40

I collect fish for the purpose of helping others. I study and add to Aristotle's Anatomy to try to complete our knowledge. Of course you know about my fishy exploits because I do not keep them secret but just as ancient philopsohers recorded their observations, I do as well. 

(1)

hoc satis dixī: "I have said enough on this subject," i.e., the proper names of fish. Apuleius transitions to their medical uses, though he reverts to nomenclature in 40.9.

accipe: "listen to," "let me tell you."

Quid enim tandem: expresses impatience, "So what then ...?" "What would would it matter …?" See Cicero, Pro Cluentio 61.4.

medicīnae: genitive with both īnstudiōsus and imperītus.

(2)

Ut: "(Seeing) as ..."  "given that." See LS ut I.B.4.b.

plūrima: supply remedia.

cum ... tum: both ... and. correlating in aliīs omnibus rēbus and etiam ...  in piscibus.

nōnnūlla: supply remedia.

(3)

remedia nōsse et ea conquīrere: subject of esse in indirect statement after an ... putās: "Or do you suppose that to have learned of remedies and to inquire after them is ...."

magī potius esse: "is (characteristic) of a mage," "marks someone as a magician" (Jones). Genitive of characteristic, AG 343.c.

potius ... quam: "rather than."

quī: philosophus.

illīs: remediīs, abl. with ūsūrus est.                                      

ad suppetiās: "to help mankind," an archaic and post-classical phrase, see LS suppetiae.

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The philosopher, Apuleius says, would use these objects (illis remediis) to help mankind, not for his own profit (quaestum) (B/O).Throughout ancient literature there is a remarkable prejudice against making profit, which was regarded as a base motive typical of the lower classes" (Hunink).

(4)

carmina remedia vulnerum: "chants (that were) remedies of wounds,"  "chants that could heal wounds."

nōrant: nōverant.

vetustātis certissimus auctor Homērus: "... Homer, the most reliable authority of all antiquity ..." (Jones). Odyssey 19.456-8.

facit: "says," introducing the indirect statement sanguinem ... sistī. LS facio I.B.4.β.

salūtis ferendae grātiā: "for the sake of rendering aid."

crīminōsum: "a chargeable offense."

(5)

cui reī: "for what purpose."

nisi mālae: "if not for evil."

prōscidistī: "dissect."

mē: subject in indirect statement of cōnscrībere, explōrāre ... et augēre.

particulīs: "parts," "anatomy."

causā: "purpose." Aristotle worked on the assumption that every feature in the natural world exists for a purpose and that the philosopher's job is to determine those purposes (rather than causes), an approach known as teleology.

ἀνατομῶν Aristotelī: "of Aristotle's dissections."

(6)

adeō summē: "to the utmost degree."

quod ... sciatis: "the fact that you are aware," introducing the indirect statement pisciculum īnspectum (esse).

ūnum ... pisciculum: "(just) one little fish."

ubicumque locōrum: "wherever of places" = "wherever at all."  Apuleius employs the pleonasm to express that this activity was performed casually in any public place and not anything secretive or surprising.

(7)

praesertim quod: "(and) especially because," continuing to give reasons for his surprise.

ut ... adsistat: purpose clause after agō.

extrārius arbiter: "an observer (who is a) stranger," LS extrarius II.

mōre hōc et īnstitūtō magistrōrum meōrum: "that was the custom and the practice of my teachers" (Jones). Supply a verb such as agō or utor.

hominem līberum et magnificum: "that a free-born and noble person," subject of dēbēre in the indirect statement.

sī quō eat: an emendation by Helm for the impossibly weak si queat in the manuscripts.

in prīmōrī fronte animum gestāre: i.e., to be open and honest about his activities and academic pursuits.

(8)

hunc adeō pisciculum: "this very fish," adeō is placed enclitically after the word it emphasizes, like quidem, certe, "indeed," "just," "precisely." See LS adeo2 II.B. 

vōs ... nōminātīs: the vos is unnecessary and therefore emphatic.

(9)

Necdum etiam dēcernō: "I have not yet even determined," "I'm not even sure yet," the stative sense of the present, as with reperiō below, AG 466.

quid vocem: "what I should call," "what to call."

nisi quaeram: "except that I should investigate," "but that I should investigate."

nec ... reperiō: "I have not discovered" the stative sense of the present, as with dēcernō above.

apud: "in the works of."

proprietatem: "proper name," "special designation," OLD proprietas 2.b.

memoranda: "worthy of mention."

(10)

Quippe: "(it is worthy of mention) inasmuch as" LS quippe 3.

sōlus ille: "only that (fish)"

quantum sciam: "as far as I am aware."

sit: subject is still the mysterious fish in question.

cētera: "otherwise."

duodecim numerō: "twelve in number."

ad similitūdinem: "to the likeness of" = "that look like," + gen.

tālōrum suillōrum: would have been a more common visual reference to the Romans, who used the anklebones of pigs to play dice.

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The details as to the existence of twelve bones like the knuckle-bones of a sucking-pig in the interior of this "fish" are far from proving that the fish was not a sea-hare. The molluscs Aplysia, to which the sea-hare belongs, do actually contain a number of small bony substances set round the alimentary canal and serving to grind up their food. Mr. G. C. Robson, to whom we are indebted for this information, was kind enough to have a sea-hare dissected for our instruction. The specimen in question had eleven such "bones" fully formed, and numerous others in course of formation. Apuleius' description is sufficiently accurate; the "bones" are conexa et catenata in the sense that they are set very close together and adhere to the wall of the alimentary canal. But it seems clear that Apuleius' accusers had good reason for supposing the "fish" to be a sea-hare (B/O).

(11)

omīsisset: "would have neglected to" + infin. (prōdere).

scriptō: "in his writing."

asellī piscis: Hunink says this is the hake, which is in the same family with cod and haddock.

quī ... memorāvit: "(being the same person) who mentioned ...," "seeing as how he mentioned ...." Word order: quī prō maximō memōrāvit corculum asellī piscis solīus omnium (piscium) situm (esse) in mediō alvō.

sōlīus omnium: describing asellī piscis: "alone of all fish," "alone among all types of fish."

prō maximō: "as a very notable fact" (Jones).