C. PLĪNIUS SŪRAE SUŌ S.
Et mihi discendī et tibi docendī facultātem ōtium praebet. Igitur perquam velim scīre, esse phantasmata et habēre prōpriam figūram nūmenque aliquod pūtēs an inānia et vāna ex metū nostrō imāginem accipere.
[2] Ego ut esse crēdam in prīmīs eō dūcor, quod audiō accidisse Curtiō Rūfō. Tenuis adhūc et obscūrus, obtinentī Āfricam comes haeserat. Inclīnātō diē spatiābātur in porticū; offertur eī mulieris figūrā hūmānā grandior pulchriorque. Perterritō Āfricam sē futūrōrum praenūntiam dīxit: itūrum enim Rōmam honōrēsque gestūrum, atque etiam cum summō imperiō in eandem prōvinciam reversūrum, ibique moritūrum. [3] Facta sunt omnia. Praetereā accēdentī Carthāginem ēgredientīque nāve eadem figūra in lītore occurrisse nārrātur. Ipse certē implicitus morbō, futūra praeteritīs, adversā secundīs augurātus, spem salūtis, nūllō suōrum dēspērante, prōiēcit.
[4] Iam illud nōnne et magis terribile et nōn minus mīrum est quod expōnam ut accēpī? [5] Erat Athēnīs spatiōsa et capāx domus sed īnfāmis et pestilēns. Per silentium noctis sonus ferrī, et sī attenderēs ācrius, strepitus vinculōrum longius prīmō, deinde ē proximō reddēbātur: mox adpārēbat īdōlōn, senex maciē et squālōre cōnfectus, prōmissā barbā, horrentī capillō; crūribus compedēs, manibus catēnās gerēbat quatiēbatque. [6] Inde inhabitantibus trīstēs dīraeque noctēs per metum vigilābantur; vigiliam morbus et crēscente formīdine mors sequēbātur. Nam interdiū quoque, quamquam abscesserat imāgō, memoria imāginis oculīs inerrābat, longiorque causīs timōris timor erat. Dēserta inde et damnāta sōlitūdine domus tōtaque illī mōnstrō relicta; prōscrībēbātur tamen, seu quis emere seu quis condūcere ignārus tantī malī vellet.
[7] Venit Athēnās philosophus Athēnodōrus, legit titulum, audītōque pretiō, quia suspecta vīlitās, percūnctātus, omnia docētur ac nihilō minus, immō tantō magis condūcit. Ubi coepit advesperāscere, iubet sternī sibi in prīmā domūs parte, poscit pugillārēs stilum lūmen, suōs omnēs in interiōra dīmittit; ipse ad scrībendum animum oculōs manum intendit, nē vacua mēns audīta simulācra et inānēs sibi metus fingeret. [8] Initiō, quāle ubīque, silentium noctis; dein concutī ferrum, vincula movērī. Ille nōn tollere oculōs, nōn remittere stilum, sed offirmāre animum auribusque praetendere. Tum crēbrēscere fragor, adventāre et iam ut in līmine, iam ut intrā līmen audīrī. Respicit, videt agnōscitque nārrātam sibi effigiem. [9] Stābat innuēbatque digitō similis vocantī. Hic contrā ut paulum exspectāret manū significat rūrsusque cērīs et stilō incumbit. Illa scrībentis capitī catēnīs īnsonābat. Respicit rūrsus idem quod prius innuentem, nec morātus tollit lūmen et sequitur. [10] Ībat illa lentō gradū quasi gravīs vinculīs. Postquam dēflexit in āream domūs, repente dīlāpsa dēserit comitem. Dēsertus herbās et folia concerpta signum locō pōnit. [11] Posterō diē adit magistrātūs, monet ut illum locum effodī iubeant. Inveniuntur ossa īnserta catēnīs et implicita, quae corpus aevō terrāque putrefactum nūda et exēsa relīquerat vinculīs; collēcta pūblicē sepeliuntur. Domus posteā rīte conditīs manibus caruit.
[12] Et haec quidem adfirmantibus crēdō; illud adfirmāre aliīs possum. Est lībertus mihi nōn inlitterātus. Cum hōc minor frāter eōdem lectō quiēscēbat. Is vīsus est sibi cernere quendam in torō residentem, admoventemque capitī suō cultrōs, atque etiam ex ipsō vertice amputantem capillōs. Ubi inlūxit, ipse circā verticem tōnsūs, capillī iacentēs reperiuntur. [13] Exiguum temporis medium, et rūrsus simile aliud priōrī fidem fēcit. Puer in paedagōgiō mixtus plūribus dormiēbat. Vēnērunt per fenestrās (ita nārrat) in tunicīs albīs duo cubantemque dētondērunt et quā vēnerant recessērunt. Hunc quoque tōnsum sparsōsque circā capillōs diēs ostendit. [14] Nihil notābile secūtum, nisi forte quod nōn fuī reus, futūrus, sī Domitiānus, sub quō haec accidērunt, diūtius vīxisset. Nam in scrīniō eius datus ā Carō dē mē libellus inventus est; ex quō coniectārī potest, quia reīs mōrīs est summittere capillum, recīsōs meōrum capillōs dēpulsī quod imminēbat perīculī signum fuisse.
[15] Proinde rogō, ērudītiōnem tuam intendās. Digna rēs est quam diū multumque cōnsīderēs; nē ego quidem indignus, cui cōpiam scientiae tuae faciās. [16] Licet etiam utramque in partem (ut solēs) disputēs, ex alterā tamen fortius, nē mē suspēnsum incertumque dīmittās, cum mihi cōnsulendī causa fuerit, ut dubitāre dēsinerem. Valē.
vocabulary
facultās –ātis, f.: ability
perquam: as much as possible, extremely
phantasma –atis, n.: apparition, spectre, phantom
figūra –ae, f.: form, shape
inānis –e: empty, void
imprīmīs (in prīmīs): especially2
Curtius –ī, m.: Curtius (name)
Rūfus –ī, m.: Rufus
tenuis –e: thin
obscūrus –a –um: covered, dark
obtineō –tinēre –tinuī –tentus: to possess
Āfrica –ae, f.: Africa
haereō haerēre haesī haesus: to stick to, hang on to
inclīnō –āre –āvī –ātus: to influence, bend, tilt
spatior –ārī –ātus sum: to walk about
porticus –us, f.: covered walk, colonnade, portico
grandis –e: full–grown; large
perterreō –terrēre –terruī –territus: to terrify
praenūntius –a –um: foreboding, of omen
Rōma –ae, f.: Rome
revertor revertī reversus sum: to return
Carthāgō –inis, f.: Carthage3
praeteritus –a –um: past
adversum –ī, n.: the opposite direction
auguror –ārī –ātus sum (augurō –āre –āvi –ātus): to predict
dēspērō –spērāre –spērāvī –spērātus: to despair
prōiciō –icere –iēcī –iectum: to cast forth, throw out, fling to the ground
nōnne: introduces a direct question expecting the answer "yes"4
terribilis –e: terrifying
mīrus –a –um: marvelous, wonderful
expōnō –pōnere –posuī –positus: to abandon
spatiōsus –a –um: wide, spacious, large5
capāx –ācis: spacious
īnfāmis –e: infamous
pestilens –entis: unhealthy, noxious, pernicious
sonus sonī, m.: sound
attendō –tendere –tendī –tentus: to pay attention
strepitus –ūs, m.: noise; an uproar; din
proximus –a –um: nearest
īdōlum (īdōlon) –ī, n.: an idol; ghost
maciēs –ēī, f.: emaciation
squālor –ōris, m.: foulness
prōmissus –a –um: hanging down, long
barba –ae, f.: beard
horrēns –entis: bristling
crūs –ūris, n.: shin, leg
compēs (conpēs) compedis, f.: a fetter, shackle
quatiō quatere quassī quassum: to shake
inhabitō –āre: to dwell in, to inhabit6
dīrus –a –um: awful, ill-omened
vigilō –āre –āvī –ātus: to be awake
vigilia –ae, f.: vigilance
formīdō –inis, f.: fear
interdiū: by day
abscēdō –cēdere –cessī –cessum: to give way, depart
inhaereō –haerēre –haesī –haesus: to stick to; cling to
sōlitūdō –inis, f.: solitude, waste land
mōnstrum –ī, n.: omen; monster
prōscrībō –scrībere –scrīpsī –scrīptum: to publish, proscribe
emō emere ēmī ēmptus: to buy
quis quid: anyone/thing, someone/thing (after sī, nisī, ne, or num).
ignārus –a –um: ignorant
malum –ī, n.: evil, calamity
Athēnae –ārum, f.: Athens7
philosophus –ī, m.: philosopher (male)
Athenodorus –ī, m.: Athenodorus (name)
titulus – ī, m. (–um, n.): title, label, claim to fame
suspiciō suspicere suspexī suspectus: to take up; recognize; accept
vīlitās –ātis, f.: cheapness, worthlessness
percontor (percūnctor) –ārī –ātus sum: to interrogate, question
nihilōminus (nihilō minus): nevertheless
immō: no indeed
tantō: by so much
condūcō –ducere –dūxī –ductus: to bring together, hire, rent
advesperāscit advesperāscere advesperāvit: it becomes evening
sternō sternere strāvī strātus: to spread
pugillārēs –ium, m.: small tablets for writing
interior –ius: nearer, deeper
simulācrum –ī, n.: likeness; statue
ubīque: everywhere8
silentium (silentum) –i(ī), n.: silence
concutiō –cutere –cussī –cussus: shake, beat, strike; terrify; disturb, distract
remittō –mittere –mīsī –missum: to send back
stilus –ī, m.: a pointed instrument
offirmō –firmāre –firmāvī –firmātus: to hold fast, persevere
praetendō –ere –tendī –tentus: to hold out before; stretch forth
crēbrēscō crēbrēscere crēbuī: to become frequent
fragor –ōri,s m.: breaking
adventō –āre –āvī –ātus: to come rapidly nearer
āgnōscō āgnōscere āgnōvī agnitus: to recognize
effigiēs –eī (effigia –ae), f.: a portrait, image, effigy
digitus –ī, m.: finger9
paulum (paululum): a little
significō –āre –āvī –ātus: to indicate
cēra –ae, f.: wax
incumbō –ere –cubuī –cubitus: to lean or recline upon (w. dat.); bear down on (in a military or sexual sense)
catēna –ae, f.: chain, fetter
īnsonō –sonāre –sonuī — : to sound within; resound
innuō –nuere –nuī –nūtus: to nod, beckon to
lentus –a –um: flexible, sticky, slow10
dēflectō –flectere –flexī –flexus: to turn aside
area arae, f.: open space, threshing floor, forecourt
repente (repens): suddenly
dīlābor –lābī –lāpsus sum: to slip
herba –ae, f.: grass, herb
folium –i(ī), n.: leaf
concerpō –cerpere –cerpsī –cerptus: to pluck, pull, or tear in pieces
magistrātus –ūs, m.: magistracy11
effodiō –fodere –fōdī –fossus: to dig out
īnserō –serere –seruī –sertus: to fasten or put in; insert
implicō –āre –āvī (–uī) –itus: to fold in; involve
putrefaciō –facere –fēcī –factum: rot, decay
exedō –edere –ēdī –ēsus: to eat out
sepeliō sepelīre sepeliī (–īvī) sepultum: to bury
rīte: with the proper rites; duly, correctly
mānēs –ium, m. pl: ghosts, departed spirits
affirmō –āre –āvī –ātus: to strengthen, prove, assert12
lībertus –ī, m.: freedman
illīterātus (illitterātus) –a –um: illiterate; uneducated
lectus –ī, m.: bed, couch
torum –ī, n. (torus –ī, m.): bed, couch, cushion; swelling
resīdō –sīdere –sēdī: to sit down, sink down, shrink
admoveō –movēre –mōvī –mōtus: to move to, bring to
culter –trī, m.: plowshare; knife
vertex verticis, m.: whirlpool; peak, summit
amputō –āre –avi –atus: to cut around or away
illūceō –ēre — — : to shine in or on
tondeō tondēre totondī tōnsus: to shear; finish
capillus –ī, m.: hair
exiguus –a –um: small, little13
paedagōgīum –iī, n.: the place where boys of servile birth were educated, the pages' hall
fenestra –ae, f.: window
tunica –ae, f.: tunic
cubō –āre –uī –itum: to lie down, recline
dētondeō –tondēre –tondī –tōnsum: shave, shear, cut off
notābilis –e: noteworthy14
quod: because
Domitiānus –ī, m.: Domitian (name)
scrīnium –iī, n.: a cylindrical wooden box for holding rolled books (volumina)
Cārus –ī, m.: Carus (a cognomen)
libellus –ī, m.: little book, document
coniectō –āre –āvi –ātus: to guess
sumittō (submittō) –mittere –mīsī –missum: to place under
recīdō –cīdere –cīdī –cīsus: to cut away; reduce
meī, m. pl.: my kindred
dēpellō –pellere –pulī –pulsus: to drive off, expel
immineō –ēre — — : to threaten; overhang
proinde (proin): just as15
ēruditiō –ōnis, f.: instruction; learning, culture
multum: much, a lot
cōnsīdō –sīdere –sēdī –sessus: to sit down, settle
indīgnus –a –um: unworthy (of)
disputō –putāre –putāvī –putātus: to discuss, debate, argue16
suspendō –pendere –pendī –pēnsum: to hang
incertus –a –um: uncertain