[26] Cum autem frātrēs obdormīssent, vīdit sānctus Brendānus opus diabolī, īnfantem Aethiopum, habentem frēnum in manū et iocantem ante frātrem praedictum. Statim sānctus Brendānus surrēxit et coepit ōrāre, pernoctāns usque ad diem. [27] Iam vērō manē, cum frātrēs ad opus Deī festīnāssent, ut—post hoc—iter ēgissent ad nāvim, ecce appāruit mēnsa parāta sīcut et prīdiē. Ita per trēs diēs et trēs noctēs praeparāvit Deus prandium servīs suīs.
notes
While his monks are sleeping, Brendan sees Satan at work, in the form of an Ethiopian boy. The boy is teasing one of the monks with a bridle, but Brendan spends the night in prayer. The monks spend three days eating the miraculous food and resting.
[26] vīdit sānctus Brendānus opus diabolī: again, Brendan has prophetic powers.
īnfantem Aethiopum: the devil appears in early Christian literature as an Ethiopian or an Egyptian, e.g., Athanasius, Vita Antoniii 6. Acts of S. Perpetua 3.2.
frēnum: The significance of the bridle becomes clear in the next chapter.
sānctus Brendānus surrēxit et coepit ōrāre: note that he is the only one said to pray in the night. A monastic reader would be surprised to see that the monks apparently skipped Matins.
[27] ad opus Deī: again, the divine office / liturgy of the hours, in this case the dawn service of Prime.
ut ... iter ēgissent: “in order to make the journey.” CL would be ut ... iter agerent or, more commonly, ut ... iter facerent.
ecce appāruit mēnsa parāta: this is a sign that it is not yet time to leave, so they stay another three days.
vocabulary
| obdormiō –īre — — | to fall asleep, die 26 |
| diabolus –ī m. | devil |
| īnfāns –antis | infant, child |
| Aethiops –pis | Ethiopian, African, dark-skinned |
| frēnum –ī n. or frēnī –ōrum m. |
bridle, harness |
| iocor iocārī iocātus sum | to mock, caper |
| praedīcō praedīcere praedīxī praedictus | to say beforehand; mention |
| pernoctō pernoctāre pernoctāvī pernoctātum | to spend the night |
| ūsque | until (often with ad or dum) |
| māne (indecl.) | the morning; in the morning; early next day 27 |
| festīnō festīnāre festīnāvī festīnātus | to hurry |
| prīdiē (adv.) | on the day before |
| per | through; by means of [OLD 14] |
| praeparō –parāre –parāvī –parātus | to prepare, make preparations |
| prandium –ī n. | a midday meal, lunch |