I need translation practice!
- Thread starter Dantius
- Start date
Well I'm no ultimate authority on what is or isn't idiomatic English, but others can always comment as well anyway.
[2] Nam cum essem in Puteolano Hirtiusque noster, consul designatus, isdem in locis, vir nobis amicissimus et his studiis, in quibus nos a pueritia viximus, deditus, multum una eramus, maxime nos quidem exquirentes ea consilia, quae ad pacem et ad concordiam civium pertinerent. Cum enim omnes post interitum Caesaris novarum perturbationum causae quaeri viderentur iisque esse occurrendum putaremus, omnis fere nostra in his deliberationibus consumebatur oratio, idque et saepe alias et quodam liberiore, quam solebat, et magis vacuo ab interventoribus die, cum ad me ille venisset, primo ea, quae erant cotidiana et quasi legitima nobis, de pace et de otio.
[3] Quibus actis, Quid ergo? inquit ille, quoniam oratorias exercitationes non tu quidem, ut spero, reliquisti, sed certe philosophiam illis anteposuisti, possumne aliquid audire?
[2] Nam cum essem in Puteolano Hirtiusque noster, consul designatus, isdem in locis, vir nobis amicissimus et his studiis, in quibus nos a pueritia viximus, deditus, multum una eramus, maxime nos quidem exquirentes ea consilia, quae ad pacem et ad concordiam civium pertinerent. Cum enim omnes post interitum Caesaris novarum perturbationum causae quaeri viderentur iisque esse occurrendum putaremus, omnis fere nostra in his deliberationibus consumebatur oratio, idque et saepe alias et quodam liberiore, quam solebat, et magis vacuo ab interventoribus die, cum ad me ille venisset, primo ea, quae erant cotidiana et quasi legitima nobis, de pace et de otio.
[3] Quibus actis, Quid ergo? inquit ille, quoniam oratorias exercitationes non tu quidem, ut spero, reliquisti, sed certe philosophiam illis anteposuisti, possumne aliquid audire?
No. I just haven't gotten around to doing this. I'll try the first sentence. I had some difficulties so my translation is a bit awkward.
Nam cum essem in Puteolano Hirtiusque noster, consul designatus, isdem in locis, vir nobis amicissimus et his studiis, in quibus nos a pueritia viximus, deditus, multum una eramus, maxime nos quidem exquirentes ea consilia, quae ad pacem et ad concordiam civium pertinerent.
For, when I was in my country-seat near Puteoli*, and Hirtius, the consul-elect, a great friend of mine, and dedicated to these pursuits, in which*** I have lived from boyhood, was in the same region, we were together a lot, mostly looking**** for measures pertaining to peace and agreement among the people.
*L+S defines Puteolanum as a country-seat of Cicero, near Puteoli. I decided to just use that because I couldn't think of a better way to put it.
** I wasn't really sure how to translate "noster". "my Hirtius" sounds weird, but something like "my friend Hirtius" would seem redundant because of the "vir nobis amicissimus" that comes later. I decided to leave it out.
*** Not sure if this is the right preposition to use. It sounds weird.
**** I'm not really sure why "nos" and "quidem" are there, so I don't know how to translate them.
Nam cum essem in Puteolano Hirtiusque noster, consul designatus, isdem in locis, vir nobis amicissimus et his studiis, in quibus nos a pueritia viximus, deditus, multum una eramus, maxime nos quidem exquirentes ea consilia, quae ad pacem et ad concordiam civium pertinerent.
For, when I was in my country-seat near Puteoli*, and Hirtius, the consul-elect, a great friend of mine, and dedicated to these pursuits, in which*** I have lived from boyhood, was in the same region, we were together a lot, mostly looking**** for measures pertaining to peace and agreement among the people.
*L+S defines Puteolanum as a country-seat of Cicero, near Puteoli. I decided to just use that because I couldn't think of a better way to put it.
** I wasn't really sure how to translate "noster". "my Hirtius" sounds weird, but something like "my friend Hirtius" would seem redundant because of the "vir nobis amicissimus" that comes later. I decided to leave it out.
*** Not sure if this is the right preposition to use. It sounds weird.
**** I'm not really sure why "nos" and "quidem" are there, so I don't know how to translate them.
It doesn't look too bad to me.
Maybe "our dear Hirtius"?
"Those pursuits in which I have lived" sounds a bit weird indeed, but how could you rephrase it, hmm... Would "in which I have spent my life" sound any better?
About nos quidem, maybe something like "and naturally we were mostly looking for..." or "mostly looking (as might be expected from us) for..."
Wait and see what native English speakers may have to say ( Aurifex ?).
Maybe "our dear Hirtius"?
"Those pursuits in which I have lived" sounds a bit weird indeed, but how could you rephrase it, hmm... Would "in which I have spent my life" sound any better?
About nos quidem, maybe something like "and naturally we were mostly looking for..." or "mostly looking (as might be expected from us) for..."
Wait and see what native English speakers may have to say ( Aurifex ?).
That's right.
At "idque" and beyond I'm a bit confused. I suspect there's some kind of implied verb whose object is "ea" ("first we talked about those things, which were..."), but I can't figure out what "id(que)" is doing.
Let me try the next part:
Cum enim omnes post interitum Caesaris novarum perturbationum causae quaeri viderentur iisque esse occurrendum putaremus, omnis fere nostra in his deliberationibus consumebatur oratio, idque et saepe alias et quodam liberiore, quam solebat, et magis vacuo ab interventoribus die, cum ad me ille venisset, primo ea, quae erant cotidiana et quasi legitima nobis, de pace et de otio.
For, since people* seemed to be searching for every reason for new disturbances after the death of Caesar, and since we thought those needed to be opposed**, almost our entire conversation was consumed in those deliberations, and this happened both many other times and on one day that was more free than usual and less full of visitors. On that day, when he had come to me, we first discussed those things, which were everyday topics and almost legally required for us, peace and leisure.***
*I turned it active because the passive voice is not as common in English, and "all reasons seemed to be being searched for" sounded really awkward to me
**perhaps not the best word choice for "occurro"
***literally "about peace and about leisure", but that didn't sound right here.
I had to split it into two sentences, because I couldn't figure out quite how to connect it into one.
Cum enim omnes post interitum Caesaris novarum perturbationum causae quaeri viderentur iisque esse occurrendum putaremus, omnis fere nostra in his deliberationibus consumebatur oratio, idque et saepe alias et quodam liberiore, quam solebat, et magis vacuo ab interventoribus die, cum ad me ille venisset, primo ea, quae erant cotidiana et quasi legitima nobis, de pace et de otio.
For, since people* seemed to be searching for every reason for new disturbances after the death of Caesar, and since we thought those needed to be opposed**, almost our entire conversation was consumed in those deliberations, and this happened both many other times and on one day that was more free than usual and less full of visitors. On that day, when he had come to me, we first discussed those things, which were everyday topics and almost legally required for us, peace and leisure.***
*I turned it active because the passive voice is not as common in English, and "all reasons seemed to be being searched for" sounded really awkward to me
**perhaps not the best word choice for "occurro"
***literally "about peace and about leisure", but that didn't sound right here.
I had to split it into two sentences, because I couldn't figure out quite how to connect it into one.
It looks good enough to me.
I would perhaps translate oratio as plural in English, because to me "our entire conversation" looks like it's about one particular conversation, while the Latin is talking about something habitual. Or, alternatively, you could keep it singular but add something like "always". What do you think?
Perhaps something like "deal with" or "do something about" for occurro?
I would perhaps translate oratio as plural in English, because to me "our entire conversation" looks like it's about one particular conversation, while the Latin is talking about something habitual. Or, alternatively, you could keep it singular but add something like "always". What do you think?
Perhaps something like "deal with" or "do something about" for occurro?