7

Malchus is reasonably content in his life as a captive shepherd, but is reminded of the value of monastic life when he observes a colony of ants.

dum ... sedeō ... coepī: “while I was sitting, I began.” When the main verb is in the perfect, a subordinate clause introduced by dum (“while”) regularly takes a present indicative to indicate past time. This is a special form of the historical present, and best translated with an imperfect in English (AG 556). sōlus in erēmō: possibly a bilingual wordplay, on sōlus “alone” and LL erēmus (“desert”), originally a Greek word meaning “solitary” (Gray).

maximēque: the -que is redundant (this become more common in LL).

vultum patris meī: his pater is the abbot of 3.5–6.

ērudierat, tenuerat, perdiderat = ērudierat (et) tenuerat (et) perdiderat. < ērudiō -īre, “instruct, educate.” The omission of conjunctions between three coordinated terms is a normal form of brevity in Latin (see Caesar’s famous boast, vēnī vīdī vīcī)

7.2

Sīcque: another redudant -que, as in 7.1.

formīcārum gregem < formīca -ae f., “ant.”  Vergil compared the Trojans getting ready to set sail with ants, Aeneid 4.402-407; see also Georgics 4.149-227 for his famous description of the communal lives of bees.

Vidērēs: “you could have seen” (Gray); potential subjunctive, with an indefinite second person singular (AG 447.2).

herbārum quaedam sēmina: Malchus’ “desert” is interspersed with steppe areas, suitable for sheep herding (Gray).

forcipe ōris: “with the pincer of the mouth”; < forceps forcipis f., “tongs, pincers.” Singular forms instead of plural.

aliae ēgerēbant humum < ēgerō -ere, “remove, dig out” (OLD 2.b).

aquārum meātūs aggeribus exclūdēbant: entymologists have observed that ants do in fact create dams to prevent the flooding of their nests.

Illae: another group of ants, as though Malchus is pointing to them.

ventūrae: future active participle

nē madefacta humus in herbam horrea verteret = nē madefacta humus [fem. sing. nom.] verteret horrea [neut. pl. acc.] in herbam. verteret: imperf. subj. in a negative purpose clause (AG 531). horrea < horreum -ī n., “storehouse, granary”; by metonymy “the collected food supply.”

illāta sēmina praecīdēbant < praecīdō -ere, “to break or cut off a tip, shorten,” another entymologically accurate detail, though they are probably in fact removing the fleshy nutrient rich outer part of a seed (the aril). Contrary to what Jerome says here in the purpose clause, this process seems to actually help the seed germinate faster.

hae ... corpora dēfūncta portābant: as entymologists have confirmed, ants really do this.

luctū celebrī < luctus -ūs m., “mourning, lamentation”; < celeber celebris celebre, “crowded, well-attended” (OLD 1.c); ablative of specification (AG 418).

sī quam sub fasce vīdissent et onere concidisse ... adiuvābant < fascis -is m., “bundle”; < concidō concidere concidī, “to fall down.” quam = aliquam (AG 310.a). sub fasce ... onere: “a heavy load,” hyberbaton and hendiadys (Gray). vīdissent ... adiuvābant: pluperf. indic. and imperf. indic. in a past general condition, showing that the action is repeated or customary (AG 518.c).

7.3

quid multa? “why (should I say) a lot?” i.e. “In short”; the idiom is typical of Cicero, especially in his letters.

unde: “as a consequence” (OLD 11).

recordātus Salomōnis: Solomon was thought to be the author of Proverbs, see 6.6-8: “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”

ad formīcae sōllertiam: < sollertia, ae, f. “cleverness.”

mittentis ... suscitantis: pres. participles, gen. sing., with Salomōnis, “who was sending us, and ... rousing.”

coepī taedēre captīvitātis: < taedet, taedere, taesum est “be sick of, be tired of”; here with the genitive.

monastēriī cellulās: < cellula, ae, f. “small cell, cubicle.”

sollicitūdinem: "watchful concern"

ubi labōrātur in medium: lābōratur is impersonal, as often with intransitive verbs (AG 208d). in medium: “In common” (OLD 4b).

cum nihil cūiusquam proprium sit: pres. subj. in a circumstantial cum clause (AG 546).

omnia omnium: polyptoton ends the paragraph with a focus on a crucial aspect of monastic life. Bruce Venarde compares Acts 4:32, a locus classicus for monasticism: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.”