[4] Ūnus quīdam quī remānsit ex tribus frātribus quī subsecūtī sunt sānctum Brendānum dē suō monastēriō exilīvit forās dē nāvī et coepit ambulāre usque ad fundāmentum rīpae. [5] Quī coepit clāmāre, dīcēns: “Vae mihi, pater! Praedor ā vōbīs, et nōn habeō potestātem ut possim venīre ad vōs.” [6] Frātrēs cōnfestim nāvim retrō ā terrā dūcēbant et clāmābant ad Dominum, dīcentēs: “Miserēre nōbīs, Domine, miserēre nōbīs.” [7] At vērō venerābilis pater, cum suīs sociīs, aspiciēbat quōmodo dūcēbātur īnfēlīx ā multitūdine daemonum ad tormenta et quōmodo incendēbātur inter illōs; [8] atque dīcēbat: “Vae tibi, fīlī, quia recēpistī in vītā tuā meritī tālem fīnem!”
[9] Iterum arripuit illōs prōsper ventus ad austrālem plāgam. Cum autem aspexissent—ā longē retrō—illam īnsulam, [10] vīdērunt montem discoopertum ā fūmō, et ā sē spūmantem flammās usque ad aethera, et iterum ad sē eāsdem flammās respīrantem, ita ut tōtus mōns usque in mare ūnus rogus appāruisset.
notes
The last of the three extra monks (from chapter 5) leaps from the boat and starts walking to the base of the cliff; he shouts that he is being taken away by force. The other monks in fear head back out to sea and pray to God. They see the lost monk carried off by demons and burned, and Brendan tells him that he has deserved this fate. As the monks sail south they see the the mountain, which had been smoky, is now on fire: it seems to exhale and inhale flames, and the whole mountain looks like one huge funeral pyre.
[4] ex tribus frātribus: see 5.1.
[5] praedor ā vōbīs: “I am snatched away from you”; in CL praedor is deponent, “to seize as plunder.”
nōn habeō potestātem ut possim: the pleonasm reflects the monk’s helplessness
[6] Miserēre nōbīs: CL would be miserēre nostrī.
[7] quōmodo dūcēbātur īnfēlīx: sc. frāter.
ā multitūdine daemonum: ā here means “at the hands of," "by” (OLD 20).
et quōmodo incendēbātur: apparently he is destroyed by the flow of lava.
[8] in vītā tuā meritī tālem fīnem!: “such an outcome of what you have deserved in your life.” meritum can be an appropriate but unpleasant recompense for bad behavior (OLD 3b). We never learn what the monk did that was so unforgivable.
[9] ā longē retrō: “a long way back.”
[10] discoopertum ā fūmō: “freed from the covering of smoke.”
ā sē spūmantem flammās: “spewing flames away from itself.”
ad sē eāsdem flammās respīrantem: the volcano also inhales its flames. It is reacting to its absorption of the poor monk, apparently by vigorously breathing (or belching?) out and in.
usque in mare: i.e. from the top of the mountain "all the way down to the sea."
vocabulary
remaneō remanēre remānsī remānsus |
to stay behind4 |
subsequor sequī secūtus sum |
to follow (closely) |
monastērium –ī n. |
a monastery |
exsiliō exsilīre exsiluī |
to spring forth |
forās |
outside, on the outside |
ambulō ambulāre ambulāvī ambulātum |
to walk |
ūsque |
until (often with ad or dum) |
fundāmentum –ī n. |
foundation |
clāmō clāmāre clāmāvī clāmātus |
to call, shout5 |
vae |
alas, woe to |
praedor –ārī praedātus sum |
to plunder |
cōnfestim |
immediately6 |
retrō |
backwards |
clāmō clāmāre clāmāvī clāmātus |
to call, shout |
misereor –ērī miseritus sum |
to pity |
misereor –ērī miseritus sum |
to pity |
venerābilis –e |
venerable, deserving of respect7 |
socius –iī m. |
ally, comrade |
īnfēlīx īnfēlīcis |
unfortunate, unhappy |
daemōn –onis m. |
spirit, a spirit intermediary between humans and gods |
tormentum tormentī n. |
torture; pain, agony |
incendō incendere incendī incensus |
to set on fire, ignite |
vae |
alas, woe to8 |
quia |
because; that |
meritum meritī n. |
favor, benefit; fault, offense; merit |
arripiō –ere –uī arreptum |
to snatch, seize9 |
prōsper or, more frequently, |
(of winds) favorable |
austrālis –e |
southern |
plaga –ae f. |
open expanse, tract; region |
retrō |
backwards |
discooperiō, discooperīre, discooperuī, discoopertu |
reveal, uncover10 |
fūmōsus –a –um |
full of smoke, smoky |
spūmō spūmāre spūmāvī spūmātus |
to foam, froth, spew |
ūsque |
until (often with ad or dum) |
respīrō respīrāre respīrāvī respīrātus |
to breathe again; to breathe |
ūsque |
until (often with ad or dum) |
rogus rogī m. |
funeral pyre |