11.41–48

The procurator says he has brought enough food and drink to last till Pentecost, i.e. for fifty days. He warns them not to drink from the spring (though the significance of this is mysterious).  The monks stay on the Island of Birds until Pentecost. The procurator returns, with more provisions, and tells them they have a long trip ahead. They should load up with dry bread, and with water from the mysterious spring.

[41] fortis namque est ad bibendum: “because it is strong (and thus dangerous) for drinking,” i.e., “if you drink it.

[43] Dum mānet forās dē fonte, habet sapōrem aquae et nātūram: “as long as (the water) stays out of the spring, it will have the taste and quality of (ordinary) water.”  Perhaps the point is that they shouldn't drink the water straight from the spring; they are told at 11.47 to take some when they leave.

reversus est in locum suum: he went back to the Island of Sheep; see 15.3.

[44] usque in octāvās Pentēcostēn: until the week after Pentecost; see on 9.4.

Illōrum erat refocilātiō avium cantus: = cantus avium erat refocilātiō illōrum.

[45] sānctus vir cum suīs famulīs: famulus means “slave” or “servant,” but here refers to the monks subordinate to their abbot; they are also “servants of God” (9.15).

prōcūrātor: this is the person they met in chapter 8, here given a job title. At 1.7 there is mention of a different prōcūrātor—prōcūrātor pauperum Chrīstī, i.e., the cellārius (“cellarer”), in charge of feeding the monks, visitors, and the poor in charge of feeding the monks, visitors, and the poor.

[46] discubuissent: not to be taken literally; they were sitting, not reclining, as at 6.24 (residēbant).

[47] in alium annum: i.e., in year two of the voyage.