bear's clothes. I'd very much like to inscribe the pediment with a latin translation of 'Bare necessities', ie. resources which are just sufficient for ones needs. I appreciate, of course, that the 'Jungle Book' pun will almost certainly be lost in translation, so another possibility is a translation of 'Bear necessities', as in the resources required by a bear. Any help greatly appreciated.
That would call for nihil instead of non, which would make a fine translation. Nil nisi necesse is a shortened version. Another way to render this is nil superflui, "no excess".
Thank you Imprecator. Just to clarify, if I were to use the unshortened version would this be Nihil nisi necessaria or would necessaria take on a different ending? I would hate to pass my own ignorance on to the next generation.
Thanks so much Decimus, and I love the Winnie the Pooh quote! Put me out of my misery - "You never can tell with bees" ? I so want to know the latin for "I'm so rumbly in my tumbly" now, but perhaps I'd better not push my luck!
Well done, yes that's what it means. It's rather elegantly put into Latin using a passive periphrastic. Translating it literally and clumsily back into English you would have, "Concerning bees it must always be doubted." It's from a translation by an extraordinary man, Alexander Lenard. You can read his account of it on-line in his book "The Valley of the Latin Bear". I suspect "I'm so rumbly in my tumbly" is by Disney writers rather than A.A. Milne but if I'm wrong and you can find it in the original "Winnie the Pooh" I will find Lenard's Latin version of it for you. There's also a published Latin version of "The House at Pooh Corner" translated by Brian Staples rather than Lenard but I don't have a copy of that. Edit: entered missing word.
Demonstrates my knowledge of Winnie the Pooh rather than latin, I'm afraid! Correct. Incidentally, if you haven't come across Frederick C Crews 'The Pooh Perplex' I can thoroughly recommend it. A bitingly accurate parody of various styles of academic literary criticism. 'God bless mummy, I know that's right/ Wasn't it fun in the bath tonight' is given oedipal overtunes which I'm sure weren't intended by Mr Milne.
For anyone who's interested, here's the finished wardrobe: http://www.myalbum.co.uk/Album=FFYKCE8U Went with the 'bear' side of the pun in the end, but a big thank you to all who contributed.
