8.1. “Regressō ad cubīle occurrit mulier. Trīstitiam animī vultū dissimulāre nōn potuī. Rogat cūr ita exanimātus sim. Audit causās. Hortor ad fugam. Nōn aspernātur. Petō silentium. Fidem tribuit. Et iūgī susurrō, inter spem et metum mediī fluctuāmus. 8.2 Erant mihi in grege duo hircī mīrae magnitūdinis; quibus occīsīs utrēs faciō, eōrumque carnēs viāticō praeparō. Et prīmō vespere, putantibus dominīs nōs sēcrētō cubitāre, invādimus iter utrēs et partēs carnium portantēs. 8.3 Cumque pervēnissēmus ad fluvium—nam decem mīlibus aberat—inflātīs et ascēnsīs utribus, aquīs nōs crēdimus, paulātim pedibus subrēmigantēs ut, deorsum flūmine dēferente et multō longius quam cōnscenderāmus in alteram nōs expōnente rīpam, vestīgium sequentēs perderent. 8.4 Sed inter haec madefactae carnēs et ex parte lāpsae vix trīduī cibum pollicēbantur. Bibimus usque ad satietātem, futūrae nōs sitī praeparantēs. 8.5 Currimus; post tergum semper aspicimus; et magis noctibus prōmovēmur, vel propter īnsidiās lātē vagantium Saracēnōrum, vel propter ārdōrem sōlis nimium. Paveō miser etiam referēns: et iam sēcūrus, tōtō tamen corpore perhorrēscō.
notes
Malchus and his wife decide to escape. Malchus kills two goats, for their meat and to use their inflated skins as flotation devices. After crossing a river they mostly travel by night.
Regressō = (mihi) regressō; dative with occurrit.
ad cubīle < cubīle -is n., “bed, couch” or "den" (i.e. the cave)
occurrit: the paragraph is mostly written in the historical present. The short sentences vividly convey the drama of the situation.
cur exanimātus sim: pres. subj. in an indirect question. < exanimātus -a -um, “dispirited, down” (DMLBS exanimare 2.b); Malchus was worn out by his pointless life.
Hortor ad fugam = hortor (eam) ad fugam
silentium: omission of speech with the implication of concealment (DMLBS silentium 4.b). She is being asked to tell no one of the planned escape.
Fidem tribuit: “she gave her word”; fidem tribuere normally means “lend credence to” testimony or the like (Cicero, Pro Sulla 10). But fidēs often means “promise, assurance, word” (LS fides II.B), and tribuō can mean “to bestow, award.”
Et iūgī susurrō < iūgis -e, “continual”; ablative of means, or ablative of manner (AG 412).
mediī: “halfway between”; masc. pl. nom., with the subject of fluctuāmus.
8.2
Erant mihi ... duo hircī < hircus -ī m., “goat”; dative of possession, though the goats in fact belonged to Malchus’ master.
mīrae magnitūdinis: genitive of quality (= genitive of description), AG 345
quibus occīsīs: ablative absolute
utrēs faciō < uter utris m., “leather bag”
viāticō: dative of purpose (AG 382)
putantibus dominīs nōs sēcrētō cubitāre: ablative absolute followed by indirect statement. < cubitō (1), “to sleep; sleep with someone”; sēcrētō: “in private” (not “secretly”).
partēs carnium: probably “pieces of meat” (Gray)
8.3
Cumque: a redundant -que.
pervēnissēmus: pluperfect subj. in a circumstantial cum clause (AG 546).
ad fluvium: Gray identifies this as the Mygdonius (also called the Hirmus), which flows past Nisibis; now the the river Jhagjhaga in southeast Turkey.
decem mīlibus aberat: ablative of degree of difference, which can be used to indicate distance (AG 414.b); the subject of aberat is fluvium.
īnflātīs et ascēnsīs utribus: ablative absolute. For the use of inflated skins to cross rivers see Gray ad loc.
subrēmigantēs < subrēmigō -āre, “paddle”; literally “make rowing movements under the water.”
deorsum flūmine dēferente, et ... nōs expōnente ablative absolute; deorsum = “downward, down stream” (adv.).
in alteram ... rīpam: hyperbaton emphasizing alteram
sequentēs: “the pursuers”; present participle, substantivized. perderent < perdō -ere, “to fail to obtain, lose, miss” (OLD 4); imperfect subjunctive in a purpose clause.
8.4
inter haec: “in the meantime” (LS inter 2.C.e).
trīduī < trīduum -ī n., “a period of three days”; genitive with cibum.
sitī < sitis -is f., “thirst”; dative with the future participle futūrae.
8.5
magis noctibus "mostly at night”; noctibus is ablative of time when.
prōmovēmur < prōmoveō -ēre, “to make progress” (intransitive, OLD 5).
vel ... vel: “both ... and.” In vel .. vel constructions mutual exclusiveness is not normally emphasized (OLD 2.a).
paveō miser etiam referēns: paveō and perhorrescō are true present tense, not historical present: Malchus is commenting on his own story. Aeneas says something similar when telling the story of the fall of Troy to Dido in Vergil’s Aeneid 2.204: horrescō referēns.
vocabulary
regredior regredī regressus sum: to go back, return
cubīle cubīlis n.: place of rest, couch, bed
trīstitia -ae or trīstitiēs -eī f. : sorrow
dissimulō dissimulāre dissimulāvī dissimulātus: to conceal, dissemble, disguise, hide; ignore
exanimō exanimāre exanimāvī exanimātus: to deprive of life; p., exanimatus, a, um, without breath, breathless; disheartened; terrified (> ex and anima)
aspernor -ārī -ātus sum: to slight, despise; repel; scorn, spurn; refuse, reject; decline to accept (> ab and spernor)
silentium silenti(ī) n.: silence
tribuō tribuere tribuī tribūtus: to divide, assign; present; grant, allot, bestow, attribute
iūgis iūgis iūge: continual; ever-flowing
susurrō -ōnis m.: to hum, buzz, murmur, mutter, whisper
fluctuō fluctuāre fluctuāvī fluctuātus: to wave, fluctuate; (fig.), toss; rage, boil (> fluctus)
grex gregis m.: herd, flock; troupe of actors
hircus -ī m.: he goat
mīrus -a -um: marvelous, wonderful
ūter ūtris m. : a bag of hide, leathern bottle, vessel of skin, skin
carō carnis f.: meat, flesh
viāticum -ī n.: travelling money, food for a journey
praeparō -parāre -parāvī -parātus: to make ready beforehand, prepare, equip, make preparations
vesperus -a -um: of or belonging to the evening, evening
dominus dominī m.: master, lord
sēcrētō: separately, apart, privately
cubitō cubitāre: to lie down often, be accustomed to lie
invādō invādere invāsī invāsum: to go in, attack, invade
fluvius fluvi(ī) m.: river
īnflō īnflāre īnflāvī īnflātus: to blow into; fill, inflate, swell
paulātim: little by little, by degrees, gradually; a small amount at a time, bit by bit
subrēmigō subrēmigāre subrēmigāvī subrēmigātus: to row lightly, swim along, paddle
deorsum or deorsus: downwards, down
multō: by much, greatly
cōnscendō -ere -scendī -scēnsus: to ascend, climb; mount; embark on (> com- and scando, climb)
expōnō expōnere exposuī expositus: to set/put forth/out; abandon, expose; publish; explain, relate; disembark
madefaciō -ere -fēcī -factus: to make wet, to wet, moisten (> madeo and facio)
lābor labī lapsus sum: to glide, slip
trīduum -ī n. : three days' time; three days
polliceor pollicērī pollicitus sum: to promise
bibō bibere bibī: to drink; toast; visit, frequent (w/river name); drain, draw off; thirst for; suck, (fig.) wound
satietās -ātis f.: a sufficiency, abundance, adequacy
sitis -is f.: thirst
prōmoveō -ēre -mōvī -mōtus: to move forward; push forward
īnsidiae īnsidiārum f. pl.: ambush, plot, treachery
vagor (1) -ārī or vagō vagāre vagāvī: to wander
ārdor ārdōris m.: burning, heat, eagerness
paveō -ēre -uī: to tremble, fear
perhorrēscō perhorrēscere perhorruī — : to tremble or shudder greatly