38

After my book on fish is read aloud, I summarize the fishy things I wrote about. These extraordinary fish and their attributes may seem unbelievable, even magical, but that is because in part I had to coin new Latin words from Greek terminology. 

(1)

Audīstī: Audīvistī.

quōrum plēraque: "(the recited passages), most of which," LS plerusque.

lēgerās: "you had (already) read," "you were already familiar with."

apud: "in the works of."

(2)

sōlīs: i.e., not other types of animals.

cōnscrīpta: supply esse.

quī ... quī ... quotiēns et quid annī: indirect questions relating the scientific inquiry contained in Apuleius's works on fish.

quī eōrum: "which (types) of them."

coitū prōgignantur: for a detailed look at the "bewildering assortment of reproductive strategies" utilized by fish, see Schratwieser 2018.

quid annī: "at what time of year." For the genitive, see LS quis III.

cuiusque eōrum generis: "of each type of them (i.e., marine life)."

suriant: > surio -īre, a very rare synonym for subo -āre, "to be in heat."

(3)

quibus membrīs et causīs: continuing the indirect question from 38.2, "by what features and for what reasons" (Jones).

discrērit: discrēverit, "has marked off."

vīviparōs eōrum: "the viviparous of them" = "those of them who bear live young." For a detailes look into the order of freshwater fish which utilize live-bearing and egg-laying methods of reproduction, see Michelson 2016. 

ita ... appellō: Apuleius claims these words as of his own coining, and they are not found before him (B/O). Apuleius appears indeed to have coined the Latin terms for Greek ζῳοτόκα and ᾠοτόκα, as used in Aristotle. The Apuleian inventions are still in use today, cf. the English "viviparous" and "oviparous" (Hunink).

quae: "(the types of fish) which."

Graecī: supply appellant.

(4)

operōsē: "laboriously," "elaborately."

pergam: "continue discussing," + acc., LS pergo A.α.

deinde: supply scrīpsī.

differentiā: "their differences."

aetātibus: "life spans."

scītū: ablative supine, construe with necessāriīs.

quidem ... sed: these words contrast parallel items, like the Greek μέν ... δέ. They need not be translated.

in iūdiciō aliēnīs: "unsuited to a courtroom," LS alienus B.3.

(5)

perītiam: "field of study," OLD 7.

iubēbō: "I shall ask."

quibus: Latīnīs scriptīs.

cum ... tum: both ... and.

rēs cognitū rārās: "scarcely known facts" (Jones). cognitū is supine (AG 510).

nōmina: "words.”

in hodiernum: "to the present day."

quod sciam: "as far as I know," LS scio I.A.α.

infecta: "not yet coined," OLD infectus 2.c.

ea tamen nōmina: the īnfecta ones, subject of prōvenīre, continued indirect statement after animadvertēs.

ita ... ut tamen ... Latīnā monētā percussa sint: "in such a (skillful) way that, nevertheless, they (might seem to) have been struck in a Latin mint." The minting of coins as a metaphor for the creation of new words is common to Latin and English.

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By now, Apuleius seems far more interested in his own linguistic achievement than in the zoological facts. This is not, or at least not merely, the result of superficiality and vanity on his part, but rather reflects a conscious rhetorical strategy. He is eluding the real issue and concentrating on a stronger, though hardly relevant point: his talent to create new words (Hunink).

prōvenīre: "are derived from," infin. in indirect statement after animadvertēs.

(6)

Vel dīcant: jussive subjunctive, with the tone of a challenge: they will not be able to.

patrōnī tuī: subject of dīcant.

haec: verba, the ones upcoming in 38.8.

Latīnē ... prōnuntiāta: "expressed in Latin."

aquātilibus: supply animālibus.

cētera animālia: direct object of attingam below, not dīcam.

nisi in commūnibus differentīs: "except in (the case of) commonly-held differences," "except when they share distinguishing features" (Jones), i.e., with other animals, such as being oviparous or solitary.  differentīs = differentiīs.

(7)

iam ... clāmābis: anticipating the opponent's reaction is of course a common rhetorical device. Here it is remarkable, since it daringly provokes the accusers on their own territory, and goes to the heart of the matter (Hunink).  The indirect statement mē ... percēnsēre relates the content of the expected outcry.

percēnsēre: "listing off."   

(8)

Thirteen Aristotelian terms for classes of animals. 

The first six refer only to fish and molluscs: 

1. cartilaginous fish (i.e. having no scales) 
2. molluscs without external shells; 
3. soft-shelled molluscs; 
4. fish with cartilaginous skeleton; 
5. hardshelled molluscs; 

6. fish with saw-like teeth. 

   Two slightly broader terms follow: 

7. amphibious animals and 
8. animals (including fish) covered with scales. 

Three terms do not seem to refer to fish at all: 

9. reptiles covered with scales;  
10. animals with membranous wings (i.e., bats) and 
11. web-footed animals. 

The last two names sound less threatening and more familiar, referring to general differentia: 

12. solitary animals, as opposed to 
13. gregarious animals (Butler).

(9)

nōn est operae: "it is not worth the effort," supply pretium. See 36.7 and note.

istīs: the Greek words.

ut sit mihi tempus: purpose clause.

adgredī: "to get to," "deal with," OLD aggredior 4.

Haec: verba, those from 38.8, but now in their Latin renditions from Apuleius's own work.

recitā: presumably addressed to the same individual who read from his book in between sections 37 and 38.

Latīnē ā mē ēnūntiāta: "(as they were) expressed by me in Latin," "as I coined the Latin terms for them."