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CIRCULUS LATINUS HONCONGENSIS

香港拉丁文協會

Picture
Circulus Annum Caprinum (羊年, Year of the Goat) in Campo Picto (錦田, Kam Tin) celebrat

Conventus proximus hora septima et dimidia (7.30) die Lunae 9 Maii  (9/5/25)  in caupona Basmati habebitur ut  de  versu 161 usque ad 221 in Iliade Latina recitemus.  Descriptionem huius operis et textum versione Anglica interlineari , commentariis et picturis instructum apud  paginam ILIAS LATINA invenies.  Si voles adesse,  ad meridiem die 9, quaeso, Iohannem Velptonium per epistulam electronicam  vel per 93696180 certiorem fac.

De rebus in Circulis Latinis agendis et regulis nostris infra et Latine et Anglice legere poteris. Quoad possumus, tantum Latine colloqui tentamus sed, cum inter sodales nostros gradus Latinitatis magnopere variet, plerumque in maiore parte conventus lingua Anglica utimur.  Si plura scire vis, Iohannem Velptonium (vide supra) interrogare potes..

The next meeting will be held in the Basmati restaurant at 7.30 on Friday 9/5/25  in order to read from verse 161 up to 221 in the Ilias Latina.  Yopu will find a description of this work, and text with with interlinear English translation, notes and illustrations on the ILIAS LATINA page. If you want to attend, please inform John Whelpton by noon on the 9th by email  or on 93696180.

 You can read below in both Latin and English about what happens in Latin Circles and about our rules.  As far as possible, we try to talk only in Latin, but since the level of proficiency  varies greatly among members,  we normally use English for most of the meeting.     For more  information, contact John Whelpton (see above).

Ad epitomem rerum gestarum (Anglice scriptam) comparandam haec documenta deponite. Relatio de conventu proxime praeterito in Interreti  inspici potest.
Download these files for a  summary  (in English) of previous discussions. Reports on the  meetings since September 2016 are also available as separate pages on this site: 
December 2010 - 14-9-12
12/10/12 - 21/3/14
questions_arising.doc
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questions_arising_ii.doc
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11/4/14 - 15/7/15                                                                                26/8/15 - 29/4/16
questions_arising__iii_.doc
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​20/5/16 - 3/2/17
questions_arising__v_.doc
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24/1/18 - 16/11/18
questions_arising__vii_.doc
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28/6/19 -
questions_arising__ix_.doc
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30/12/20 - 28/7/21
questions_arising__xi_.doc
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12/11/21 - 3/12/21
questions_arising__xiii_.doc
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29/4/22 - 29/7/22
questions_arising__xv_.doc
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16/12/22 - 24/3/23 
questions_arising__xvii_.doc
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questions_arising__iv_.doc
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24/2/17 -29/12/17
questions_arising__vi_.doc
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6/12/18 -31/5/19 
questions_arising__viii_.doc
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21/2/20 - 20/11/20
questions_arising__x_.doc
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27/8/21 - 22/10/21
questions_arising__xii_.doc
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4/2/22 - 18/3/22
questions_arising__xiv_.doc
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30/9/22 - 25/11/22
questions_arising__xvi_.doc
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21/4/23 - 22/8/23
questions_arising__xviii_.doc
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Documenta infra posita sunt textus integer libri c.t. Ciceronis Filius, a Henrico Paoli compositus, et capitula in conventibus nostris prioribus recitata, quibus macra necnon commentarii additi sunt.
​
The documents below are the complete text of Henrico Paoli's Ciceronis Filius and the chapters of it which have been read in our previous meeings and to which macrons and notes have been added.
ciceronis_filius_paoli.pdf
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ciceronis_filius__annotated-1_.doc
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ciceronis_filius__annotated-2_.doc
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Relatio quoque de interrogatione Iohannis Elenorae Rykener infra posita est , quam mensibus Septembri et Octobri anno MMXXIII recitavimus.

Also placed below is the  teport on the interrogation of John/Eleanor Rykener, which we read on september/October 2023.

john-eleanor-rykener.doc
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Documenta insequentia sunt elenchi verborum iuncturarumque quae in conventibus nostris usui sint. Primum est glossarium generale, cui adhuc multa addenda et corrigenda sunt, secundum versiones Anglicas nominum ferculorum Indicorum, tertium versiones Latinas praebet. Quartum est glossarium ad omnia genera ciborum necnon artem coquendi cenandique pertinentia, in quo vocabula quae in in Latina Classica non apparent litteris viridibus distinguuntur. Omnia documenta praeter primum ab Eugenio Yu parata sunt.

The folowing documents are lists of words and phrases meant to be of use in our meetings. the first is a general glossary which stil needs many additions and corrections. the second provides English versions of the names of Indian dishes and the third Latin ones. The fourth is a glossary covering all kinds of food and the art of cooking and dining and the fifth a list of terms connected with houses, flats and furniture. Al the documents except the first and the sixth were prepared by Eugene Yu.​
circulus_vocabulary.doc
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elenchus_ferculorum_indicorum.docx
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house.docx
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nominum_anglicorum_ferculorum_indicorum.docx
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food.docx
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latin_at_table.doc
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Picture
`Basmati' caupona in via Conotensi prope portam `C' littera designatam stationis Metropolitanae Sheung Wan sita est. In hac charta geographica caupona littera `A' designata est.
The `Basmati' restaurant (`A' on the map) is on Connaught Road near Exit C from the Sheung Wan MTR station


Picture
The City Chinese Resturant is on the 8th floor of the Amenities Block on the City University campus, which can be reached via the subway from Festival Walk.  More detailed instructions are  available here.   It is also possible to reach the lift by going straight ahead from the subway into the Academic Building, taking the escalator on your right to the first floor and walking straight ahead.

Epistula Invitationis (2010)

 Iohannes Velptonius omnibus Latinistis Honcongi habitantibus

Per tres quattuor annos in animo habebam societatem condere. in qua omnes Honcongenses quibus Latinitas viva cordi esset linguae usum exercere possent. Cum munus magistri linguae Anglicae in schola media nuper deposuerim, mihi otium nunc sufficit ut consilium exsequi tentem itaque hodie mihi propositum est vos omnes invitare ut sodales novae societatis – Circuli Latini Honcongensis – fiatis.

Credo vos omnes scire quid sit `Circulus Latinus’ sed, ut res satis clarae sint, haec verba de Circulo Londiniensi scripta reduplicavi :.

Circulus Latinus Londiniensis unus est e plurimis Circulis Latinis totius orbis terrarum qui statutis temporibus homines omne genus congregant qui Latine loqui student...Sicut plurimi alii Circuli Latini, malumus convenire in locum qui foveat convivalem aditum ad humanitatem cuius omnes possint participare, nempe in domum publicam --sic enim appellant Angli tabernas-- primo, si licet, cuiusque mensis Iovis die. Magna iucunditate omnibus de rebus Latine loqui solemus quas animum nostrum alliciunt, dum cervesiæ sextarios --ut fit apud Britannos-- bibimus vel cenamus. Sæpe etiam cum prope assidentibus sermones conserimus qui mirantur quanam lingua tam alacriter loquamur.
 
Spero nos quoque unoquoque mense vel (si satis otii non habebimus) binis mensibus semel conventuros esse ut Latine colloquamur. Mihi videtur Tabernam Ferroviariam (Railway Tavern), quae prope stationem ferroviariam in Magnosaepto (Tai Wai) sita est, aptam esse conventibus nostris habendis. Chartam geographicam adiunxi, in qua clariter demonstratur qua via illuc perveniatur.

  Nihil refert si sodales Latine loquentes errores faciunt, sed maximi momenti est, dum conventus habeatur, omnes inter nos tantum  Latine loqui. Non fieri potest quin in sermonibus nostris singula verba Anglica (vel Sinica vel Germanica!) interdum inseramus sed structura totius sententiae Latina remanere debet. Verbi gratia, si locutor vocabulum Latinum necessarium nescit, quaerere poterit `Quomodo `skier’ Latine dicitur?’ etc.  Ut in aliis terris, eis qui Latine ipsi loqui nondum parati sunt, licebit aliorum sermones silenter audire

Me certiorem, quaeso, facite utrum participes esse velitis atque, si res vos tenet, quo/quibus diebus septimanae convenire vobis commodissimum futurum sit.  Si in taberna magnam turbam et clamorem evitare volemus, vesperi maturius (sexta hora?) conveniendum erit, sed fortasse multis ante septimam horam ad tabernam pervenire difficile erit.  De his rebus quoque sententias vestras colligere volo.

Si verba Latina mea obscura sunt, versionem anglicam infra positam videte. Respondete, quaeso, Latine vel Anglice, ut vobis ipsis placebit. Epistulam electronicam hic mittere potestis.

Optime valeatis

 
Dear All

  For three or four years I’d been thinking of setting up an organisation in which all Hong Kong enthusiasts for `living Latin’ could practise using the language. As I’ve recently retired from my job as a secondary school English teacher I have enough spare time to try to carry out this plan. My purpose today is to invite you to become members of a new society – the Circulus Latinus Honcongensis.

I think you all know what a `Circulus Latinus’ is, but, to make everything sufficiently clear, here’s something written about the Circulus Latinus Londiniensis

 
The Circulus Latinus Londiniensis is one of a large number of Circuli Latini throughout the world which bring together on a regular basis people of all sorts who are keen to talk in Latin. Like most other Circuli Latini, we prefer to meet in a place that fosters a convivial and civilised atmosphere which all can share – viz. a `public house’ (the English term for a bar), if possible, on the first Thursday of every month. We talk very happily in Latin about every subject which takes our fancy while drinking pints of beer (as is the British custom) or having a meal. Often we also get into conversation with those sitting near us who wonder what language we’re talking in so energetically. 

 I hopw we will also be able to meet once a month or (if we’re short of time) once in two months to speak Latin. It seems to me that the Railway Tavern near the KCR station in Tai Wai would be suitable for holding our meetings. I’ve attached a map showing how to get there.

It doesn’t matter if members make mistakes when speaking Latin, but it’s very important that, while the meeting’s going on, we only use Latin among ourselves. It’s inevitable that we’ll sometimes slip individual English (or Chinese or German!)) words into the conversation but the overall sentence structure should remain Latin. For example, if a speaker doesn’t know the word needed in Latin, he can ask `Quomodo `skier’ Latine dicitur?’etc. As in other countries, those who are not yet ready to speak in Latin themselves will be allowed to listen quietly to others talking.

Please let me know whether you are willing to take part and, if you are interested, what day or days of the week would be most convenient for you to hold the meetings. If we want to avoid crowds and noise in the pub, we should meet earlier in the evening (6 p.m.?) but perhaps for many people it will be difficult to arrive before 7.

I look forward to hearing from you in Latin or English, as you prefer.  You can send an email here.

Best wishes,

John

 
 
 SUBSIDIA AD SERMONES LATINOS

Sunt libri et situs interretiales qui subsidia ad linguae Latinae usum viva voce exercendum praebent. Paginae  quas ad usum in Universitate Sinensi anno praeterito praeparavi de http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/~lha/latin_intensive/download/WHELPTON_NOTES2.pdf deponi possunt, et alia colloquia a duobus magistris Americanis scripta (Colloquia Cottidiana). Si de vocalibus longis recte enuntiandis curatis, meminisse debetis errores esse in `Colloquiis Cottidianis’ . Nihilominus, dialogi ipsi nobis certissime usui sunt. Utilis etiam est liber c.t. Nos in Schola Latine Loquimur a magistro Belgico Thoma Elsaesser in initio saeculi praeterito scriptus, cuius editio anni 1909 in fine huius paginae invenietur. In hoc, tamen, longtitudo vocalium non indicatur et iuncturae magni momenti non Anglice sed francogallice reddundur.  Neque quantitates indicantur in libro c.t. Colloquia Latino Sermone Conscripta, quem magistri Itali Balboni et Neri versione Italica et laudibus `Fidei Lictoriae' (sc. Fascismi) instructam anno 1937 ediderunt.`Gregorius Clavus' nunc iuncturas ad colloquendum apta ex scriptoibus classicis extraca in bloggo suo c.t. Conversational Latin componit.  Sunt etiam indices iuncturarum et vocabulorum utilium a Carolo Meissner et Valterio Ripman compositae et nuper in Interreti a Carolo Rhaetico apud http://hiberna-cr.wikidot.com/downloads positae.  In historia paedagogiae Latinae praeclarissimi sunt dialogi a Marturino Corderio in saeculo secimo sexto scipti et ab Arcadio Avellano in saeculo vigesimo emendati. Textum in situ Univesitatis Sancti Ludovici invenetis  Postremo, non omittendus est liber in saeculo octavo decimo edito, c.t. `Familiares colloquendi formulae, in usum scholarum concinnatae'  in quo inter alias sententias diversas invenitur `Dismissa schola, tibi dentes excutiam!'

Inter libros typis expressos, praeclarissimus est opus Iohannis Traupman, c.t. Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency, quod  apud bookdepository.com  et (pretio maiore!) apud Amazon praebetur. Pars magna eius operis in interreti apud Google Books legi potest.  Si vis, etiam poteris exemplum meum inspicere – qui primus rogabit, primus accipiet!. Exemplaria quoque habeo liberi Angelae Wilks c.t. Latin for Beginners  et Sigridis Albert c.t. Cottidie Latine Collaquamur.
Acroasis Latina eodem titulo, a Sigride anno 2013 habita, apud TuTubulum praebetur: Pars I (25.06 incipit), Pars 2, Pars 3  Nulli sunt subtituli sed lente atque clare loquitur..

Potestis quoque per interrete apud situm Scholae (www.schola.ning) cum aliis Latinistis et scribendo et loquendo latine communicare. In situ meo (http://linguae.weebly.com/latin--greek.html) sunt etiam complures pelliculae (videos) in quibus dialogi Latini audiuntur.

Sunt etiam in Interreti pellicula quaedam longa (30 min), in qua professores de `Latinitate viva’ Anglice colloquuntur (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqOFnYgyRr8&NR=1), et pelliculae breviores in quo professores et discipuli apud Conventiculum Lexintoniense Latine colloquuntur (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0emFzJ0oCQ&NR=1)

Maximi momenti sunt subsidia nova a magistris Americanis anno 2016 in Interreti posita:

              Inceptum Latinum Audiendi (Latin Listening Project):   series pellicularum in quibus magister vel magistra de re 
              quadem (e.g. Quae est fabula Graeca titi acceptissima, Ars coquendi etc.) 1-5 minutas loquitur

               Quomododicitur.com: series dialogorum in quibus tres magistri de re singulari (e.g. De corpore sana, De nominibus)                  15-20 minutis inter se colloquuntur. Colloquia in rete audiri re vel in computatrum in forma podcasti depromi                           possunt.

Utilissima quoque sunt subsidia quae apud www.latinitium.com praebentur, inter quae est vinculum ad congeriem septuaginta horas acroasium Latinarum in TuTubulo positarum.

AIDS FOR LATIN CONVERSATION
​
There are books and websites which provide help for using Latin in conversation.  You can download Colloquia Latina, notes which I prepared last year for use in the Chinese University of Hong Kong and also Collloquia Cottidiana, dialogues prepared by two American teachers.  If you are concerned about getting vowel length right,  you need to remember that there are errors in their work, but it is still a very valuable resource.  Also useful is the book Nos in Schola Latine Loquimur written by Belgian teacher Thomas Elsaesser, the 1909 edition of which can be downloaded from the bottom of this page. This, however, has no vowel length markings and key phrases are glossed in French, not English.  Vowel quantitites are also missing in Colloquia Latino Sermone Conscripta, which two Italian teachers, Balboni and Neri, brought out in 1937, adding an Italian tranlation and aslo praise for `fides Lictoria' (sc. Fascism)! `Gregorius Clavus'  is comiling a glossary of conversational phrases culled from various classical authors in his Conversational Latin blog.  There are also the lists of useful phrases and words compiled by Charles Meissner et Walter Ripman recently placed on the Internet by Carolus Rhaeticus at  http://hiberna-cr.wikidot.com/downloads. In the history of Latin teaching, the dialogues written by Maturinus Corderius in the16th century are very famous.  Some of them can be found, as modified last century by Arcadius Avellanus, on the St. Louis University site.   Mention should also be made of an 18th century book,  Familiares colloquendi formulae, which includes amongst various other phrases `Dismissa schola, tibi dentes excutiam!' (`When school's over,  I'll knock your teeth out!')

As for books, the best-known is John Traupman's Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency, which is t available on bookdepository.com and(at a higher price!) from Amazon.  A large part of the work can also be read online at Google Books.  If you wish, you can also have a look at my copy - first come, first served! I also have copies of Angela Wilks' book, Latin for Beginners, and Sigrides Albert's Cottidie Latine Collaquamur.  Sigrides 2013 Latin lecture with the same title can be viewed on YouTube: Part I (from 25.06), Part 2, Part 3   There are no subtitles but she speaks slowly and clearly.

You can also communicate with other Latinists in Latin (both written and spoken) on the Schola site, whilst my own site, Linguae also has several videos in which Latin can be heard.  By registering with the Circulus Latinus Interretialis you can join a list of Latinists who converse with each other over the Skype internet phone system.

Also online are a 30-minute film in which professors speak in English about `Latin Immersion' and shorter films in which prefessors and students at the Lexington Conventiculum speak in Latin.

Two aids of very great importance were uploaded by American teachers in 2016:

               Latin Listening Project: a series of videos in which a teacher talks for 1-5 minutes on a particular topic (e.g What is                      your  favourite  Greek story, the art of cooking etc.)

               Quomododicitur.com: a series of dialogues in which three teachers talk together for 15-20 minutes on one individual
               topic (e.g. On a healthy body, On names)

Also extremely useful are the resources available at  www.latinitium.com , among which is a link to a  playlist of 70 hours of Latin lectures uploaded to YouTube.
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The Circulus Latinus Honcongensis is an experimental venture and, although to take a full part you will need to have a basic knowledge of Latin, there will be no fluent speakers present, and probably only two people who have attended Latin conversation sessions before, so we are bound to go  slow and everyone will have a chance to follow. The rules also allow the use of individual English words provided the overall sentence structure remains in Latin. Detailed vocabulary help is available on the links above and in the vocabulary list below but useful phrases for getting started include:

Salvē!                                    Hello!                               Iterum dīc, quaesō  Say again, please.

Quid agis?                            How are you?                Lentē, quaesō          Slowly, please 

Bene mē habeō                   I’m fine                           Anglicē                         In English  

Quid est officium tuum?  What’s your job?            Hoc quid vocātur?  What’s this called?

Nōn intellēxī                       I didn’t understand         Cervisiam bibō         I drink beer

Quōmodo dīcitur               How do you say              Vīnum rubrum,       Red wine, please
      _____Latīne?               _____ in Latin?                 quaesō

Grātiās [tibi agō]               Thanks                             Esne advocātus?      Are you a lawyer?

Sum grammaticus            I ’m a language teacher  Prōsit!                        Cheers!   
        


                                   VOCĀBULA ET IUNCTŪRAE ŪTILĒS
                                                 (Stressed syllables shown in red but
             words of two syllables, always stressed on the first, are often not marked )


Fundamentālia

Iterum dīc, quaesō                                                           Say again, please.
Lentē, quaesō                                                                       Slowly, please
Maiōre vōcē, quaesō                                             Louder, please
Scrībe, quaesō                                                       Write it down, please
Nōn intellegō                                                         I don’t understand
Intellegisne/Intellegitisne?                               Do you understand?
Nōn intellēxī                                                          I didn’t understand?
Intellēxistīne/Intellēxistisne?                            Did you understand or Have you understood?
Quōmodo dīcitur_____Latīnē/Anglicē       How do you say  _______ in Latin/English  
Hoc quid vocātur?                                               What’s this called?
Ita (est), Etiam                                                     Yes
Minimē                                                                   Not at all
Mihi ignosce                                                                         Sorry


Salutātiōnēs /Introductiōnēs/Valēdictiōnēs etc,                                                 

Salvē/salvēte                                                       Hello                             
Quid/Quod est tibi nōmen?                           What’s your name
Mihi nōmen (Anglicum/Sīnicum/Latīnum)  My (English/Chinese/Latin) name is _________
           est_______
Quid agis?                                                           How are you
Bene mē habeō                                                   I’m fine
Mihi abeundum est or  Discēdere dēbeō       I’ve got to go
Valē/valēte                                                         Goodbye                       
Usque ad proximum mēnsem/proximam    Till next month/week
          septimānam


In taberna

Sextārium cervisiae requīrō, quaesō                              I want a pint of beer, please
Vīnum rubrum/album requīrit                                        He/She wants    red/white wine.
Lāminās [solanōrum] requīris?                                        Do you want some [potato] crisps(Americānē chips)?
Ministrōs rōgā ut lāminās in corbem dēpōnant       Ask the staff to put the crisps in a basket
Aliquidne requīris?                                                        Do you want anything?
Velisne ut tibi potiōnem afferam?                              Would you like me to get you a drink?
Pōculum magnum an parvum requīris?                    Do you want a large glass or a small one?
Habentne pōma fricta?                                                      Do they have chips (Americānē french fries)?
Minister/ministra ad mensam veniet sed facilius   The waiter/waitress will come to the table but it’s easier to
          est ad cartibulum īre                                                       go to the bar
Quantī cōnstat/cōnstant?                                                  How much does it/do they cost ?
Ubi est lātrīna?                                                                         Where’s the toilet
Ibi /in angulō sinistrō/dexterō est                                It’s there/in the left-hand/right-hand corner
Spicula iaciunt                                                                                       They’re throwing darts
Ubi est tabella spiculāria?                                                       Where’s the dart board?
Vīsne prope fenestram/iānuam sedēre?                         Do you want to sit near the window/door
Nōn est necessārium surgere                                             There’s no need to get up
Quot sellae sunt?                                                                      How many seats are there?

Hōra et diēs

Quota est hōra/Quot hōrae sunt?                                 What time is it ?
Est prīma/secunda/tertia/quarta/quīnta/sexta/        It’s 1..12 [.15/30/45]
          septima/octāva/nōna/decima/undecima/           [in the day/at night]
          duodecima [diēī/noctis]hōra et quadrāns/
          dimidia/dōdrāns/
Petrus quotā hōrā perveniet?                                      What time will Peter arrive?
Septimā hōrā et quadrante/dimidiā/dōdrante         At 7.15/7.30/7/45
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Dē tē ipsō    (recitātiō)  (pelliculae animātae)

Quot annōs nātus/nāta es?                                                  How old are you?        
------ annōs nātus/nāta sum                                                 I’m ____ years old 
Habēsne fīliōs vel fīliās?                                                  Do you have any sons or daughters?
Habeō nūllum/ūnum fīlium sed/et nūllam/           I have no/one son and/but no/one daughter
     ūnam fīliam
Habeō duōs fīliōs/duās fīliās                                           I have two sons/daughters
Unde venīs?                                                                            Where do you come from ?
Britannus/a sum                                                                 I’m British   American   Korean   French  German  Chinese
   Canādiānus /a   Americānus/a  Coreānus/a            A ustralian
   Francogāllus/a  Germānus/a  Sīnēnsis
  Austrāliānus
Ubi nātus/a es?                                                                      Where were you born ?
Ubi habitās?                                                                           Where do you live
Antequam Honcongum vēnistī, ubi habitābās?      Before you came to HK, where did you live?
   Nottinghāmiae/Londīnī/ Honcongī/Berolīnī/      I was born/live/lived in Nottingham/London/Hong Kong/
   in īnsulā Honcongō/Novemdracōnibus/                Paris/Hong Kong Island/ Kowloon/
   Lutetiae/ nātus(nāta) sum/habitō/ habitābam
Quem quaestum facis?/Quid est officium tuum?     How do you make a living? What is your job? What post
          Quō mūnere fungeris                                               are you in 
Esne advocātus/a?                                                                 Are you a lawyer?          
Fīlius tuus/fīlia tua maior quem quaestum facit?     What’s your elder son’s/daughter’s job?
Sum argentārius/a  - grammaticus/a  -                           I’m a banker/language teacher/professor/doctor/journalist
    professor/profestrix   - medicus/a  -                             researcher/policeman/lawyer/teacher/priest/historian/
    investigātor/investigātrix  - custōs pūblicus/a   -      writer/businessman/civil servant/editor/government
    diurnārius/a  - advocātus/a  -   magister/magistra    contractor/housewife/theatre administrator/student
    sacerdōs - historicus/a   scrīptor/scrīptrix  -
    mercātor/mercātrix  -  officiālis  - redāctor -
     mercātor/mercātrix officiālis -  māterfamiliās -
     administrātor theātrālis - discipulus/discipula
 
Dē linguīs   (recitātiō)
 
Cūr linguam Latīnam didicistī?                                         Why did you learn Latin?
    Nōn didicī                                                                                  I didn’t learn it!
   Quia cultūra atque historia antīquae mē                     Because ancient culture and history attract me
         alliciunt
   Quia mē linguae tenent/alliciunt.                                    Because languages interest/attract me
   Quia in scholā meā coācti sumus                                      Because we were forced to learn Latin in school
        linguam Latīnam discere .
Quibus aliīs linguīs loqueris?                                        What other languages do you speak?
   Francogallicē, Germānicē, Sīnicē (sermōne           French  German  Chinese (Cantonese or Putonghua)
   Cantonēnsī vel sermōne normālī), Iaponicē,         Japanese  Korean   Polish   Spanish   Greek
   Coreānicē, Polonicē, Hispānicē, Graecē
Cur Latīne loquī vīs?                                                       Why do you want to speak Latin? 
   Quia quī loqui nōn scit, linguā rēvērā                      Because if you can’t speak a language you haven’t really
         nōn callet.                                                                     mastered it
   Quia Latīnē loquī iūcundum est                                Because it’s fun to speak Latin
   Quia novae experientiae mē dēlectant                     Because I like new experiences
Quot annōs linguam Latīnam discis/didicistī?             How many years have you been learning/ did you learn Latin
Prōnuntiātū classicō an ecclēsiasticō ūteris?           Do you use the classical or the church pronunciation?
Quae sunt discrīmina prīncipālia?                              What are the main differences?
    Modō ecclēsiasticō vel mediaevālī, `c’ et `g’          In the ecclesiastical or medieval style, the consonants `c’ and
      cōnsonantēs, cum ante `i’ vel `e’ vōcālēs            `g’, when occurring before the vowels `i’ or `e’, are not hard
      occurrant, nōn dūrae sed mollēs sunt – ut          but soft – the way the letters `ch’ and `j’ are pronounced in
      `ch’ et `j’ litterae Anglicē dīcuntur. Modō          English.  In the classical style, these consonants are always
        classicō hae cōnsonantēs semper ut in `cat’        pronounced as in the English words `cat’ or `game’.
      vel `game’ vocābulīs Anglicīs  ēnūntiantur. 
   Prōnūntiātus `ae’ diphthongī temporibus            In Cicero’s time, the pronunciation of the diphthong `ae’ was
      Cicerōnis  erat similis vōcālī in `die’ vocābulō    similar to that of the vowel in the English word `die’, but
        Anglicō, sed aevō mediaevālī ut `ay’ in `day’.    in the medieval period it was pronounced like `ay’ in
      ēnuntiābātur,                                                                     English `day’.
   Aevō classicō `v’ littera ut Anglica `w’,                In the classical period the letter `v’ sounded like the
     dīcēbātur sed aevō  mediaevālī similis erat           English `w’, but in medieval times it was like the English `v’
     Anglicae `v’ .      

Vīta Honcongēnsis  (recitātiō)

Quae sunt beneficia vītae Honcongēnsis?               What are the advantages of living in Hong Kong?
    Quaestum invenīre professiōnālibus facile est      It’s easy for professionals to find a job.
    Pecūniae comparandae ānsae multae sunt             There are lots of opportunities to make money.
   Omnia oblectāmenta urbāna praebentur sed         All the amusements of the city are available but we can
       facile in rūs pulchrum pervenīmus.                        easily get into beautiful countryside  
    Aestāte in ōrīs iūcundis sedēre et in marī natāre  In the summer we can sit on nice beaches and swim in the
      possumus                                                                        sea
     Per tōtum annum inter montēs errāre                   We can hike in the hills all year round.
        possumus
    Hīc cultūra orientālis adest, occidentālis.              It combines eastern and western culture. 
        quoque
    Facillimē ad aliās terrās itinera facere                    We can travel to other countries very easily.
        possumus
    A fūribus vel latrōnibus rārissime vexāmur,        We aren’t often bothered by thieves or robbers and we’re
      in viīs sine timōre ambulāmus.                                 not afraid when we walk in the streets.
    Commeātus pūblicus optimus est.                           Public transport is first-rate.
    Sententiās nostrās līberē exprimere possumus.    We’re free to express our opinions.
     Magna pars incolārum Anglicē commūnicāre       Most local people can communicate in English
      possunt.

Quae sunt detrimenta vītae nostrae?                      What are the disadvantages of our lives here?
    Quī ingeniīs vel artibus nōn dōnātī sunt,              Those who lack talents or skills suffer from poverty.
       paupertāte īnflīguntur.
    Dīvitēs dīvitiōrēs, pauperēs pauperiōrēs  fīunt    The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
    Āēr, aqua, terra inquinātae sunt.                            Air, water and land are polluted
    In minimīs diaetīs habitāmus.                                We live in very small flats.
    In urbe ubīque sunt turbae strepitusque.             In the city there are crowds and noise everywhere.
    Plērīque Honcongēnses in officīnīs multās          Most Hongkongers have to stay long hours in their
       hōrās  remanēre dēbent.                                            workplaces.
    Discipulī vesperī multās per hōrās pēnsa             Students need to spend many hours doing homework in
      dēbent facere                                                               the evening.
    In scholīs lycaeīsque verba ēdiscere maiōris       In schools rote learning is often more important than real
      mōmentī saepe est quam rem intellegere            understanding.
    Conductōrēs operis saepe crūdēlēs sunt               Employers are often harsh.
    Populus iūs nōn habet ēligendī omnēs                 The people do not have the right to choose all their rulers.
      rēctōrēs suōs
    Difficile est sermōnem Cantonēnsem discere.     It’s difficult to learn Cantonese. 

Honcongī quae regiō tē maxime dēlectat?              What area of Hong kong do you like best?
    Tsim Sha Tsui et Centrālem amō quod                  I love  Tsim Sha Tsui and Central because I like big hotels
    magna dēversōria tabernaeque et activitātēs          and shops and cultural activities .  I like the New Territories
    cultūrālēs mihi placent. Terrās Novās et                 and the Outlying Islands because we have peace  and quiet
     Īnsulās Remōtiōrēs amō  quod pācem et                 there 
     silentium ibi habēmus          

Vīta cottidiāna     recitātiō    [n.b. the curent  recordng still has `lactem', an error for the correct accusative form `lac']

Quotā hōrā māne surgis?                                          What time do you get up in the morning?
   Sextā hōrā et dimidiā                                                  6.30
   Septimā hōrā et quadrante                                        7.15
Balneō māne an  vesperī ūteris?                             Do you have a bath in the morning or the evening?
  Plērumque māne. In soliō nōn sedeō, balneō        Generally in the morning.  I don't sit in the bathtub but have a
  plūviō ūtor.                                                                                         shower.
Quotā hōrā ientāculum sūmis?                               What time do you have breakfast?
   Octāvā hōrā                                                                  At eight o’clock.
Quid edis?                                                                     What do you eat?
   Pānem tostum /frūctūs/ ova frīcta et                    Toast/fruit/fried eggs and bacon/cereals        
   lardum/cereālia
Quid bibis?                                                                    What do you have to drink?
   Theam/caffeam/lac/aurantiī  succum                 Tea/coffee/milk/orange juice
Quotā hōrā ad officīnam proficisceris?                  What time do you leave for work?
   Octāvā hōrā et dōdrante                                           At 8.45
   Domī labōrō.                                                                I work at home
   Nōn est hōra cōnstitūta                                                          There's no fixed time.
Quantō temporis ad officīnam pervenīs?             How long does it take you to get to work?
   Quinquaginta minūtīs                                              Fifty minutes.
Iter quamdiu terit?                                                    How long does the journey take?
   Dimidiam hōram                                                       Half an hour
Quōmodo iter facis?                                                  How do you travel?
   Autoraedā/Raedā longā/Tramine/Currū             I go by car/bus/train/tram and then walk
     ēlectricō vehor deinde ambulō. 
     Birotā ūtor.                                                                                      I use a bike 
  Ubi prandium sūmis?                                                             Where do you have lunch
   In caupōnā prope officīnam/universitātem         In a restaurant near my work/university
Quid edis?                                                                                         What do you eat?
   Pastillum fartum/Collӯram/Iūs collӯricum/        A sandwich/noodles/soup noodles/rice/dim sum
   Orӯzam/Cuppēdiolās                                   
Quotā horā ab officīnā proficisceris?                          What time do you leave work?
   Sextā hōrā et dimidiā                                                                  At 6.30
Vesperī quid facis?                                                                      What do you do in the evening?
   Cēnam coquō (ancillam nōn habeō) deinde            I cook dinner (I don’t have a maid), then watch TV or read a
     tēlevīsiōnem spectō vel librum legō.                         a book.  Sometimes I dust the furniture or do other
     interdum suppelectilem detergeō vel                      housework. I also have to make the bed because there’s not
     aliās operās domesticās facio. Lectum                      time for that in the morning.
     quoque sternere dēbeō quod māne tempus
     nōn sufficit
Quid edis vesperī?                                                                    What do you eat in the evening?
   Varium est. Saepe būbulam vel porcīnam              It varies.  I often have roast beef or pork with fried potatoes
     assam ūnā cum solānīs frīctīs et holeribus        and vegetables.  Usually I drink beer or wine.
     edō. Plērumque cervisiam vel vīnum bibō.
Domī furculā cultellōque an bacillīs ūteris?       Do you use a knife and fork or chopsticks at home?                  
    Sī orӯzam vel collӯram edō, bacillīs,                        If I’m having rice or noodles I use chopsticks, if it’s
    sī cibum occidentālem, cultellō et furculā.          Western food, a knife and fork.
Quandō cubitum īs?                                                                When do you go to bed?
   Inter hōrās ūndecimam et duodecimam.             Between 11 and 12.  I normally listen to the radio before I   
   Soleō antequam dormiam, radiophōnum             go to sleep
  audīre,   

 Dē litterīs Latīnīs  recitātiō

 Quī scrīptōrēs Latīnī tibi maximē placent?         Which Latin authors do you like best?
   Inter scrīptōrēs classicōs mihi Ovidius                 Among the classical authors I particularly like Ovid
   praecipuē placet quod fābulās iūcundās               because he tells attractive stories with elegance and
   cum ēlegantiā et facētiīs nārrat et                          wit and has a good understanding of the psychology
   psychologiam amantium bene intellegit              of lovers.
Quid dē Vergiliō?                                                       What about Virgil?
   Est nōbilitās quaedam in versibus illīus                There’s a certain nobility in his poetry and most people
   et librī priōrēs Aeneidos plērōsque alliciunt.       find the first books of the Aeneid attractive.
   Nihilōminus rēs quās scrīpsit interdum               Still, what he wrote is sometimes rather boring, unless
   satis taediōsae sunt, nisi lectōrem proelia            the reader is very interested in battles and agriculture!
   et agricultūra maximē tenent.
Nōnne versūs Catullī multōs iuvenēs dēlectant? Don’t many young people like the poetry of Catullus?
   Rectē dīxistī. Dē gaudiō dolōreque amōris            You’re right. He wrote with great opnness about the joy and    
   sine dissimulātiōne scrīpsit. Etiam (vel potius     the pain of love.  Even (or should that be `especially’!)
   praecipuē!) carmina quae obscaena habērī           the poems that could be considered obscene appeal to lots 
   possunt multīs lectōribus placent!                          of readers!
Sī discipulus rudīmenta linguae didicit, quae      If a student has learned the basics of the language, what
opera prīmum legenda sunt?                                   things should he or she read first?
   Fortassē nōn opera classica sed librī                       Perhaps to start with they shouldn’t read classical works
   simpliciōrēs in prīncipiō legendī sunt.Verbī        but simpler books.  For example, the Epitome of Roman
   grātiā, Epitomē Historiae Rōmānae ab                  History by Eutropius or the Bible.
   Eutrōpiō scrīpta vel Biblia Sacra.
Nōnne tū ipse Caesaris opera prīmum lēgistī?     Didn’t you yourself read Caesar first?
   Ōlim in multīs terrīs discipulī commentāriōs       In many countries students used to read Caesar’s
   Caesaris prīmum legēbant et nūper in                    commentaries first and recently in American schools parts
   scholīs  Americānīs partēs librī `Dē Bellō              of `De Bello Gallico’ have been put on the syllabus for the
   Gallicō’ in syllabō probātiōnis  superiōris, quae   higher examination they call  AP (`Advanced
   AP  dīcitur, inclūsae sunt.  Latīnitās Caesaris       Placement’).  Caesar’s Latin is certainly good and his
   certissimē bona est  et verba eius faciliōra            language is easier to understand than that of Tacitus, Livy
   intellectū sunt quam  Tacitī, Liviī vel Sallustiī.   or Sallust.  Still, not everybody is interested in military
   Historia militāris, tamen, nōn omnēs tenet.         history.
Nōnne Latīnitās Cicerōnis est optima?                   Isn’t Cicero’s Latin the best?
   Scrīptor eximius erat sed tirōnēs orātiōnēs          He was an excellent writer but he’s difficult for beginners to
   eius nōn facilē intellegunt.                                       understand. 
Quid dē scrīptōribus mediaevālibus vel                 What do you think about medieval or neo-Latin writers?
neo-Latīnīs putās?
   Multī putant linguam mediaevālem faciliōrem     Many people think the medieval language is easier because
   esse quod syntaxis et vocābulā similiōra sunt       because the syntax and vocabulary are more similar to the 
   linguīs Europaeīs hodiernīs. Exemplī grātiā,         modern European language. For example, in the medieval
   aevō mediaevālī ōrātiō oblīqua simplicior facta    period indirect speech became simpler because instead of
   est quia nōn accūsātīvus infīnītīvusque sed          the accusative and infinitive they started using the
   `quod’ coniūnctiō et clausula adhibēbantur.          conjunction `quod’ plus a clause.
Dē Latīnitāte recentiōre nōndum dīxistī.               You didn’t say anything about more recent Latin.
    Liber `De viris illūstribus’, historia contracta      The `De  viris illustribus’ (`On Famous Men’), an abridged   
    reīpūblicae Rōmānae, quae saeculō decimō          history of the Roman republic that was written in the
    octāvō scrīpta est, ūsuī est eīs quī rudīmenta       18th century is useful for people who have just learned
    grammaticae Latīnae nūper didicērunt.                 the basics of Latin grammar.  Most worth reading,
    Dignissimus tamen lectū est liber annō mīl-         however, is the book published in the year 1884 by 
     lēsimō octingentēsimo quārtō ā Franciscō             Francis Ritchie  which is entitled `Fabulae Faciles' (Easy
    Ritchie ēditus, c.t. `Fābulae Facilēs.’ Est                Stories). There is a recent version of this work which 
    versiō recēns operis, quam praeparāvit et in         was prepared and uploaded to the Internet by Geoffrey
    Interrētī posuit Galfrīdus Steadman:                      Steadman
                                                   http://geoffreysteadman.com/ritchies-fabulae-faciles/                              
    Necesse est lectōribus scīre omnēs figūrās            It's necessary for readers to know all the forms of nouns
    nōminum et tempora indicātīva verbōrum sed   and verb tenses in the indicative but in the opening chapters
    in prīmīs capitulīs nōn adhibentur modus sub-   neither the subjunctive mood nor the ablative absolute not
    iunctīvus  neque ablātīvus absolūtus, neque        reported speech are encountered.  before he can begin 
    ōrātiō  oblīqua. Discipulō, antequam legere          reading, the student has to learn off a list of 150 of the
    incipiat, ēdiscenda est index centum quīnquā-     words that occur most frequently in the text.  In the 
    gintā vocābulōrum  frequentissimōrum. In         main part of the book explanations of all the words which
    parte prīncipālī librī  pōnuntur textuī Latīnō       are not included in the list, together with note on points of 
    adversae explicātiōnēs  omnium verbōrum in     grammar are placed on pages facing the Latin text.  The
    indice nōn  inclūsōrum  necnōn commentāriī     stories included are those of Pereus, Hercules, Jason and
    grammaticī.  Nārrantūr fābulae dē Perseō,           Ulysses.  Ritchie intended students to read these first 
    Hercule, Iasone  et Ulixe, quās Ritchie volēbat    before embarking on their study of the writings of Julius
    discipulōs, antequam Caesaris operibus                 Caesar.
    studērent, prīmum legere,
Et dē Latīnitāte hodiernā?                                         And contemporary Latin?
    Omnibus suādeō ut Nūntiōs Latīnōs                       I’d encourage everyone to listen to and read `Nuntii
    Helsinkiēnsēs in interrētī audiant et legant.         Latini’ ( Latin News) from Helsinki.
     
Dē linguīs discendīs et docendīs

Quae  est methodus optima linguae discendae?   What’s the best method for learning a language?
   Difficile est breviter respondēre quod nōn            It’s difficult to give a short reply because not all people
   omnēs eōdem modō discunt. Verbi grātiā.            learn the same way. For example, for some listening is
   aliīs audīre, aliīs legere facilius est.                         easier and for others reading.
Quōmodo tū ipse discere māvīs?                             How do you prefer to lean yourself?
   Memoria mea est vīsuālis, et difficile est               My memory is visual and it’s difficult for me to distinguish
   mihī novōs sonōs discernere vel imitārī.               or imitate new sounds. So, I enjoy reading, but I don’t deny     
   Itaque legere mihī libet, neque tamen                    that listening and speaking are very important.
   negō audīre et loquī magnī momentī esse.
Magistrī Latīnitātis quibus methodīs ūtuntur?    What methods do Latin teachers use?
   Sunt fortasse trēs methodī prīncipālēs quibus      Perhaps there are three methods by which beginners are
   tirōnēs lingua Latīna docētur: formīs                      taught Latin: by the presentation and memorisation of
   vocābulōrum et rēgulīs grammaticīs                       vocabulary and grammatical rules or through the reading of
   dēmōnstrandīs atque ēdiscendīs, vel textibus       Latin texts or by oral communication in Latin.  In schools
   Latīnīs legendis vel Latīnē vīvā vōce                       and universities for three hundred years the first and second
   commūnicandō. In scholīs et ūniversitātibus       methods have generally been employed but in the medieval
   per trēcentōs annōs methodī prīma et                     period and during the Renaissance conversation was a large
   secunda  plērumque adhibentur sed aevō               part of the curriculum. Now the supporters of `living Latin’
   mediaevālī  et tempore Renascentiae sermōnēs    are arguing that students should hear Latin and also
   serere erat pars magna curriculī. Nunc                   converse in it themselves.
   fautōrēs `Latīnitātis vīvae’ suādent ut discipulī
   Latīnē et audiant et ipsī colloquantur.
Quae methodus tibī ipsī placet?                               What method do you favour yourself?
   Crēdō optimum esse in omnibus trībus viīs            I believe the best thing is to advance by all three routes so
   prōgredī ut  in lectiōnibus variētās augeātur        that there’s increased variety in lessons and the students use
   et discipulī auribus, oculīs et ōre discent.             their ears, eyes and mouth to learn.  
   Verbī grātiā, exercitia grammatica vīvā vōce        For example, grammar drills can be conducted orally in        
    Latīnē fiērī possunt, et, postquam fābulae           Latin, and after the reading of stories the teachers ought     
    lectae  sunt,  magistrī quaestiōnēs Latīnās          to ask questions in Latin  and the students respond in Latin
   dare,  discipulī Latīne respondēre dēbent.
Quōmodō lingua Anglica Honcongī docētur?        How is English taught in Hong Kong?
   Grammaticae et vocābulīs ediscendīs multum      A lot of time is allocated to grammar and to the learning of
   temporis attribuitur sed in maiōre parte                vocabulary but in the majority of schools teachers do try to
   scholārum magistrī in lectiōnibus Anglicē             communicate in English.
   commūnicāre cōnantur.
In Britanniā quae linguae in scholīs docentur?     What languages are taught in British schools?
   Prō pudor, plērīque Britannī, nisi nātī sunt in        I’m ashamed to say that most Britons, unless they were
   rēgiōnibus quibusdam Cambriae vel parentēs        born in some parts of Wales or their parents are
   ā terrā aliēnā immigrāvērunt, nihil aliud                immigrants from a foreign country, don’t lean anything well
   quam linguam Anglicam ipsam bene discunt.        except for English itself. In a lot of schools, though, French
   In multīs scholīs, tamen, lingua Francogallica       is taught. Nowadays teachers get the students to listen to the 
   docētur. Nunc magistrī faciunt ut discipulī            language and to say simple phrases themselves.  Back in the
   linguam audiant et iunctūrās simplicēs ipsī            1960s things were different. In my school, after he had
   dīcant.  Annīs sexāgēsimīs rēs aliter sēsē                 greeted us in French, the teacher used to explain the French
   habēbant. In scholā meā magister, postquam        texts and the grammatical rules in English!
   nōs Francogallicē salūtāvit, textūs
   Francogallicōs et rēgulās grammaticās Anglicē 
   explicābat!
Peregrīnī quī Honcongī habitant, quōmodo           How do foreigners living in Hong Kong learn Cantonese and
sermōnem Cantonēnsem et litterās Sīnicās           written Chinese  
discunt?
   Prō pudor plūrimī peregrīnī minimē discunt.        I’m ashamed to say that most foreigners learn very little.
   Etiam līberī eōrum saepe in `scholīs inter-             Even their children are often taught in `international
   nātiōnālibus’  docentur, ubi tantum                         schools, where they only have to communicate in English!
   Anglicē est commūnicandum! 
Nōnne scholae internātiōnālēs cārae sunt?            Aren’t the international schools expensive?
   Rēcte dīxistī!  Multī parentēs nōn satis dīvitēs        That’s right.  Many parents are not rich enough to send
   sunt ut līberōs in tālēs scholās mittant. Quam       their children to that type of school.  As a result, there are
   ob rem multae difficultātēs oriuntur; līberī,           a lot of problems, as children who can’t speak Cantonese
   enim, quī Cantonicē loquī vel Sīnicē scrībere         or write Chinese can’t easily learn in local schools, even
   nesciunt, nōn facile in scholā locālī discere             if the school management is willing to admit them.
   possunt etiamsī rēctōrēs scholae eōs admittere
   cōnsentiunt
Discipulī peregrīnī nunquam in scholīs                 Do foreign pupils never learn successfully in local schools?
normālibus bonō cum ēventū discunt?                   
   Sī ab aetāte minimā in tālibus scholīs sunt,           If they are in that type of school from a very young age, they
   linguae et cultūrae assuēscere possunt. In            can get used to the language and culture.  In our own group
   grege nostrō  est Austrāliāna, cuius fīlius in          we have an Australian whose son is in a local school. The
   scholā locālī studet. Pater est Coreānus et              father is Korean and the grandfather, who learned Chinese
   avus, quī litterās Sīnicās in Coreā didicit,               characters in Korea, gives some help but he doesn’t know
   auxilium dat sed sermōnem Cantōnēnsem nōn    any Cantonese. The mother herself has decided to learn the
    scit . Māter ipsa litterās illās  cum prōnuntiātū    characters with their Cantonese pronunciation both so she
   Cantonēnsī discere constituit, quia fīlium in         can help her son with his lessons and because it’s fun in
   lectiōnibus adiuvāre vult et quod rēs ipsa                   itself.
   iūcunda est
Itaque nōn omnēs umbrivirī ignāvī sunt in rēbus
linguisticīs?                                                                    So not all gweilos are linguistically  lazy?
    Ita vērō.  Dicendum quoque est propagātōrēs        That’s certainly right. It should also be said that Christian
   fideī Christiānae, administrātōrēs  et custōdēs      missionaries, administrators and policemen from other
   pūblicōs ab aliīs terrīs oriundōs saepe linguam      countries often learned the language successfully. In our
   bonō cum ēventū didicisse. In circulō nostrō        Circulus we also have a Briton who held a senior position
   est etiam Britannus, quī in gradū superiōre            in the administration and now not only can speak and read 
   officiō  pūblicō fungēbātur et nunc nōn sōlum       Chinese but also teaches Chinese history and the culture
   Sīnicē colloquī et legere potest sed etiam               of Hong Kong.
   historiam Sīnicam et cultūram Honcongēnsem
   docet.
Nōnne multī  peregrīnī linguam Anglicam in        Aren’t there a lot of foreigners teaching English in Hong
scholīs Honcongēnsibus docent?                              Kong schools?
   Ita est. Plūs octogentī magistrī aliēnī sunt in          That’s right. There are over eight hundred expatriate
   gradū speciālī cui nōmen est `NET’ sive                  teachers in a special grade known as `NET’ or `Native
   Native-English-Speaking Teacher’, Latīnē               English Speaking Teacher, which in Latin is `Magister
   `Magister Anglicē Nātīvē Loquēns’  Multī aliī          Anglice Native Loquens’.   Many other foreigners work in
   aliēnigenae in scholīs, universitātibus et                 schools, universities or private homes.
   domibus prīvātīs labōrant.
Istī NETī (sī licet abbreviātiōnem sīc Latīnizāre)  Do those `NETi’ (if you can Latinize the acronym that way)
tantum linguam Anglicam an etiam aliās                just teach English or other subjects as well?
disciplīnās docent?
   Plūrimī nihil praeter linguam maternam suam       Most of them don’t teach anything except their own mother
   docent sed in quibusdam scholīs cursūs brevēs       tongue but in some schools they provide short courses in
   linguārum  aliāum, ut Francogallicae vel                  other languages like French or Latin as extra-curricular
   Latīnae, extra curriculum regulāre habendōs           activities.
   cūrant.
Tūne tālēs cursūs docēbās?                                         Did you teach courses like that?
   Cum NETus essem, cursūs variōs condidī. Ipse       When I was a NET I set up various courses. I taught
   linguam Latīnam docēbam sed semper                      Latin myself but I always wanted to find native speakers
   volēbam locūtōrēs nātīvōs invenīre quī linguās       to teach French, Spanish and the rest   However, if I
   Francogallicam, Hispānicam et cēterās                      wasn’t able to get hold of that kind of help, I used to
   docērent.  Sī, tamen, nōn poteram tāle auxilium    teach French myself.  I generally set things up so the
   adipīscī  ipse Francogallicam docēbam.                     students would hear the voices of real French people
   Plērumque efficiēbam ut discipulī vōcēs                   over the Internet but it was often necessary to use my
   ipsōrum  Francogallōrum per interrēte                     own really awful pronunciation, and then I seemed to hear
   audīrent sed saepe necessārium erat prō-                 Victor Hugo and other famous writers turning in their
   nuntiātū meō valdē horribilī ūtī, quō tempore        graves
   vidēbar Victōrem Hugōnem et aliōs  scrīptōrēs
   praeclārōs in sepulchrīs sē volventēs audīre!
Tibi melius placet linguam Anglicam an linguās    Do you like teaching English or other languages better?
aliās docēre?                                                            
   Ut rem vēram dīcam, mālō aliās. Sentiō linguam    To tell the truth, I prefer the other ones. I feel that teaching  
   māternam docēre rem esse satis taediōsam.             your own mother tongue is rather boring.          
Sī rēs sēsē ita habent, cur multōs per annōs            If that’s the case, why have you kept on teaching that
linguam illam docēre pergis?                                      language for many years?
   Ob necessitūdinem ēconomicam. Labor mihi          Out of economic necessity. I don’t like the work at all
   minimē est cordī sed, ut saepe per iocum dīcō        but, as I often say for a joke,  selling your mother tongue
   melius est linguam māternam quam ipsam              is better than selling your mother!
   mātrem vēndere!
Sed sī linguam nostram māternam docēmus,         But if we’re teaching our mother tongue, we can be
nōbīs cōnfīdere possumus. Magistrīs quī linguam confident in ourselves.  For teachers who are teaching a           
aliam quam suam docent,  tōtum in librō vel in    language other than their own, everything generally depends
interrētī plērumque positum est sed locūtōrēs      on the book or the Internet but native speakers can themselves
nātīvī rēs in librīs et interrētī praebitās ipsī             correct what’s presented in books or on the Net.    
corrigere possunt.
   Rectē dīxistī sed trēs causae sunt propter quās        You’re right but there are three reasons why I don’t like
   linguam Anglicam docēre mihi nōn placet.              teaching English. First, other languages are novelties which
   Prīmum, linguae aliae sunt rēs novae quae               interest me more than a language I’ve been using all my life.
   mē  plūs tenent quam linguā quam per tōtam          Secondly, if I’m teaching a language which I myself learned
   vītam ūsūrpō. Deinde sī linguam doceō quam         as a second language, I can lead my students along the same
   egō ipse ut linguam secundam didicī, eādem viā,    path by which I learned the language myself. Learning your
   discipulōs dūcere possum quā  ipse linguam            your native language, in contrast, is something very
   illam didicī.  Linguam nātīvam  discere, autem,     different
   est rēs valdē dissimilis.
Quid est causa tertia?                                                     What’s the third reason?
   Est rēs quae forsitan rātiōne caret sed in animō      It’s something that’s maybe unreasonable, but is important
   meō magnī est momentī.  Cum Honcongī                 in my mind. When I was first in Hong Kong, I expected that
   prīmum essem , exspectābam mē quattuor              within four or five years my Cantonese listening and
   quīnque annīs sermōne Cantonēnsī tam bene         speaking would be so good that, unless I chose to use
   audītūrum et locūtūrum esse ut, nisi ipse                English for educational reasons, I could carry out almost
   linguam  Anglicam ob necessitātem                           all my everyday activities using Cantonese. Things didn’t
   acadēmicam  ūsūrpāre  eligerem, paene omnia        turn out that way and I felt disappointed. And so, strange
   opera  cottidiāna Cantonicē agere possem.  Nōn     to say, when I’m teaching English I feel as if I’m in an
   fuit  tālis  ēventus, spē dēceptus sum. Itaque,         inferior position because colleagues and many students
   mīrābile  dictū, ubi linguam Anglicam doceō,         are bilingual but not me. If, in contrast, I’m teaching Latin    
   sentiō mē quasi in stātū  īnferiōrē esse quod           the students are in control of English and Chinese, whilst
   collēgae et multī discipulī sunt bilinguālēs,             I’m in control of English and Latin. We’re all bilingual and     
   neque tamen ego. Sī autem  linguam Latīnam        my honour is restored!
   doceō, discipulī linguīs Anglicā et Sīnicā
   potiuntur, ego Anglicā et Latīnā potior. Omnēs
   sumus bilinguālēs, mihi redditus est honor!

Dē Poēsī Latīnā

Crēdō systēmata numerōrum in poēsī antīquā et      I believe the metrical structure of ancient and modern poetry
hodiernā maximē inter sē differre.                                          are very different.
   Ita vērō.  Aevō enim classicō tōtum in `pondere’       Absolutely. As in the classical period everything depended  
   vel `longitūdine’ syllabārum, aevīs                               on the `weight’ or `length’ of syllables and in more
   recentiōribus  in accentū positum est.                         recent times it has depended on stress.
Nōnne aevō classicō verba Latīna accentūs                 Didn’t Latin words have a stress accent in  classical times?
habēbant?                                                    
   Habēbant sed in metrō minōris momentī erant         They did, but the stresses were less important for the
   accentūs. Audī, exemplī grātiā,  versum                      metre.   Listen, for example, to the first line of the
   prīmum Aenēidos:                                                             Aeneid:.
   `Arma virumque canō, Troiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs '     Arms and the man I sing, who first from Troy’s shores
   In `canō' vocābulō prīma syllaba acuitur sed             In the word `cano’ the first syllable is stressed but      
   levis syllaba est et ultima in pede.                                 this is light and the last syllable in the foot.
Ubi versum recitāvistī, accentum nātūrālem             When you recited the line, you kept the regular word
vocābulī retinuistī . Nōnne melius est accentum      stress.   Isn’t it better to transfer the stress to the initial
ad prīmam syllabam cuiusque pedis trānsferre?       syllable of each foot?   Listen to me:
Mē audī:                                                                                    
`Arma virumque canō, Troiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs’    Arms and the man I sing, who first from Troy’s shores
   Multī magistrī discipulōs iubēbant accentum              Many teachers used to tell their students to put the       
   in prīmam syllabam pedis pōnere, in quō                     stress on the first syllable of the foot, the place where
   dīcēbant `ictum’ incidere. Plūrimī doctī, tamen,        they said the `beat’ fell.  However, most scholars
   crēdunt ipsōs Rōmānōs accentūs orīginālēs                 believe that the Romans themselves always followed
   semper secūtōs esse. Cum recitārent et                         the inherent stresses.  When they were reciting, they
   gravitūdinem syllabārum et accentum vocābulō        took into account  both syllable weight and word
   -rum respiciēbant. Multī hominēs doctī  affirmant    stress.  Many scholars claim that the relationship
   rātiōnem quoque inter pondus et accentum satis       between weight and stress was also of considerable
   magnī momentī esse.  Sī `ictus’ et accentus in               importance.   If the `beat’ and the stress fall on the
   eādem syllabā stant, signum est rēī perfectae vel        same syllables, it is a sign of completeness and
   harmoniae. Sī autem `ictus’ in syllabīs nōn acūtīs     harmony.  On the other hand, if the `beat’ falls on
   incidit, signum est discordiae rixārumque. Itaque     un-stressed syllables, it is a sign of discord and conflict.
   in fīne cuiusque versūs hexametrī prīmae syllabae    So at the end of each hexameter the first syllables
   quīntī et sextī pedum paene semper accentum           syllables of the fifth and sixth feet are almost always
   habent. Quīntus pes est plērumque dactylus               stressed ones. The fifth foot is generally a dactyl (long-
    (longa –brevis – brevis) et sextus spondaeus              short- short) and the sixth a spondee (long –long) or
   (longa – longa) vel trochaeus(longa – brevis)              trachee (long – short).
Possumusne in Interrētī perītōs rērum metricārum  Can we hear experts on metre reciting poetry on
versūs recitantes audīre?                                                   the Internet ?
   Certissime, Mihi placet vōx professōris Americānī     Indeed we can. I like the voice of an American
   Robertī Sonkowski. In Interrētī illum prīmōs             Professor, Robert Sonkowski. We can hear him on
   quinquaginta versūs Aenēidos recitantem audīre       the Net reciting the first fifty lines of the Aeneid.
   possumus. Videndum est :
     http://www.rhapsodes.fll.vt.edu/aeneid1.htm

Dē feriīs aestīvīs                                                    

Quid  fēcistī in feriīs aestīvīs?  Dē Honcongō                   What did you do in the summer holidays? Did you
 excessistī?                                                                                                          leave Hong Kong ?
   Ita vērō. Ad Estōniam et Britanniam īvī ut familiārēs       Yes, I did.  I went to Estonia and to Britain to visit
   visitārem. Diēs iūcundōs agēbam sed semper laetus          relatives.   I had a good time but I’m always glad
   sum cum  Honcongum revertar.                                             when I get back to Hong Kong
In Britanniā tumultibus occurristī?                                  Did you run into any riots in Britain?
   Minimē. In regiōnibus ubi ipse iter faciēbam omnia           No. In the areas where I was travelling myself
   pācifera erant. Satis tamen terribile erat tumultōs             everything was calm. But it was frightening enough
   illōs in televisiōne spectāre,                                                      just watching the riots on TV
Et tū? Ubi īvistī ?                                                                    What about you? Where did you go ?
   Mihi ad Germāniam perveniendum erat ut                           I had to get to Germany take part in a `Living Latin’ 
   seminārium Latinitātis vīvae Augustae Trēverōrum         seminarium in Trier.
   participārem.
Quid accidit in tālibus semināriīs?                                       What happens in those seminaria?
   Nōs acroāsēs Latīnās audīmus, sermōnēs Latīnōs            We hear lectures in Latin and discuss in Latin.
   disserimus.  Nōn licet etiam in refectōriō vel in                It’s not allowed to speak other languages even in
   andrōnibus aliīs linguīs colloquī.                                         the dining hall or the corridors.
Omnēsne hanc rēgulam sequēbantur? Nōnne scīs           Did everyone follow that rule? Don’t you know that
Honcongī discipulōs, etiamsī inter sē Anglicē collo-        in Hong Kong even if students are told to talk
quī iubeantur, saepe Cantonēnsī sermōne ūtī pergere?  together in English they often still use Cantonese?
   In semināriō nostrō, paene omnēs tantum Latīnē            In our seminarium almost everyone spoke only in
   colloquēbantur sed ūna magistra erat quae extrā              Latin but there was one teacher who tried to
   sessiōnēs officiālēs Anglicē loquī tentābat.                         speak English outside the formal sessions.
Magistrane erat Britanna vel Americāna?                            Was the teacher British or American?
   Minimē. Erat Germāna sed linguā Anglicā callēbat            No.  She was German but she had excellent
   et volēbat celeriter communicāre, quae rēs, sī                   English and wanted to communicate quickly, which
   lingua Latīna adhibētur, nōn potest fierī, nisi                    is not possible using Latin, unless all participants
   omnēs participēs multōs annōs ūsum Latīnitātis              have many years’ experience of using `Living 
   vīvae exercēre solent. .                                                             Latin’
Erant omnēs quī participābant Latīnistae perītī?            Were all those taking part expert Latinists?
   Inter variōs hominēs gradus Latīnitātis magnopere          Different individuals had very different levels of
   variābat. Aderant duo Italiānī quī paene tam bene            Latin.  There were two Italians there who spoke
    Latīnē quam Italicē loquī sciēbant. Omnēs aliī                  Latin almost as well as they spoke Italian.  All the
    nōtiōnēs  simplicēs et intellegere et ipsī exprimere          others could understand simple concepts and
    poterant neque tamen facere poterant quīn                       express them themselves, but they had no choice
    lentē colloquerentur. Sī dē activitātibus nostrīs               other than to speak slowly. If you want to know
    plūra scīre vīs, potes apud Interrēte symbolam                more about our activities, you can read an article
    legere in quā dē semināriō aliō in mōnastēriō                    on the Internet which deals at length with another
    Ottiliēnsī habitō in extēnsō agitur. Symbola, quae           seminarium held at the monastery of St. Ottilien.
     Latīnē scrīpta est, praebētur apud:                                       The article (in Latin) is at:
      http://linguae.weebly.com/seminarium-ottiliense.html
Quālis est urbs ipsa Augusta Trēverōrum?                        What is Trier itself like?
    Urbs parva est et amoena, in rīpā Mosellae flūminis         It’s a small and pleasant city on the bank of the
    sita.  Nunc rem vix crēderēs, sed rēvērā urbs                     Moselle. You’d hardly believe it now, but it was
    ōlim maxima erat ultrā Alpēs atque caput omnium         once the largest city north of the Alps and the
    prōvinciārum  septentriōnālium.  Partēs multōrum        capital for all the northern provinces.  Parts of
    aedificiōrum Rōmānōrum adhūc ibi remanent,                many Roman buildings still remain there and
    inter quae praeclārissima est Porta Nigra.                           the most famous is the Porta Nigra (Black Gate)
    Napōleon imperātor, cum mūrōs  fortificātiōnēsque       When the emperor Napoleon was ordering the
    omnium urbium sub dīciōne suā dēlērī iubēbat,               destruction of the walls and fortifications of all  
    Portae Nigrae illae pepercit quod nōn erat strūc-               cities under his control, he spared the Porta
    tūra mediaevālis sed Rōmāna.                                                Nigra because it was not medieval but Roman.
Et tū?  Hōc annō iter in Nepālum fēcistī?                           And you?  Did you go to Nepal this year?    
    Ita vērō. Ibi duās septimānās agēbam ut notitiās dē           Yes, I did.   I spent two weeks there to collect
    rēbus politicīs ut semper colligerem et cum                          information on politics as usual and to visit
     discipulā Honcongēnsī, quae palmam in certāmine           temples and other well-known sites with a
     ad litterās pertinentī reportāverat, templa et aliōs             Hong Kong student who’d won a literary
     sitōs praeclāros īnspicerem.                                                     competition.
Quid erat certāmen illud?                                                        What was the competition?
    Discipulī quī in ūniversitātibus Honcongēnsibus                 Students studying in Hong Kong universities
    stūdēbant invitātī sunt dē themate `Terra Montis              were invited to write a short article on the
    Everest’ symbolam brevem scrībere. Licēbat dē                   topic `Land of Everest’.They could tackle any
    quīslibet  rēbus – geōgraphicīs, cultūrālibus,                       aspect they wanted – geographical, cultural,
    politicīs etc. – agere.  Discipula quae symbolam                  political and so on.   The student who wrote the
    optimam scrīpsit potuit sine sumptū septem diēs               best article was able to travel in Nepal for
    in Nepālō iter facere.                                                                  seven days free-of-charge.
Qua societāte āeriā ūsī estis?                                                    What airline did you use?
    In āeroplānīs Societātis Āeriae Nepālicae Kāstaman-          We flew to Kathmandu and returned to Hong
    dapum volāvimus et Honcongum reversī sumus.                Kong in Nepal Airlines planes. Perhaps you’ve
    Fortasse audīvistī societātem illam difficultātibus              heard that the company has been having
    quibusdam labōrāre sed sēcūrē itinera fēcimus neque       difficulties, but we had a safe journey and
    mūrēs vīdimus!                                                                            didn’t see any mice!

Picture
Picture
Pictūrae cōmicae in actīs diurnīs Honcongēnsibus et Nepālicīs ēditae (annō MMMXI necesse erat aeroplānō Nepālicō in terrā manēre donec mūs in eō latitāns caperētur)

Dē rēbus in ōtiō gestīs                                           

Quid facere solēs in ōtiō?                                                      What do you normally do in your spare time?
   Rēs dīversās faciō sed mē praecipuē dēlectat in                 I do various things, but i particularly like singing
     chorō canere.                                                                         in the choir.
Quid canis?                                                                               What do you sing?
   Chorī nostrī prōpositum est opera Iōhannis                    Our choir’s purpose is to perform the works of Iohan
     Sebastiānī  Bāchī ēdere, cuius mūsica, ut mihi             Sebastian Bach. In my opinion, his music is the best.
     vidētur,  optima est.
Num ōtium tōtum canēns cōnsūmis?                                Surely you don’t spend all your time singing?
   Minimē, alia oblectāmenta quoque  habeō, inter             No, I have other amusements, including hiking in the
     quae  sunt ambulāre per montēs et librōs                        and writing books
     scrībere.
Quālem librum nunc scrībis?                                               What kind of book are you writing at the moment?
   Dē lēgibus veteribus ad praedia in Terrīs Novīs                  I’m finishing a book on the old legal system for land
     possidenda pertinentibus  librum nunc perficiō             tenure in the New Territories.
Scrīpsistīne aliōs librōs?                                                       Have you written any other books?
   Ita vērō.  Dē bellō brevī in Terrīs Novīs annō mil-          Yes, indeed.   I wrote a book on the war that took place
     lēsimō octogentēsimō nōnāgesimō nōnō gestō              in the New Territories in 1899.
     librum scrīpsī.
Nēsciēbam bellum eō tempore ortum esse. Quis           I didn’t know a war broke out at that time. Who was
contrā quem pugnābat? Et ob quam causam?                    fighting who? And what was it about?
   Quīdam ex incolīs Terrārum Novārum copiīs                Some of the inhabitants of the New Territories were
     Britannicīs resistēbant, quī illā rēgiōne, postquam      resisting the British troops who were taking over the
     ab Imperātōre Sīnicō lōcāta est, potiēbantur.               area after the Chinese emperor leased it out.
Et tibi quid agere placet ?                                                      And what do you like to do ?
   Acroāsēs dē  histōriā et dē scientiā linguisticā saepe       I often hear lectures on history and linguistics and
     audiō  et membrum sum Ūniōnis Ūniversālis             I’m a member of the International Committee for the
     Interlinguae  Prōmovendae.                                               Promotion of Interlingua.
Quid est `Interlingua’ ?                                                         What is `Interlingua’ ?
   Est lingua artificiālis quae ex  elementīs com-                 It’s an artificial  language made up of common
     mūnibus linguārum Rōmānōrum hodiernōrum           elements made up from the modern Romance
     cōnstat.      Crēdimus melius  fore sī  gentēs tālem        languages.  We believe that it will be better if nations
     linguam internātiōnālem auxiliārem  potius quam      use this kind of international auxiliary language
     lingūam Anglicam inter sē adhibeant,                             rather than English to communicate with each other.
Et quid aliud facis?                                                                 And what else do you do?
   Mē dēlectat cum amīcīs vīnum vel cervisiam bibere       I enjoy drinking wine or beer with friends while
     et sermōnēs Anglicē, Sīnicē, Rūssicē, Francogallicē.     talking in English, Chinese, Russian, French, German
     Germānicē vel Latīnē disserere. Utinam quoque            or Latin.  It  would be great if I also had a chance to use
    Volapuk, linguae  artificiālis antīquissimae,                     Volapuk, the oldest artificial language, but apart from
     adhibendae occāsiōnem habērem, sed Honcongī            my self there’s nobody in Hong Kong who knows how
     praeter mē ipsum nēmō est quī linguā illā loquī             to speak it!
     sciat!
Nōnne Bulgāricē, Esperanticē et aliīs linguīs quoque      Don’t you also speak Bulgarian, Esperanto and other
loqueris?                                                                                    languages?
   Ita est, sed indīcem iam satis longam fēcimus!                Yes, but we’ve got a long enough list already!
Quae activitātēs plūrimōs ex Honcongēnsibus                 What activities do most Hong Kong people enjoy ?
dēlectant?
   Multi puerī et puellae īnstrūmentīs mūsicīs canere       Many boys and girls learn to play musical
     discunt, ut clāvīchordiō, violīnā, tubā, tībiā et cēterīs.   instruments, like the piano,violin, trumpet, flute etc.
     Multī  quoque in āthleticā versantur.                                    Many also do sports.
Tū ipse āthlēticīs lūdis?                                                               Do you yourself play any sports
  Lūdō. Amō tenīsiam, pedilūdium et corbifollis lūdum.    I do.  I love tennis, football and basketball.  I’m
     Mē maximē dēlectat nartātiō sed Honcongī clīvōs           especially fond of skiing but we don’t have any ski
     nartātōriōs nōn habēmus itaque hieme iter in                  slopes in Hong Kong and so I usually take a trip to
     Eurōpam vel Coream facere soleō.                                           Europe or Korea in the winter.
Nōnnē multōs Honcongēnsēs rēs in tabernīs emere et    Don’t many Hong Kong people enjoy shopping and
in  caupōnīs cēnāre dēlectat?                                                      eating in restaurants?
   Rēctissimē dīxistī! Iūcundum quoque est apud                  You’re absolutely right!  It’s also pleasant to go to bars
     diversōria magna oecōs  frequentāre et  cantātrīcēs       in the big hotels and listen to the Filipino singers. Nor
     Philipīnnās audīre. Neque oblīvīscendum est                   should we forget that many older people very much
     multōs seniōrēs lūdō passerum valdē fruī.                         enjoy a game of mahjong,
Crēdō autem nōs multās hōrās in interrētī cōnsūmere? And I think we spend a lot of time on the Internet?
   Certissimē. Examplī grātiā, ego ipse saepe Librō            Certainly.  For example, I myself often use Facebook.
     Prosopogrāphicō ūtor.
Nōnne sollicitus es nē rēs prīvātae tuae dīvulgentur?    Aren’t you worried about losing your privacy?
   In interrētī sunt semper difficultātēs securitātis et,       There are always problems with security on the
     etiamsī optiōnēs prīvitātis cautē ēligimus, fierī              Internet and even if we select our security options
     potest ut nuntiōs quōs tantum `amīcīs’ mittimus         carefully there’s a possibility that messages sent only
     ad aliōs perveniant. Quārē ipse rēgulam maximī           for `friends’ may reach others. That’s why I’ve made
     momentī mihi cōnstituī, scilicet nihil in Librum         a very important rule for myself – never to place
     Prosōpogrāphicum pōnere quod nōlim in pagīnīs         anything on Facebook if I wouldn’t want to see it in
     actōrum diurnōrum vidēre. Sī dē rē prīvātā agitur,      the newspapers. When it’s a private matter, it should
     nōn in forō sociālī sed per epistulam vel ōre vīvō         not be discussed in `social media'  but by letter or  
     colloquendum est.                                                                face-to-face
Suntne fora interrētiālia in quibus ūsum Latīnitātis     Are there Internet forums where we can practise real
vīvae exercēre possumus?                                                   communication in Latin?     
    Ita vērō. Fortassē inter ea vetustissimus et praeclā-     Yes, indeed. Perhaps the oldest and most famous of
      rissimus est Grex Latīnē Loquentium, cuius sodālēs   them is the Grex Latine Loquentium, whose members  
     commercium epistulārum electronicārum faciunt.       correspond with each other by e-mail. There are
     Sunt fere trecentī Latinīstae quī nōmina sua in               around three hundred Latinsts who have signed up 
     hunc gregem dedērunt sed inter eōs nōn plūs                for this group but out of them no more than twenty
     vigintī rēgulāriter epistulās scrībunt, aliī tantum         regularly write letters and the others just stay hidden
     latitant leguntque.   Erat etiam Schola, situs inter-      and read.  There was also Schola, an interactive site set
     actīvus a magistrō Londiniēnsī Molendināriō (vulgō    up by a London teacher, Molendinarius (aka Evan
     Evan Millner) conditus. Paene duo mīlia hominum      Millner).  Almost two thousand people had signed up
     nōmina in situm dederant, qui eōdem modō atque       for this site and, in the same way as on Faceboook,
     in Librō Prosōpogrāphicō nuntiōs in areīs commū-        they could place messages in public areas or on other
     nibus vel in pagīnīs aliōrum sodālium pōnere,               members’ pages and also send private letters to each
     epistulās quoque prīvātās mittere poterant. Apud         other. On this site they also had a `Scriptorium’,
     hunc situm erant etiam `Scrīptōrium’, in quō                where members could communicate with short
     sodālēs sententiīs brevibus in `fenestrā’ scrīptīs           sentences typed into a `window’, and the
     commūnicāre poterant, et `Locūtōrium’, in quō           `Locutorium’, where you were able to actually talk
     microphoniīs ūtentēs vōcibus colloquendī                     using microphones.  That site closed some time ago
     occāsiōnem habēbant.  Ille situs iamdūdum  clausus    but SCHOLA continues as a group on the Skype
     est sed SCHOLA ut grex apud Scypum continuātur       platform,                                                             
Quae sunt īnscrīptiōnēs interrētiālēs illārum                 What are the web addresses of those organisations?
societātum? 
     Sī nōmen in Gregem Latīnē Loquentium dare vīs,         If you want to register with the Grex Latine    
      eundum est ad:                                                                                               Loquentium, it's
                                            http://www.man.torun.pl/archives/info/grex                                                                      Īnscrīptiō SCHOLAE  est                                                                       SCHOLA's address is
                                                   https://join.skype.com/i8T6Wgfi2cej  

Dē historiā linguae Latīnae

Philologīne crēdunt linguam Latīnam dē linguā            Do philologists believe that Latin developed out of an
vetustiōre ēvolūtam esse?                                                         earlier language?
 Ita est.  In linguīs antiquīs et hodiernīs multae indicā-    That’s right.   In  ancient and modern languages there        tiōnēs inveniuntur quae prōbent plūrimōs sermōnēs   are a lot of indications that most languages spoken
     Eurōpaeōs multāsque linguās Indicās ex ūnā linguā     in Europe and also many Indian ones were derived
     orīginālī  derīvātās esse. Lingua illa hypothetica            from one original language.  That hypothetical
     appellātur `Indo-Eurōpaea’.  Argūmenta clāra in          language is called `Indo-European.’  You’ll see clear
     hāc tabulā vidēbis, similitūdinēs enim inter omnēs     evidence in this table, as the similarities between all


Picture
___    hās linguās , quae apud diversās gentēs adhibēbantur,    these language, spoken by different peoples, are so
    tantae sunt ut nēmō putāre possit eās  tantum forte        great that no one could suppose they arose just
    ortās esse.                                                                                   by chance 
Ego ipsa, quamquam in Germāniā nāta post ūnum          I myself was born in Germany and emigrated
annum in Austrāliam mīgrāvī, ē stirpe Lithuānicā orta  Australia when I was one, but I’m of Lithuanian
sum et domī Lithuānicē loquēbar. Formae verbī quās    descent and I spoke Lithuanian at home. The verb
nunc adhibēmus differunt ab eīs in tabulā scrīptīs.           forms we use now are different from those in the table. 
   Rectē dīxistī. Necesse est formās antiquiōrēs cum            You’re right. It’s necessary to compare older forms
     linguīs classicīs comparāre. Dē linguā Lithuānicā           with the classical languages.  I don’t know much
     ipse nōn multum sciō sed crēdō textūs                              about Lithuanian but I believe the oldest texts were
     vetustissimōs in saeculō decimō sextō scrīptōs esse.     written in the 16th century.
Ita est. Inter documenta quae habēmus vetustissimum     That’s right. Among the documents we’ve got,  the   ,
quod orātiōnēs Christiānās continet, fortasse                    oldest, which contains Christian prayers, was perhaps
annō 1503 scrīptum est. Quid est specimen                          written in 1503.  What is the oldest example of Latin?
antiquissimum linguae Latīnae ?
   Est `Fībula Praenestīna’, quae vērisimiliter saeculō        It’s the `Fibula Praenestina’ (Praenestine pin), which
     septimō ante Christum nātum facta est. Haec est          was probably made in the 7th century B.C.  Here’s a
     pictūra litterārum in eā īnscrīptārum:                             reproduction of the letters written on it.   
 
Picture
_     Sī sententia litterīs posteriōribus scrībitur, habē-         If the sentence is written with the later letters, we get:     
   mus: MANIOS MED FHEFHAKED NUMASIOI. Perītī    MANIOS MED FHEFHAKED NUMASIOI.  Experts
   crēdunt hanc sententiam linguā classicā redditum       believe that translated into the classical language
   esse `Manius mē fēcit Numeriō’                                         this would be `Manius made me for Numerius`  .
Audīvī complūrēs perītōs affirmāvisse hanc fībulam   I’ve heard that some experts have claimed that the
falsam esse et saeculō decimō nōnō fabricātam            fibula is a fake and was actually made in the 19th century
   Sunt quī sīc affirment, sed nuperrimē probātiōnēs       There are those who claim that.  However, just,
     scientificī   dēmōnstrāvērunt fībulam rēvērā                  recently scientific tests have shown it’s really very old.
     antiquissimam esse.                                                       
Cūr lingua nostra nōn `Rōmāna’ sed `Latīna’                  Why is our language not called `Roman’ instead of
appellātur? Nōnne erat lingua Rōmānōrum, quī eam    `Latin’?  Wasn’t it the language of the Romans, who
per tōtam Eurōpam occidentālem prōpagāvērunt?         spread it all over western Europe?
   In prīncipiō Latīna erat lingua nōn tantum Rōmae        Originally, Latin was the language not just of
     sed tōtius rēgiōnis quae `Latium’ appellābātur.             Rome but of the whole region that was called Latium.
Quandō lingua Latīna in eam formam quam nunc         When did the Latin language change into the form
retinet mūtāta est?                                                                 which it still retains?
   Normae grammaticālēs quae in scholīs docentur ā        The standard grammar which is taught in schools
     scrīptōribus atque grammaticīs  abhinc duo mīlia       was esablished by writers and grammarians two
      annōrum conditae sunt. In aevō mediaevālī,                    thousand years ago.  However, in the Middle Ages
    tamen, et annīs recentiōribus Latīnistae nova vōcā-    and in more recent times, Latinists hav econtinued to
    bula fingere pergunt quia  semper oriuntur rēs             coin new words because there are always new things
    novae dē quibus hominibus est  colloquendum.           which people need to talk about.
Quandō Latīna cessāvit esse lingua quam infantēs       When did Latin cease to be a language which infants
domī audiēbant et imitābant?                                            heard and imitated in the home ?
   Nunquam cessāvit, quod linguae Rōmānae                     It never ceased to be that, because the modern
     hodiernae nihil aliud sunt quam formae novae           Romance languages are just the new forms into which
     in quās lingua Latīna ipsa  in rēgiōnibus dīversīs           Latin itself gradually changed in different regions.
      sēnsim mūtāta est.
Sed crēdō, quamquam sermōnēs regiōnālēs semper     But I believe that although the regional dialects
dīversiōrēs  fierent, hominēs doctiōrēs inter sē             kept on diverging,  better educated people continued
Latīnē communicāre perrēxisse.                                        to communicate in Latin among themselves.
   Rectissimē dixistī. Scholārēs, inter quōs fortasse           You’re absolutely right. Scholars, among whom  
     clārissimus erat Alcuinus Eborācēnsis, laborābant       perhaps Alcuin of York was the best known, kept on
     ut normae  grammaticālēs stabiles et uniformēs          working so that grammatical norms remained stable   
     manērent. Lingua  Latīna  in ecclēsiā et in adminis-    and uniform. Latin was used in the Church and until
     trātiōne saeculārī  adhibēbātur et usque circiter          around the year 1100, throughout southern Europe
     annum millēsimum centēsimum per tōtam Eurōpam hardly any writing was done in the vernaculars and
     meridiōnālem linguae vulgārēs vix scrībēbantur et      almost all documents were composed in Latin. Then 
     paene omnia documenta Latīnē  compōnēbantur.        French, Italian, Spanish etc. started to be employed
     Deinde linguae Francogallica, Italica, Hispānica et      more and more but right up until the 17th century,
     cēterae magis et magis adhibēbantur  sed usque ad      Latin was the international language throughout the
     saeculum decimum septimum lingua Latīna  lingua   whole of Europe.  In 1687, the book entitled
     erat internātiōnālis per tōtam Eurōpam. Annō 1687    Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica
     liber  cui titulus Philosophiae Nātūrālis  Prīncipia      (`Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy’), in
     Mathēmatica, in quō Isaacus Newton theōriam  gra-  which Isaac Newton put forward his theory of gravity,
     vitātis prōposuit, nōn Anglicē sed Latīnē ēditus est.    was published in Latin, not English
 Itaque omnēs doctī , ex quācumque gente ortī, inter   So all educated people, whatever their nationality,
  sē Latīne sine difficultāte colloquēbantur?                     spoke Latin among themselves without difficulty?
   Epistulās facile inter sē scrībēbant, sed per terrās          It was easy for them to write to each other, but
     variās  prōnuntiātus variābat. Trādunt Catherīnam,   pronunciation differed a lot from country to country  
     prīncipessam Hispānicam, et Artūrium, prīncepem     The story is that the Spanish Princess Catherine and
    Anglicum, quī annō 1501 in connūbium intrāvērunt,  the English Prince Arthur, who were married in 1501,
     antequam Catherīna in Angliam advēnerit, per            corresponded very happily before Catherine arrived in
     litterās Latīnās multā cum iūcunditāte communicā-  England. But, when they met, they had great difficulty
     visse,  sed, cum convēnissent, tantum magnā cum    talking with each other.
     difficultāte colloquī potuisse.                                  
Audīvī Elizabētham rēgīnam, fīliam frātris Arthūriī,   I’ve heard that Queen Elizabeth, Arthur’s niece spoke
Latīnē peritissimē locūtam esse. Nōnne ōlim cum       Latin extremely well.   Didn’t she once have a public
lēgātō peregrīnō pūblicē Latīnē disputāvit?                    argument with a foreign ambassador in Latin?
   Ut vidētur, historiae Britannicae bene  studuistī!             It seems you’ve studied British history very well! The
     Lēgātus Polōnus, quī in aulā cōram nōbilibus ā              Polish ambassador, who was being welcomed by the   
      rēgīnā excipiēbātur, nōn verbīs mollibus et blandīs      queen in full court, did not use soft and
     ūsus est sed statim dē rēbus ab Anglīs gestīs questum  complimentary language but immediately complained
     longum fēcit. Rēgīna, quae omnia bene intellēxerat,    at length about English actions. The queen, under-
     maximē īrāta, Latīnē ex tempore  et magnā cum elo-   standing everything, was very angry and scolded the
    quentiā  locūta est ut Polōnum miserum vituperāret!   poor Pole in eloquent, ex tempore Latin.
Postquam lingua Latīna munere linguae francae                 After Latin ceased to function as a lingua franca, how
fungī cessāvit, Eurōpaeī quōmodo inter sē  commu-      did Europeans communicate with each other?
nicābant?
   In saeculō decimō octāvō, cum Francogallia cīvitās po-    In the 18th century, when France was the most   
     tentissima esset, lingua Francogallica internātiōnālis      powerful state, French became the international 
     facta est sed in Eurōpā centrālī et orientālī lingua            language but in central and eastern Europe Latin lost
     Latīna tantum lentē recēdēbat. Nisi fallor, usque ad        ground only slowly. Unless I’m mistaken, Latin was
     annum 1844 Latīna erat lingua officiālis parlamentī       the official language of the Hungarian parliament
     Hungaricī.  Post Bellum Mundānum Prīmum, cum         until 1844.  After the 1st World War, when the
     Americānae magnam auctoritātem obtinērent, lingua    Americans were becoming very infuential, the    
      Anglica maximī momentī fiērī coepit.                                 English language started to become predominant.
Cūr linguae vulgārēs linguam Latīnam, quae per tot     Why were the vernacular languages finally able to
saecula vigēbat, postrēmō superāre potuērunt?             displace Latin, which had been flourishing for so long?
   Causae sunt variae sed fortassē  inter eas maximī            There are various reasons but among them the most
     Momentī erat nātiōnālismus, nam lingua Latīna mo-   important was probably nationalism, as the Latin
     derātōrēs et  scholārēs  tōtius Eurōpae ūnificābat sed   language unified European rulers and intellectuals
     intrā quamque gentem  illōs ab concīvibus dividēbat.  but within each nation divided them from the rest
 
Picture
Fībula Praenestīna
Picture
_Exemplar ēditiōnis tertiae librī c.t. Principia Mathematica 

_
_ Dē operibus mediaevālibus et recentiōribus        

Post fīnem Imperiī Rōmānī, multī scrīptōres Latīnē      After the end of the Roman Empire, many writers con-
scrībere perrēxērunt. Quae opera maximī momentī       tinued to write in Latin. Which works are the most
sunt?                                                                                           important ones?
   Difficile est respondēre quod tot opera praeclāra              It’s difficult to answer that because so many famous
     per multa saecula compōnēbantur. Fortasse                 works were produced over the centuries. Perhaps we
     prīmum mentiōnem facere dēbēmus Sanctī                  should first mention Saint Augustine, who was writing
     Augustīnī quī paene eōdem tempore opera sua              around the time that the barbarians were taking
     scrībēbat, quō barbarī terrīs Rōmānīs potiēban-             possession of Roman territory. However, the political
     tur. Ēversiō politica tamen eum nōn sollicitābat          upheaval didn’t bother him as he believed it was of
     quia crēdēbat minimī momentī esse quī regerent,       little importance who was ruling, so long as the rulers
     dummodo rēctōrēs essent Christiānī.                              were Christians.
Nōnne Augustīnus ille dē linguīs discendīs quoque        Didn’t Augustine also express an opinion on language
sententiam suam expressit?                                                 learning?
   Ita vērō. Ipse in scholā linguam Graecam didicerat,      Yes, indeed. He’d learned Greek himself at school but
     quae minimē eum dēlectābat. Methodum enim              didn’t much enjoy it. He said that the method of his
     grammaticōrum sevērōrum affirmābat multum          strict teachers was very different from that by which h
     differre ab illā per quam sermōnem māternum            he had learned his native tongue. In chapter 23 of the
     didicisset. In capitulō vigēsimō tertiō librī prīmō         first book of his Confessions, he wrote as follows:
     Cōnfessiōnum haec verba scrīpsit:`Difficultās              `The constant difficulty of learning a foreign 
     omnīnō ēdiscendae linguae peregrīnae quasi felle        language was like a poison spoiling all the sweetness
     aspergēbat omnēs suāvitātēs Graecās fābulōsā-             of the  Gr eek myths.  I didn’t know any of the words
     rum narrātiōnum. Nulla enim verba illa nōveram,      and I was constantly being threatened with savage
     et saevīs terrōribus ac poenīs, ut nōssem, instābā-       terrors and punishments to make me learn them.
     tur mihi vehementer.' 
Eheu, omnibus saeculīs in omnibus terrīs discipulī       Oh dear, students have suffered the same kind of terrors
terrōrēs eiusdem generis passī sunt! Crēdō tamen          in every century and in every country. However, I think
methodōs hodiernās paulō mitiōrēs esse! Sed ad             modern methods are a bit gentler!  But let’s get back to
rem ipsam redeāmus. Nōmina aliōrum scrīptōrum        he subject. Give me the names of some other authors
mihi dīc.                                                                                      
   Libenter dīcam! Inter Anglōs quī dē rēbus in pat-            With pleasure! Among English historians who’ve   
     riā gestīs scrīpsērunt prīmus erat Bēda, monāchus       written about their own country, the first was Bede, a
     quī annō septingentēsimō trīgēsimō prīmō opus            monk who finished his masterpiece, The Ecclesias-
     magnum suum, c.t. Historia ecclēsiastica gentis           tical History of the English Nation, in the year 731 at
     Anglōrum Gyruī in Northumbriā perfēcit. Eōdem         Jarrow in Northumberland. The year of his death -
     annō fortasse - septingentēsimō trīgēsimō quīntō –       735 – was perhaps also that of the birth of Alcuin, the
     Bēda  est mortuus atque nātus est Alcuinus,                    English scholar who worked at the court of the
     scholar Anglicus quī in aulā Imperātōris Carōlī              emperorCharlemagne in Aachen to raise standards
     Magnī Aquisgrānī labōrābat ut Latīnitās tōtius                of Latin all over Europe.
     Eurōpae meliōrārētur.                                              
Alcuinī mentiōnem in conventū priōre fēcimus. Iam    We mentioned Alcuin in the previous meeting. And now
recordor quoque Bēdam verba cuiusdam dē `Anglīs’ `    I also  remember that Bede reported someone’s words
et angelīs’ retulisse.                                                                 about `Angles’ and `angels’. 
     Rectē dīxistī. Rēs agitur dē Gregōriō, quī annō               You’re right. It involved Gregory, who became Pope  
     quīngentēsimō nōnāgēsimō Pontifex factus est.             in the year 590. Bede wrote that before his election he
     Bēda scrīpsit eum, ante electiōnem suam, Rōmae          saw some prisoners in Rome and asked about their
     captīvōs vīdisse et dē gentē eōrum rogāvisse. Cum        nationality.  When Gregory found out they were
     nōvisset eōs Anglōs esse, Gregōrius, `Bene,’ inquit,      Angles, he said, `That’s fitting, for they also have
     nam et angelicam faciem habent, et tālēs angelō-          angelic faces and such people deserve to share the
     rum in caelīs decet esse cohaerēdēs.’                                angels’ inheritance in heaven.
Dubitō quīn eī quī nunc puerōs Anglōs in scholīs               I doubt if people who teach English boys in schools
doceant dē natūrā angelicā discipulōrum suōrum             nowadays speak about their pupils’ angelic
loqueantur! Relinquāmus, tamen, pontificēs sanctōs-   nature! Anyway, let’s leave popes and saints and talk
que et dē historiā saeculārī colloqueāmur.                       about secular history,
   Sī tālia requīris, prīmum in mentem venit nōmen          If that’s what you want, the first name that comes to
     Einhardī, quī saeculō nōnō dē Carolō Magnō                  mind is Einhard, who wrote a biography of 
     scrīpsit. Hic liber, cui titulus est Vīta Karōlī Magnī              Charlemagne, entitled Vīta Karolī Magnī. The book’s
     apud http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ein.html              at http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ein.html
     legī potest. Inter opera Britannica memorandus            Among British works, mention should be made of the
     est liber quem Asser, epīscopus Cambrēnsis, dē             book which Asser, a Welsh bishop, wrote about King
     vīta rēgis Aelfredī scrīpsit. Asser, quī ipse mūnere        Alfred. Asser, who had himself worked as a scholar at
     scholasticō in aulā Aelfredī functus erat, affirmā-         Alfred’s court, maintained that his master had been
     bat dominum suum nōn tantum `rēgem Angul-            not only `king of the Ango-Saxons’ but also `leader of
     Saxōnum’ sed etiam `omnium Britanniae īnsulae         all the Christians of the island of Britain.’  The text is,
    Christiānōrum rectōrem’ fuisse. Hic liber, quem            at http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/asserius.html
    in http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/asserius.html                        and the book is a particular favourite of mine because
    invenētis, mihi maximē cordī est quod Notting-              it mentions Nottingham, my native town, and gives
    hāmiae, urbis meae natīvī, mentiōnem facit et                names for the place in English, Welsh and Latin:
    nōmina Anglicum, Cambricum et Latīnum inclūdit:      Nottingham, which is rendered `Tigguocobauc’ in
    Snotengaham,  quod Britannicē 'Tigguocobauc'             British (i.e. modern Welsh tŷ ogofâu) and `speluncā-
    interpretātur, Latīnē autem 'spēluncārum domus'.        rum domus’(i.e. `house of caves’) in Latin.  The
    Urbs in saxō mollī aedificāta est, itaque multae               city was built on soft rock and so many caves have
    spēluncae effossae sunt.                                                         been dug out
Nōnne in millenniō secundō post Christum nātum       Presumably there were also many historians who con-
multī historicī Latīnē scrībere perrēxērunt?                   tinued writing in Latin in the second millennium A.D?
   Rectē dīxistī. Plūrima exempla afferre possem sed          Correct. I could give lots of examples but I will just
     tantum mentiōnem Raimondī dē Aguillers faciam,       mention  Raymond de Aguillers, the author of The
     quī Gesta Francōrum et aliōrum Hierosolymitārum    deeds of the Franks and of the other Jerusalemites. He
     scrīpsit. Rēs dirissimās narrāvit dē caede a mīli-            recorded dreadful things about the slaughter carried
     tibus Christiānīs post urbem Ierosolymās annō             out by the Christian soldiers after their capture of
     1099 captam effectā: `in templō et in porticū                 the city of Jerusalem in 1099:` In the temple and the
     Salomōnis  (i.e. in templō Islamicō quod Al Aqsa          portico of Solomon (ie.in the mosque known as Al
     appellātur), equitābātur in sanguine usque ad               Aqsa) people were riding in blood up to their knees
     genua, et usque ad frēnōs equōrum iustō mīrōque       and up to the bridles of their horses; it was a just and
     Dei iūdiciō, ut locus īdem eōrum sanguinem                  wonderful judgement of God that the very same place
     exciperet,quōrum  blasphēmiās in Deum tam                should be filled with the blood of those whose 
     longō  tempore pertulerat.’ Sī  lineās dē aliīs                   blasphemies against God  it had for so long endured.'
     operibus  extractās legere vultis,  librum ab Keith         If you want to read extracts from other works,
     Sidwell scrīptum, Reading Medieval Latin spectāre      you can look at Keith Sidwell’s Reading Medieval
     potestis, in quō  relātiōnēs et nōtae Anglicae                  Latin which also contains commentary and notes in.
     quoque praebentur.                                                               English
In aevō mediaevālī nōn tantum historicī sed etiam       In the Middle Ages not just historians but also the
rectōrēs dē quibus scrībēbant linguam Latīnam             rulers they were writing about used Latin.
adhibēbant.
   Ita est. Rēgēs, praelātī atque cancellāriī epistulās             Yes, kings, princes of the Church and officials used to
     Latīnās mittēbant accipiēbantque. Etiam rēgēs               send and receive letters in Latin, Even the kings of
     Lithuānicī, quī usque ad medium saeculum                    Lithuania, who were unwilling to convert to the
     decimum quartum fidem Christiānam accipere             Christian religion until the middle of the 14th century
     nōlēbant, cum Pontifice et rectōribus aliārum                had to communicate in Latin with the Pope and the
     gentium Latīnē commūnicāre dēbēbant. Nuper-             rulers of other peoples. I’ve just recently read the
     rimē ipse verba praeclāra rēgis Gedimīnae lēgī,               famous words which King Gediminas adressed to the
     quae nuntiīs pontificālibus dīxit: `Papam vestram        Pope’s representatives: `I do not know your Pope and
     nec nōvī nec nōsse cupiō: fidem ac rēligiōnem,              have no desire to know him: I shall remain in the faith
     quam paternā trāditiōne accēpī, in eā permanēbō,       and religion which I received handed down from our
     certāns pro illī sanguine usque ad mortem.’                   fathers and will fight for with with blood until death.’
Sī tirōnēs textūs mediaevālēs simplicēs dēsīdērant,        If beginners want simple medieval texts, what ought
quae sunt legenda?                                                                  they to read?
   Fortasse legendae sunt fābulae quae appellantur               Perhaps they should read the stories known as the
   Gesta Rōmānōrum et verisimiliter in Germāniā                 Gesta Romanorum (`The Deeds of the Romans’) and
   saeculō decimō quartō ineunte scrīpta sunt.                       probably written in Germany at the beginning of the
   Complūrēs fābulae apud situm Univeritātis Sanctī             14th century.  Several of the stories can be read on
   Ludovīcī legī possunt –                                                             the St. Louis University site:
http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/latin/tchmat/readers/gr/gr1.html
   In aliō sitū inveniētis ūnam fābulam nōtīs amplissi-         On another site, you’ll find one story with lots of
   mīs īnstrūctam, quam paene omnēs tirōnēs sine                of notes added, which almost all beginners will be
   magistrō intellegere poterunt.                                                 able to understand without their teacher. http://www.german-latin-english.com/emperor1.htm
   Titulus fābulae est `Dē Superbiā et Arrogantiā                   The title of the story is `On the Pride and Arrogance
   Imperātōris Ioviniānī’. Eadem fābula, nōminibus             of the Emperor Iovinian.’ This same story, with
   et variīs rēbus minōribus mūtātīs, in versibus ab              names and some details altered, can be read in verse
   poētā Americānō Henrīcī  Longfellow scrīptīs, quī           written by the American poet Henry Longfellow, who 
   titulum `Robert of Sicily’ elēgit, legī potest.                       chose the title `Robert of Sicily’.

_
Picture
_  Quomodo Iacobus Penrose, pictor Hibernicus, `Bēdam Venerābilem’ imāginārētur

Picture
_ Spēluncae Nottinghamēnsēs

_ Audīvī ūnum ex sodālibus nostrīs carmina quaedam mediaevālia nūper Anglicē reddidisse. 
                  
Ita est. Ego quattuor carmina inter saeculum          decimum et duodecimum scrīpta ēlēgī et versiōnēs  Anglicās addidī. In omnibus dē amōre iuvenīlī et dē  temporibus annī rhythmīs simplicibus iūcundīsque cantātur. Audīte omnēs,  quaesō, initium  prīmī carminis:   
    
Redit aestās cunctīs grāta,
viret herbīs iam per prāta;
nemus frondibus ornātur,                                     
sīc per frondēs renovātur.                                       
Brūma vīlis, nebulōsa,                                               
erat nōbīs taediōsa.                                                
cum Aprīlis redit grātus                                               
flōribus circumstīpātus,                                               
Philomēna cantilēnā
replet nemoris amoena,                            
et puellae per plateās
intrīcātās dant chorēās.                                                               
_I’ve heard that one of our members has recently
translated some medieval poems into English.

    That’s right.  I selected four poems written between the
    10th and 12th centuries and added  English translations. 
    All of them are about young love and the seasons of the
    year, with simple, pleasant rhythms. Please listen to the
    start of the  first poem.


    The summer has returned, gratifying to all,
    and the grass is growing strongly in the meadows.
    The woods are decorated with foliage,
    for thus they are renewed with leaves.
    The vile mists, the cloudy weather,
    was so tedious to us.
    But now with April’s gratifying return
    flowers spring up on all sides,
    the nightingale  with its song.
    re-completes the charm of the groves.
    and the maidens in the village squares
    dance intricate group dances.
_
Certissimē  versūs sunt pulchrī!  Ubi talia carmina                    They’re cetainly beautiful lines. Where can you
legī possunt?                                                                                           read poems like that?
   Illa carmina dē quibus colloquimur ad omnēs                               The poems we’re discussing will be sent to all
   sodālēs cum epistulā electronicā mittentur. Sī alia                        members as an email attachment.  If you want
   requīris, in variīs librīs et sitibus interretiālibus                            others, lots of poems are available in various
   multa carmina praebentur, sed multa sunt quae                           books and web sites., but there are a lot which
   nunquam typīs expressa sunt et tantum in manu-                         have never been printed and are only found in
  scrīptīs inveniuntur. Exempla versuūm classicōrum                     manuscripts.  Examples of classical and of
   et mediaevālium in librō eximiō c.t. Penguin Book of                  medieval poetry ate contained in the excellent
   Latin Verse continentur, quī annō millēsimō nōngen-                   Penguin Book of Latin Verse, which was
   tēsimō sexāgēsimō secundō ēditus est. Ēheu, nunc in                    published in 1962.  Unfortunately it can’t be
   tabernīs nōn invenīrī potest sed exemplāria vetera ā                    found in the shops now but old copies can be
   vendōribus interretiālibus emī possunt. Eundum est                  bought from sellers on the Internet. You need to
   ad hunc situm :                                                                                         go to this site.
http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Book-Latin-Verse/dp/B0000CLCVO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329110009&sr=1-1
Bene, sed nunc de operibus Latīnīs recentiōribus collo-        Fine, but now let’s talk about more recent works in
quāmur. Sciō in Renascentiā et posteā multōs librōs              Latin.   I know that many Latin books were
Latīnōs ēditōs esse, et in Germāniā usque ad saeculum          published in the Renaissance and afterwards, and .
decimum septimum quotannīs plūra opera Latīna                 in Germany up till the 17th century more works
quam Germānica typīs expressa esse.                                          were  printed in Latin each year than in Germany.
   Rectissimē dīxistī. Quamquam post aevum medium                    You’re absolutely right.  Although after the
   linguae vernaculārēs in diēs maiōris momentī fiēbantur,           Middle Ages the vernacular languages were
   hominēs doctī necnōn politicī, ut anteā inter nōs est                    growing continually in importance, scholars
   dīctum, inter sē Latīne colloquī et scrībere perrēx-                      and statesmen, as we’ve said before, continued
   ērunt. Inter scholārēs quī in Renascentiā ipsā                               to speak and write in Latin among themselves.
   flōrēbant, Aenēās Silvius haudquāquam spernendus                   among the scholars of the Renaissance itself,-
   est.                                                                                                              Aeneas Silvius shouldn’t be overlooked
Nōnne ille, postquam pontifex ēlectus est, Pius                      Wasn’t he known as Pius II after he was elected
Secundus appellābātur?                                                                Pope?
Ita. Annō mīllēsimō quadrigentēsimō quīnquāgēsimō                  That’s right.    Aeneas ascended St. Peter’s      
   octāvō Aenēās thrōnum Sanctī Petrī ascendit, pontifi-              throne in 1458 and remained pontiff for six
   cātum sex annōs usque ad mortem suam gessit. Dum                years up till his death. Amazingly, whilst
   ecclēsiam regit, mīrābile dictū, dē tōtā vītā suā lībrum             presiding over the church he wrote a complete
   scrīpsit cui titulus est Commentāriī Rērum Memorā-               autobiography under the title Commentaries
   bilium.  Aenēās, sīcut Iūlius Caesar, dē sē tertiā                          on Memorable Events.  Aeneas, like Caesar,
    persōnā sed modō vīvidō scrībēbat. Exemplī grātiā,                 wrote about himself in the third person but
   audīte haec verba dē conventū ecclēsiasticō in quō                    but in a lively way. For example, listen to these
   ipse postrēmō pontifex factus est :"Noctis medium                    words about the conclave at which he him-
   efflūxerat, cum - ecce - Bononiēnsis Aenēam adit et                  self was finally made pope: `It was past mid-
   dormientem excitāns 'quid ais' inquit 'Aenēa? nescīs                night when – lo and behold – the Cardinal of
   quia iam pāpam habēmus? in lātrīnis convēnērunt                  Bologna came and woke Aeneas. `What have
   aliquot cardinālēs statuēruntque Vilhelmum ēligere'...            you to say, Aeneas?’ he said.`Don’t you know
    Aenēās: `Fefellistī mē, immō vērō tē ipsum et patriam            we’ve now got a pope? Some of the cardinals
    tuam Italiam nisi resipis'" [Lib. I,36]  Crēdō illum                   met in the toilets and decided to elect William.
   Vilhelmum fuisse cardinālem Francogallicum. Textus               Aeneas said: `You’re having me on – unless
    integer Latīnus cum versiōne Anglicā adversā in seriē               you’ve lost all respect for yourself and Italy
   `Bibliothēcā Tattiānā’ nūper ēditus est et complūrēs                  your country. (Bk. 1, ch. 36). I think `William’
    pāginae in Interrētī apud `Librōs Gūglaeānōs’ legī                     was a French cardinal. The whole text in Latin
    possunt.                                                                                                   with facing English translation was published
                                                                                                                       recently and some pages can be read on the
                                                                                                                        Internet in Google Books
Nōnne Italus quīdam fere illō tempore in Britanniā                   Didn’t some Italian around the same time have
mūnere fungēbātur et dē histōriā Britannicā scrīpsit?                a job in Britain and write on British history?
    Fortasse dē Polydōrō Vergiliō loqueris, quī annō                          Perhaps you’re talking about Polydore Vergil,
    millēsimō quīngentēsimō prīmō Britanniam vēnit                        who came to Britain in 1501 to collect church
    ut vectigālia ecclēsiastica colligeret, deinde ā rēge                        taxes and was then asked by King  Henry VII
    Henrīcō septimō rogātus est ut histōriam Anglicam                     to write a history of England. That book,
    scrīberet. Quī liber, annō mīllēsimō quīngentēsimō                      which came out in 1534, is a very important
    trīgēsimō quartō ēditus, fōns maximī momentī est                       source for people working on the reigns of
    eīs quī rēs sub rēgibus Henrīcō septimō et Henrīcō                      Henry VII and Henry VIII.. The Latin text
    octāvō gestās investigant. Textus Latīnus ūnā cum                       is available on the internet together with an
    versiōne Anglicā in interrētī praebētur apud                                 English translation at:
    http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/polverg/                                         http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/polverg/
    Polydōrus quoque exemplum Iūliī Caesaris secūtus                    Polydorus also followed Julius Caesar’s   
    est, nam opus ita incipitur:`Britannia omnis ..., īnsula              example, as the book begins like this : `The
    in  oceanō contrā Gallicum lītus posita, dīviditur in                   whole of Britan, an island in the ocean
    partēs quattuor, quārum ūnam incolunt Anglī, aliam               opposite France, is divided into four parts,
    Scotī, tertiam Uāllī, quartam Cornubiēnses. Hī omnēs              one of which the English inhabit, another the
    vel linguā vel mōribus seu īnstitūtis inter se differunt.                Scots, the third the Welsh and the fourth the
                                                                                                                          Cornish. All these differ in language, customs
                                                                                                                           or institutions.
Inter aequālēs Polydōrī, celeberrimus erat Thomas                    Among  Polydorus’s contemporaries, the most
More, auctor operis Latīnī cui titulus erat Ūtopia. In                famous was Thomas More,  author of a Latin       
hōc librō agitur dē īnsulā fīctā in quō omnia īnstitūta                 work Utopia. The book is about an imaginary
politica sociāliaque quam optima sunt.                                          island with perfect political and social institutions
    Ita, sed disputātur utrum stātum rērum fingeret                          Yes, but there’s controversy over whether he
    quam ipse dēsīderet an īrōnicē scrīberet!                                        was imagining his own ideal or being ironical.
Saeculīs decimō septimō et decimō octāvō quoque multa            In the 17th and 18th centuries also many Latin
opera Latīna in Britanniā scrībēbantur. Exemplī grātiā,              works continued to be written in Britain. For
Franciscus Bacon, philosophus et homō politicus, dē                   example, Francis Bacon, the philosopher and
rēgnō rēgis Henrīcī septimī histōriam scrīpsit, quae                    statesman, wrote a history of the reign of Henry
annō mīllēsimō sescentēsimō vigēsimō octāvō ēdita est.               VII, published in 1628 and available at:
In http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/henry/ praebētur.               http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/henry/
Iōhannēs Milton, quamquam ob versūs Anglicōs hodiē               Although John Milton is famous today for his
celebrātur, carmen longum dē coniūrātiōne Guidōnis                  English poetry, he also wrote a long Latin poem
Fawkes Latīne composuit, quod legere potes apud                        Guy Fawkes’ conpiracy, which you can read at:
http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/milton/  Neque est                    http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/milton/
obliviscendus Vincēns Bourne, poēta annō mīllēsimō                   and we shouldn’t forget Vincent Bourne, a poet
sescentēsimō nōnāgēsimō quīntō nātus, quī multa                        born in 1695, who wrote many Latin poems, 
carmina  Latīna scrīpsit, ut `Planētae sunt habitābilēs’:              like `There are habitable planets’:

  Nōs sēdēs aliās, aliōs exquīrimus orbēs;                                          We are looking for other homes, other worlds;
  nōs ferrī impavidō vastum per ināne volātū                                    great passion impels us to voyage in fearless
  Īngēns urget amor; iuvat, ō iuvat īre per ignēs                               flight though the vast emptiness;  it is delight,
  aethereōs, lustrāre altī vāga lūmina caelī                                         yes, delight to to go through the aetherial
  stellārumque aperīre domōs.                                                               fires, to survey the wandering lights of high
                                                                                                                        heaven and open the mansions of the stars

Carmina illīus et Latīna et Anglica apud `Librōs Gūg-                Both his Latin and English poems can be read
laeānōs’ legī possunt.                                                                             in Google books.
    In Eurōpā continentālī quoque usque ad saeculum                     In mainland Europe as well, Latin was playing
    ūndēvigēsimum lingua Latīna mūnere magnī                              an important role until the 19th century. Every-
    momentī fungēbātur. Omnēs sciunt Carōlum Marx                     body knows Karl Marx wrote an essay for his
    in examinātiōne mātūritātis opusculum scrīpsisse,                     matriculation exam entitled `Whether the prin-
    cuius titulus erat `An prīncipātus Augustī                                      cipate of Augustus deserves to be counted
    meritō inter fēliciōrēs reīpūblicae Rōmānae aetātēs                    amongst the Roman state’s happier periods.’
    numerētur?’  Nōn multī sunt qui sciant sociālistam                     Not manyknow that the French socialist Jean
    Francogallicum Iōhannem Jaurès dissertātiōnem                        Jaurès wrote a dissertation `On the first out-
    `Dē prīmīs sociālismī Germānicī lineamentīs apud                     lines of German socialism in Luther, Kant,
   Lutherum, Kant, Fichte, Hegel’ scrīpsisse. In fīne                        Fichte and Hegel.’  At the end of the work he
    operis dē linguā Latīnā ipsā sententiam expressit:                       expressed an opnion on Latin itself:
    `...nec mihi displicet ad rēs hodiernās Latīnum                           `.. I am not unpleased to have used the Latin
     ūsūrpāsse sermōnem, quandō in hōc sermōne et iūs                 language for a modern subject, when it was in
     hūmānum antīquae philosophiae mōrālis, expressum              this tongue that the human law  of ancient
     sit, et Christiāna frāternitās suspīrāverit ac cecinerit,               moral philosophy was expressed and Christian
     et ille Latīnus sermō hodiē adhūc sōlus sit omnium                    brotherhood breathed and sang, and the Latin
     populōrum ūniversus et commūnis sermō et sīc                          tongue is still today the sole universal and
     ūniversālī sociālismō conveniat. ita Latīnus sermō                    common tongue of all people’s and thus suits
     istī integrālī sociālismō, quem Benoît Malon                                universal socialism. Thus Latin is in harmony
     dēscrīpsit, cōnfōrmis est, in eō sociālismum nōn                          with Malon’s integral socialism, and in it we
     quasi exiguam factiōnem sed quasi ipsam hūmāni-                    see socialism not as a miniscule faction but as
     tātem, vidēmus; et sub speciē hūmānitātis et aeterni-                 humanity itself ; and socialism is glimpsed in
     tātis sociālismus adspicitur.’                                                               the guise of humanity and of eternity
Praebenturne haec opera quoque in Interrētī ?                            Are these works available on the Net as well?
    Praebentur. Eundum est ad hōs sitūs:                                         They are. You need to go to these sites:
http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost19/Marx/mar_lat1.html
http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost19/Jaures/jau_intr.html
Et quid dē saeculō vigēsimō? Nōnne ille Cecilius Lewis,              And what about the 20th century?  Didn’t C.S.
quī fābulās dē Narniā scrīpsit, cum sacerdōte quōdam                Lewis who wrote the Narnia stories correspond
Italō commercium epistulārum Latīne faciēbat ?                          in Latin with an Italian priest.
    Ita vērō.  Nōmen sacerdōtis erat Iōhannēs Calabria.                     Yes, indeed. The priest’s name was Giovanni
    Nēsciēbat Lewis linguam Italicam didicisse ut versūs                    Calabria.  He didn’t know that Lewis had
    Dantis legeret, itaque epistulam Latīnam ad eum annō                  learned Italian to read Dante’s poetry, and
    mīllēsimō  nōngentēsimō quadrāgēsimō septimō scrīpsit.              so in 1947 he wrote a letter to him in Latin. 
    Deinde complūrēs per annōs  inter sē Latīne commūni-                Then they continued communicating in Latin
    cābant. Epistulae, ūnā cum versiōne Anglicā abhinc                  for several years. The letters were published
    duodecim annōs ēditae sunt et adhūc emī possunt.                         12 years ago and are still on sale.
 http://www.amazon.com/Latin-Letters-C-S-Lewis/dp/1890318345/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329274791&sr=1-1
_
Picture
__  Īnsula Ūtopia ā Thomā More dēscrīpta
Picture
_  Iōhannēs Jaurès (1859-1914)
__Rēctōrēs nostrī et regere volentēs

Donaldus Tsang, Rēctor Suprēmus Honcongēnsis, mox             Donald Tsang, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, will
munus dēpositūrus est itaque comitia habēbuntur                    soon retire and so elections will be held to
ad successōrem ēligendum. Crēdō in hīs comitiīs nōn             choose his successor. I believe that not all citizens
omnēs cīvēs iūs  suffrāgiī ferendī habēre.                                    will have the right to vote in this election.
   Rēctissimē dīxistī. Secundum Lēgem Fundamentālem,               You’re absolutely right. According to the Basic
   Regiōnis Speciālis Administrātīvae Honcongēnsis,                        Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
   Rēctor Suprēmus ab Collēgiō Ēlectōrālī creātur, in                      Region, the Chief Executive is elected by an
   quō inclūduntur legātī dīversārum sociētātum                            ElectoralCollege, including representatives of
   ordīnumque, praecipuē commerciālium.                                      various associations and organisations,
                                                                                                                    especiallycommercial ones.
Cūr rēs ita cōnstitūta sunt?                                                                   Why have things been arranged like that?
   Regimen centrāle verētur nē populus, sī iūs rēctōrem                   The central government is afraid that ifthe    
   suum ēligendī habeat, candidātō faveat quō regimen                  people were allowed to choose their own ruler
   ipsum nōn fīdeat. Prōmissum est, tamen, annō millē-                they might favour someone the government
   simō septimō decimō omnēs suffrāgandī iūs  habitūrōs              itself doesn’t trust.  It’s been promised, though,
   esse.                                                                                                               that in the year 2017 everybody will have the
                                                                                                                     right to vote in the election.
Quī sunt candidātī?                                                                            Who are the candidates?
  Trēs hominēs nōminātiōnem adeptī sunt: Henrīcus                     Three persons have obtained a nomination:
  Tang, Sīvaeus Leung et Albertus Ho. Inter quōs                            Henry Tang, C. Y. Leung and Albert Ho. Among
  Albertus, quī Factiōnem Dēmocraticam dūcit, tantum                these, Albert, who leads the Democratic Party,
  participat ut contrā comitia in `parvō circulō’ habita                 is only taking part to have an opportunity to
  reclāmandī occāsiōnem habeat. Cum Factiō Dēmocra-                protest against the `small circle’ election. 
  tica  regiminī centrālī nōn est grāta, haudquāquam                     As the Democratic Party is not acceptable to the
  fierī potest ut magna pars Collēgiī Ēlectōrālis eī faveat.              government, there is no way a majority
                                                                                                                        of the Electoral College would back him.
Sententiā tuā, vincētne Henrīcus an Sīvaeus?                            In your opinion, will Henry or C.Y. win?
 Ōlim Henrīcus, quī complūrēs annōs munera magnī                  At one point, Henry, who has held important    
  momentī in regimine Honcongēnsī suscipit, crēdēbātur            positions in the Hong Kong government for
  esse candidātus quō regimen centrāle favēret.  Nūper-              several years, was thought to be the candidate
  rimē, tamen, rēs dē vītā prīvātā eius dīvulgātae sunt,                the central government favoured. Very recently,
  propter quās multī dubitant quīn dignus sit officiō                     however, there have been disclosures about  
  honestissimō.   Ut ipse cōnfessus est, postquam                           his private life which make many doubt his
  matrimōnium intrāvit, in relātiōne sexuālī cum amīcā              fitness for the highest office. He  admitted,
  erat necnōn, sī fāmae est crēdendum, pater factus est               he was involved in an extra-marital affair
  fīliī illegitimī.  Patefactum quoque est `palātium’ sub-              and, if rumour is to be believed, he fathered an
  terrāneum quod sine licentiā lēgālī sub vīllā ad uxōrem            illegitimate son.  Also revealed was an under-
  eius pertinentem cōnstructum est.                                                  `ground `palace’ constructed without legal  
                                                                                                                                                 permission beneath a villa owned by his wife.
Tālēs rēs sānē efficere possunt ut grātia hominis politicī     That kind of thing can certainly make a politician
apud populum dēminuātur, sed nesciō cūr opīniōnem               less popular among the people but I don’t know
regiminis centrālis mūtent.                                                                  why it changes the central government’s view.
  Recordārī dēbēs rēctōrēs Sīnārum, quamquam nōndum         You have to remember that although China’s
  velint dēmocratiam tōtam in Honcongum intrōdūcere,             rulers don’t yet want to allow full democracy in
  tamen velle Rēctōrem Suprēmum regiōnis nostrae                     Hong Kong, they still want a Chief Executive 
  populō acceptum esse. Haudquāquam  volunt centēna              acceptable to the people. They don’t want
  mīlia reclamātōrum viās complēre, quae rēs annō bīs               hundreds of thousands of demonstrators throng-
  mīllēsimō tertiō, cum Tung Cinva nōbīs praesidēbat,                 ing the streets, as of course happened when
  profectō accidit.                                                                                     Tung Chee Hwa was in charge in 2003.
Itaque nunc amīcī nostrī Pēcingēnsēs Sīvaeō favent?            So now are our friends in Beijing backing C.Y?
  Multī autumant rēs ita sē habēre et fortasse  prīnceps               Many are claiming that is the case and perhaps
  minister Sīnēnsis ipse, etiamsī verbīs   ambiguīs ūsus               the Chinese premier himself signalled it, though
  est, signum dedit.  Crēdō tamen multōs negōtiātōrēs                 he used ambiguous words. However, I believe
  adhūc Henrīcō magis cōnfīdere  quod timeant nē  Sīvaeus      many businessmen still trust Henry more
  cōnsilia regiminis hodiernī, quae ipsōs  plērumque                   because they are afraid C.Y. might change the
  iuvant, mūtāre tentet.                                                                         present  government’s policies, which in general
                                                                                                                     they themselves  support.
Picture
_  Henrīcus Tang


Picture
_  Sīvaeus Leung
Dē `Lupō’ et `Porcō’

Post conventum nostrum proximē praeteritum                             After our last meeting, the election was held and
comitia facta sunt, ex quīs Sīvaeus victor discessit.                      C.Y. emerged as the winner. So in July he will
Itaque mensē Iūliō munus Rēctōris Suprēmī Honcon-                 take up office as Hong Kong’s Chief Executive.
gēnsis suscipiet.

   Rectē dīxistī sed putō nōn `Rector Suprēmus’                               That’s right, but I think it’s not the phrase          
   iūnctūram   sed  `Administrātor Prīncipālis’  apti-                       `Rector Supremus’ but `Administrator Princi-   
   ōrem esse ad `Chief  Executive’ iūnctūram                                     alis’ that’s more suitable as a translation into
   Anglīcam Latīnē  reddendam. Nōn enim possidet                         Latin of the English `Chief Executive‘.  In fact
   dux noster potentiam  tōtam, quippe quī dēbet et                         our leader doesn’t enjoy unlimited power as he
   mandāta Pecingēnsia   accipere et Concilium Legi-                       has to take orders from Beijing and to get the
   slātīvum sibi conciliāre.                                                                        Legislative Council (`Legco’) on his side.

Nōn dissentio, sed in proximō conventū nōn sine                          I don’t dispute that, but in the last meeting I was
irōniā loquēbar!  Tamen hodiē `Administrātor Prīnci-                speaking ironically!  Still, let’s make it ‘Admini-
pālis’ dīcāmus.   Magna pars Conciliī Electōrālis                           strator Pincipalis.‘  The majority of the Election
suffrāgia Sīvaeō dedit sed dūcentī octōginta quīnque                  Committee gave their votes to C.Y. but 285 of the
ex mīlle ducentīs membrīs Henrīcō fāvērunt. Putāsne                1,200 members still backed Henry. Do you think
fautōrēs Sīvaeī eum ēlēgisse quod cōnsilia eius compro-             C.Y.‘s supporters choose him because they liked
bārent an quod regiminī centrālī placēre vellent?                        his policies or to please the central government?

   Scīmus diēbus ultimīs ante comitia habenda officiālēs               We know in the final days before the election
   Pekingēnsēs multīs electōribus suāsisse ut Sīvaeō                        Beijing officials urged many electors to support
   favērent necnōn officiālēs  regiminis centrālis                              C.Y. and that Beijing representatives
   Honcongī dispositōs temptāvisse prohibēre quīn                         stationed in Hong Kong tried to prevent reports
   nuntīī  dē activitātibus suīs in actīs diurnīs                                    of their activities being published in the
   ēderentur.   Quae cum ita sint, clārum est per                              newspapers.  In the light of that, it’s clear it was
   regimen centrāle stetisse ut  Sīvaeus Administrātor                   due to the central government that C.Y. was
   Prīncipālis creātus sit.  Tamen  nōn omnēs electōrēs                 elected Chief Administrator.  Still, not all the
   cōnsiliīs Pekingēnsibus pārēre volēbant. Verbī grātiā,               electors were willing to obey Beijing’s advice
   cōnstat Cāsingum Lee, negōtiātōrem   ingentium                         For example, Lee Ka-shing, a very wealthy and
   divitiārum maximaeque auctoritātis, officiālibus                       influential businessman, is known to have told
   dīxisse sē Henrīcum nōn relictūrum esse.                                      officials he wouldn’t abandon Henry.

Etiamsī sunt multī optimātēs quibus Sīvaeus nōn                     Even if many of the establishment don’t like C.Y.,
placet, nōnne satis grātiae apud plēbem adeptus est?              surely he’s popular enough with ordinary people ?

   Rēctōrēs Sīnārum certē spērant rēs sē ita habēre                       China’s rulers certainly hope that’s the case and
   neque dubium est quīn Sīvaeus grātior sit populō                      no doubt C.Y. is more popular than Henry.
   quam Henrīcus.  Tamen, cum hic  ā multīs (sive                         Still, while the latter is (rightly or wrongly)
   iūstē sive iniūstē) ignāvus stultusque putētur, ille                       thought lazy and stupid by many, the latter is
  crēditur plūs calliditātis quam  probitātis clēmen-                      believed to be more clever than honest or com-
   tiaeve   possidēre. Itaque ante comitia apud                                 passionate.  Consequently, in the run-up to
   populum Henrīcus `Porcus’ appellābātur, Sīvaeus                    election Henry was popularly known as `Pig’
  `Lupus.’ Praetereā, multī crēdunt ducem novum                       C.Y. as `Wolf.’  Besides, many believe that the
   membrum Factiōnis Commūnisticae sēcrētō factum                new leader is a secret member of the Com-
   esse itaque nimis alacriter mandāta regiminis                            munist Party and so will be too keen to seek and 
   centrālis    petitūrum et factūrum esse. Quam sus-                    to carry out instructions from the central
   piciōnem Henrīcus confirmāre cōnātus est, cum                       government. henry tried to strengthen this  
   paulō ante comitia affirmāvit Sīvaeum annō bis                        suspicion by claiming shortly before the election
   mīllēsimō tertiō in conventū Conciliī Administrātīvī                during meeting of the Executive Council in 2003,
   suāsisse ut gasum lacrimogenum et proiectōrēs                          that C.Y. advocated the use of tear gas and 
   aquāticī ad reclāmātōrēs inhibendos usurpārentur.                  water canon to control demonstrators.

Nōnne Sīvaeus ipse identidem negāvit sē membrum               Hasn’t C.Y. himself repeatedly denied that he is a
Factiōnis Commūnisticae esse?                                                      a member of the Communist Party?

   Ita vērō  sed cōnstat eum in iuventūte sēcrētārium                  Indeed he has, but it’s well-known that at a young
   designātum esse Cōnsiliī Cōnsultātīvī Lēgī Fundamen-           age he was appointed secretary of the Basic Law
   tālī Scrībendae.  Dīvulgāta quoque est fāma Sīvaeum,            Consultative Committee. It's also rumoured
   cuius pater erat, custos pūblicus humilis, pecūniam               that C.Y, who’s father was a low-ranking
   ā Factiōne Comūnisticā accēpisse ut in ūniversitāte                police officer, received money from the party so
   Britannicā stūdēret.                                                                          he could study at a British University.

Reclāmātiō mēnse Iūliō facta

Erāsne inter reclāmātōrēs quī Kalendīs Iūliīs per viās          Were you among the demonstrators who took
Honcongī prōcēdēbant?                                                                  to the streets of Hong Kong on 1st July?

   Ita vērō. Hōc annō in Hortīs Victōriānīs, ut semper,             I was indeed. This year we gathered, as usual,
   congregātī sumus. Deinde usque ad sēdēs nōvās                      in Victoria Park. Then we marched to the govern-
   regiminis in Nāvālī sitās prōgrediēbāmur. Multae                  ment’s new headquarters in Admiralty. It was
   hōrae actae sunt antequam omnēs ad fīnem pervēn-             many hours before we reached the destination
   imus quod custōdēs pūblicī nōs nōn sinēbant per                   because the police didn’t allow us to march in all
   omnēs orbitās viārum ambulāre.                                                 the lanes of the roads..

Nōnne Honcongēnsēs quōquō annō illō diē contrā                 Don’t Hong Kong people demonstrate against 
rectōrēs ita reclāmant?                                                                   their rulers on that date every year?

   Rectē dīxistī. Prōpositum maximī momentī est pos-               You’re right. The most important objective is to
   tulāre ut Administrātor Prīncipālis et omnēs legislā-                demand that the Chief Executive and all the
   tōrēs suffragiīs populī creentur. Hoc annō multī                      legislative councillors should be elected by uni-
   irascēbantur quod suspicēbantur Sivaeum esse                        versal suffrage. This year many people were
   membrum clandestīnum Factiōnis Communisticae                 angry because they suspected C.Y. was a secret
   itaque ante Kalendās Iūliās in sitibus interretiālibus               member of the Communist Party and so before 1st.
   saepe apparēbat sententia 反狼抗共  (Obsistite Lupō,               July websites often carried the slogan反狼抗共
   Resistite Commūnistīs!). Diē ipsā multī vōcibus strī-               (`Oppose Wolf, resist the Communists’). On the
   dentibus flagitābant ut Sivaeus munus depōneret.                   Day itself many people called noisily for C.Y. to
   Inter eōs tamen quī in viīs  prōgrediuntur, ut annīs               resign. However, among the marchers, there were,
   priōribus, aliī aliās rēs  poscēbant. Exemplī grātiā,                 as in previous years, people demanding different
   ipse vīdī paucōs fautōrēs autonomiae Tibetānae                     things. I myself saw a few `Free Tibet’ supporters
   et aliōs quī rogābant ut omnēs incolae in scholīs                      and others asking for all residents to be able to
   occāsiōnem linguae Sīnicae bene discendae habērent.           learn Chinese properly in school.    
             
Picture
_Reclāmātōrēs per viās īnsulae Honcongī prōcēdunt

_ Crēdō multōs quī tantum Anglicē communicāre sciant        I believe that many people who only know English     
muneribus honestīs Honcongī fungī. Cūr necesse est             still have good jobs in Hong Kong. Why does
omnibus linguam Sīnicam discere?                                            everyone have to learn Chinese?

   Sī rēs tantum agitur dē muneribus honestiōribus in          If it’s just a question of the higher posts in multi-
   sociētātibus internatiōnālibus vel acadēmicīs, cōn-           national companies or seats of learning, I agree
   sentiō linguam Anglicam saepe sufficere. Sed in                 that English is often enough. However, in middle-.
   muneribus mediōcribus plērumque necesse est                  ranking positions it’s generally necessary not
   Sīnicē nōn tantum colloquī sed etiam legere scrībere-       only to be able to speak Chinese but also to read
   que scīre. Difficultātēs maximās patiuntur Honcon-           and write it.   The greatest difficulties are faced
   gēnsēs dē stirpē Indicā, Pacistānicā vel Nepālicā ortī,       by Hongkongers of indian, Pakistani or Nepali,
   quōrum līberī in scholās locālēs recipiuntur sed,               whose children are admitted into local schools
   nisi litterās Sīnicās ab aetāte minimā discunt, ē clas-         but, unless they started learning written Chinese
   sibus normālibus exclūsī nōn linguae Sīnicae sed              at a very early age, are excluded from normal
   Francogallicāe stūdent.                                                             Classes and study French rather than Chinese.

Iam `Lupus’ duōs mēnsēs civitātem nostram adminis-      `Wolf’ has now been running our city for two
trat.  Oriunturne contrōversiae novae?                                   months. Are there any new disputes emerging?

   Hīs diēbus multī reclāmant contrā disciplīnam novam      Recently a lot of people have been protesting
   nōmine `ēducātiōnem nātiōnālem’ quam regimen vult     against a new subject called `national education’
   in omnibus scholīs instituere. Prōpositum est efficere        which the government wants to introduce into the
   ut Hōncongēnsēs dē Sīnā plūra sciant et vehementius         schools. The aim is to make Hong Kong people
   sentiant sē Sīnēnsēs esse. Perīculum, tamen, est nē             know more about China and feel more Chinese
   regimen rēvērā in animō habet discipulīs suādere ut            However, the danger is that the government really
   factīs et cōnsiliīs regiminis centrālis Factiōnisque                intends to persuade students to support the act-
   Commūnisticae faveant, itaque multī affirmant istam       ions and policies of the central government and
   disciplīnam nihil aliud esse quam methodum quā               the Communist Party. So many claim that subject
   mentēs populī in servitūdinem redūcantur!  Ob tālēs         is just a means of brainwashing people. Because
   sollicitūdinēs, inter omnēs ministrōs nostrōs apud              of such worries, out of all our ministers the most
   populum minimam grātiam habet Eduardus Ng,                  unpopular is Edward Ng, who has the job of
   cuius  mūnus est novam disciplīnam intrōdūcere.                introducing the new subject.

Dē feriīs aestīvīs huius annī (2012)


Honcongīne feriās ēgistī an iter fēcistī?                                    Did you spend the holidays here or go on a trip?

   Ad Eurōpam cum uxōre fīliāque iī ut duās septimānās        I went to Europe with my wife and daughter to
   in Britanniā, ūnam in Francogalliā habitārēmus. Mīrā-      spend two weeks in Britain and one in France.
   bile dictū, dum familiārēs amīcōsque in Britanniā vīsi-        Amazingly, we had good weather almost all the
   tābāmus, paene semper caelō benignō fruēbāmur!               time while we were visiting friends and relations.

Quid in Francogalliā fēcistis?                                                     What did you do in France?

   Vōlēbāmus reliquiās Rōmānās in regiōne merīdionālī         We wanted to see Roman remains in the south,
   Galliae vidēre quae ōlim `Gallia Narbōnēnsis ‘ appel-            which was once known as `Gallia Narbonensis.’
   lābātur. Itaque prīmum ad urbem Nîmes (vel, ut                 So we went first to Nîmes (or, to use the ancient
   nōmen antīquum memorēm) Colōniam Augustam               name Colonia Augusta Nemausus.) We looked at
   Nemausum) pervēnimus. Amphitheātrum in tōtā                the amphitheatre, which is the best preserved in
   Eurōpā optimē cōnservātum inspeximus, et aquae-             the whole of Europe and also visited the very
   ductum praeclārissimum vīsitāvimus per quem                   well-known aqueduct, which once used to carry
   ōlim aqua ad urbem dūcēbātur. Nōn tantum aquae-            water to the city. We didn’t just admire the aque-
   ductum in rīpīs flūminis stantēs admirātī sumus sed          duct from the banks of the river but also walked
   etiam per canālem in tabūlātō suprēmō ambulāvimus.       along the channel on the top level.  For most of its
   Suprā partem magnam illīus canālis restant quadrāta         length it still has the slabs by which it was
   quibus tectus erat nē aqua vī sōlis  ēvapōrārētur sed           covered to prevent the water evaporating in the
   in dīversīs locīs tectum nōn iam manet itaque aspectus       sun but at various points the roof is missing and
   amoenissimus flūminis et collium praebēbātur. Intrā        so you get a marvellous view of the river and the
   canālem ipsum iuxtā mūrōs massās ingentēs lapidis           hills. Inside the channel itself we saw against the
   calcāriī vīdēbāmus quae ex aquā fluente gradātim               walls huge lumps of limestone which had been
   dēpositae sunt.                                                                             gradually deposited by the flowing water.

Picture
_ Aquaeductus Gardēnsis dē parte superiōre flūminis vīsus

_
Picture
_  Aspectus interior canālis

Per tōtam septimānam Nemausī habitābātis?                       Were you in Nîmes for the whole week?

   Minimē. Post quattuor diēs Perpiniānum, urbem in           No.  After four days we went on to Perpignan
   Catalōniā Citeriōrē prope Montēs Pyrēnaeōs fīnēsque       in French Catalonia near the Pyrenes and the
   Hispāniae sitam, prōgressī sumus, ubi cum amīcīs             Spanish border, where we spent three very
   trēs diēs iucundissimē ēgimus.  Hospēs noster prīnci-        pleasant days with friends.  Our main host was
   pālis Latinista nōtissimus erat, quī dē regiōne ipsā             a very well-known Latinist, who has an enormous
   atque histōriā eius scientiam maximam possidet.               knowledge of the region itself and of its history.
   Epistulam Latīnam quam ille abhinc complūrēs                 A Latin letter he wrote some years ago about a
   annōs dē itinere pedestrī per montēs factō scrīpserat         hike through the mountains is available on our
   apud situm nostrum  Honcongēnsem legere potestis:       own Hong Kong website at:
                                          http://linguae.weebly.com/epistula-de-expeditione-montana.html 
   Ille nōbīs quoque expeditiōnem breviōrem cōnstituit,       He arranged a shorter `expedition’ for us, with
   cuius meta erat ruinae castellī Visigōthicī prope                   the ruins of a Visigothic castle near Sorèdes as
   Sorēdum. Cum orbita abruptissima esset usque ad             destination. As the path was very steep, we didn’t
   castellum ipsum nōn pervēnimus sed prandium                  get as far as the castle itself but we had a picnic
   subdiālem cōnsumpsimus, aspectū montium et campī       lunch and enjoyed the view of the mountains and
   infrā iacentis fruītī sumus. Hospes noster nōs cer-              of the plain lying below us. Our host told us that
   tiōrēs fēcit hanc tōtam regiōnem ōlim partem fuisse           this region had once been part of the Visigothic
   regnī Hispānicī ā Visigōthīs conditī, quod saeculō                kingdom established in Spain, which in the 7th
   septimō usque ad Rhodanum flūmen extendēbat.                century extended as far as the River Rhone. 
   Vamba, rēx  praeclārus Visigōthōrum,  exercitum                Wamba, a famous king of the Visigoths, led his
   suum  trāns montēs Pyrēnaeōs dūxit ut seditiōnem             army over the Pyrenes to put down a rebellion,
   supprimēret, tandem amphitheātrum Nemausiānum,        finally storming the amphitheatre at Nîmes, which
   quod castellum factum erat, expugnāvit.                                had been turned into a fortress.

_
Picture
Prandium montānum

_
Nōnne etiam post aevum Visigōthicum Catalōnia                  Didn’t French Catalonia remain under Spanish
Citerior sub diciōne Hispānōrum manēbat? Audīvī                control even after the Visigothic period? I’ve heard
tantum saeculō septemdecimō rēgiōnem Francogal-             that the region only became French in the 17th
licam factam esse                                                                           century.

   Rectissimē dīxistī. Fortasse, tamen, nōn dīcendum             That’s absolutely right. However, we probably
   est rēgiōnem illam ab Hispānīs rēctam esse sed                    shouldn’t say that the region was ruled by the
   potius illō tempore incolās citrā vel ultrā Pyre-                     Spanish but rather at that time the people living
   naeōs habitantēs mōribus linguīsque nōn magno-                on either side of the Pyrenees were not very
   pere inter sē  distulisse.                                                               different from each other in culture or language.

Dē Lemurālibus antīquīs hodiernīsque

Quōmodo dīcitur Latīnē `Halloween’? Eratne apud             What is the Latin for `Halloween’? Did the
Rōmānōs festum ad umbrās pertinēns et simile illī              Romans have a ghost festival similar to the one
quod nōs nūper celebrābāmus?                                                  we’ve just been celebrating?
    Fortasse reddendum est `Lemurālia’ vel `Lemūria’,          Perhaps the best equivalent is `Lemurālia’ or
    nōmen festī  quod mēnse Maiō diēbus nōnō, ūn-                  `Lemūria’, the name of a festival that was
    decimō et  decimō tertiō habēbātur. Diēbus illīs                  celebrated on the 9th, 11th and 13th of May. On
    patrifamiliās  per domum retrō ambulandum et                 those days the head of the household had to
    suprā umerōs fabae reiciendae erant ut lemurēs,                walk backwards through his home and throw
    scīlicet mānēs  malignī, expellerentur. Secundum               beans over his shoulders to drive out the
    poētam Ovidium, vocābulum `Lemūria’ anteā                     lemurēs (evil spirits of the dead). Ovid says the
    fōrmam `Remūria’ habēbat et auctor festī  erat                   word `Lemuria’ was once `Remūria’and the
    Rōmulus, quī umbram frātris Remī, ā sē ipsō                       festival was started by Romulus to appease
    interfectī, pācificāre volēbat. Dīcendum autem est             the ghost of his brother Remus but this
    philologōs hodiernōs huic theōriae nōn crēdere.                  theory is not accepted by modern philologists.
Ut vidētur, Lemurālia antīqua hodiernaque valdē               It seems the old and the modern Lemuralia are
inter sē differunt, nam Rōmāni crēdēbant per  tālēs            very different, as the Romans believed that these
rītūs perīculā vēra prohibenda esse, nostra tamen              rituals were necessary to avert real dangers but
Lemūria nihil aliud est quam occāsiō lūdendī et                   our Lemuria is just an opportunity to play games 
epulandī.                                                                                           and have a party!
    Rēctissimē dīxistī. Iam paucissimī sunt quī umbrās              You’re absolutely right. There are now very few  
    lemurēsque rēvērā timent. Saltātiōnibus fruimur,                people who are really afraid of ghosts and evil
    vestīmenta mīrābilia induimus, multa edimus bi-                  spirits. We go to dances, wear strange costumes,
    bimusque, līberōs vagantēs et `Dolum an dōnum!’                 eat and drink a lot and welcome children who
    clāmantēs benignē excipimus.                                                       roam around shouting `Trick or treat!’         
Narrābantne Rōmānī fābulās dē umbrīs et monstrīs            Did the Romans tell stories about ghosts and  
mīrābilibus?                                                                                      strange monsters?
    Ita vērō. Fortasse ipse recordāris fābulam dē versi-              Yes. Perhaps you yourself remember the story
    pelle quam in capitulō septimō Cursūs Latīnī Canta-             of the werewolf t almost all of usread in stage 7
    brigiensis paene omnēs lēgimus. Haec est versiō                     of the Cambridge Latin Course.  This is a
    simplificāta partis librī c.t. Satyricon, quem com-                    simplified vesion of a section of the Satyricon
    posuit Petrōnius, ōlim amīcus deinde victima                          of  Petronius, Nero’s one-time friend and later
    Nerōnis. Secundum Petrōnium, centuriō cui viātor               victim. According to him. the centurion the trav-
    in viā obvēnit nōn erat novus sed in casā ipsīus                       eller met on the road was no stranger but lived
    viātōris habitābat. Petrōniī verba ipsissima audīte:               in the traveller’s house. In the aithor’s words:
   Vēnimus inter monimenta: homō meus coepit ad                   We came into the graveyard: my man headed 
   stēlās facere; sedeō ego cantābundus et stēlās nu-                 for the tombstones; I sit down singing and   
   merō. Deinde ut respexī ad comitem, ille exuit sē                    count the gravestones. Then as I looked at my
   et omnia vestīmenta secundum viam posuit. Mihi                  companion, he undressed and put all his clothes
   anima in nāsō esse; stābam tanquam mortuus. At                 by the road. My heart was in my mouth; I was
   ille circumminxit vestīmenta sua, et subitō lupus                    standing there like a dead man. Then he urin-
   factus est. Nōlite mē iocārī putāre; ut mentiar,                       ated  around his clothes and suddenly turned
   nūllīus patrimōnium tantī faciō. Sed, quod coe-                      into a wolf. Don’t think I’m joking; I wouldn’t
   peram dīcere, postquam lupus factus est, ululāre                   lie for any amount of money. But, as I was say-
   coepit et in silvās fūgit. Ego prīmitus nesciēbam                     ing, after he became a wolf he howled and fled
   ubi essem; deinde accessī, ut vestīmenta eius                            into the woods. At first I didn’t  know where I
   tollerem: illa autem lapidea facta sunt. Quī morī                   was; then I went over to pick up his clothes -
   timōre nisi ego? Gladium tamen strinxī et in tōtā                   they had turned to stone!  If any one’s been
   viā umbrās cecīdī, donec ad vīllam amīcae perve-                 scared to death, it was me. However I drew my  
  nīrem.                                                                                                    sword and felled shadows all the way to my
                                                                                                                   girl’s house.
Quid accidit postquam narrātor ad vīllam pervēnit?              What happened after the traveller reached the
Dē hāc rē omnīnō tacet Cursus Cantabrigiēnsis.                       villa? The Cambridge Course doesn’t tell us.
    Amīca viātōrī dīxit lupum ingentem paulō anteā                    The girlfriend told the traveller that a little
    pecus suum  oppugnavisse sed lanceā servī vul-                      little while before a giant wolf had attacked their
    nerātum effūgisse. Cum viātor domum suam                          cattle but ran off when it had been wounded by
    redisset, invēnit centuriōnem, fōrmā hūmānā                        a slave's spear. When the traveller returned
    restitūtā, in lectō iacentem.  In collō illīus cōn-                       home, he found the centurion in human form
    spexit vulnus lanceā effectum.                                                     again and lying in bed. On his shoulder he saw
                                                                                                                  the wound made by the spear.

_
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                                           Versipellis (`turnpelt', i.e. werewolf) ut ostenditur apud Bubo's Blog

Sī tālēs fābulae tē tenent, certissimē legendus est liber  c.t. De Bello Lemures, or The Roman War Against the Zombies of Armorica.                                                                       
If stories like this interest you, then you should certainly read De Bello Lemures, or the Roman War against the Zombies of Armorica.
                   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1449568696/ref=nosim/unrvromanempi-20
   Nōnne est error in titulō illō? Scrībendum est `bellō                 Isn’t there a mistake in that title? It should really
   Lemurālī.’                                                                                               be Lemurālī.
Ita vērō. Haec rēs auctōrī ipsī clārum est, quī, cum                Yes, it should. The author himself is aware of that.
ipse fābulam fīnxisset, ioculōsē simūlāvit sē textum                When he’d thought up the story he pretended for a
mediaevālem invēnisse et memorāvit Latīnitātem                   joke that he had found it in a medieval text and
scrībae īnfimam esse. `Lemurēs’ autem vocābulum,              wrote that the scribe’s Latin was very poor. Never
nōn contrā normās classicās ēlēctum est, nam in librīs          theless, the choice of the word Lemurēs itself isn’t
antīquīs nōn invenītur aliud verbum quō Anglicum               against classical norms, as the ancient texts don’t
`zombie’ reddātur. Hodiē, tamen, habēmus verbum             have any other word to translate English `zombie’.
neo-Latīnum `vemortuus’, quae frequenter apud                   However, today we have  neo-Latin  vemortuus,     
Gregem Latīnē Loquentium adhibēbātur.  Nōnne tu              which was used frequently in the Grex Latine Lo-
ipse partēs vemortuī in spectāculō ēgistī?                                  quentium.  Haven’t you yourself played the part of
                                                                                                                                                   a zombie in a show?
   Nōn vemortuus sed diabolus eram neque aliud fēcī                I wasn’t a zombie but the devil and all I did was    
   quam vōcem imprimere ut adderētur taeniae in quā             record my voice for a video in which the world      
   mundus vī diabolicā diē ultimō calendāriī Maiānī dēs-          was  destroyed by the devil’s power on the last
   struī vidēbātur. Ubi diē 20 Decembris anniversārium          day of the Mayan calendar. During the 20    
   Macāviae in diciōnem Sīnēnsem redditae celēbrābātur,       December celebration of the anniversary of
   haec taenia in forō Macāviēnsī ostendēbātur.  Sī rēs              Macau’s return to Chinese sovereignity, the
   tē tenet, taeniam apud interrēte adhūc vidēre  potes             video was shown in a square there.  If you are
   eundum est ad hoc vinculum:                                                     interested, you can see it by following this link:
                                                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEgeSVbPCK4
   Verba ipsa, quae in taeniā nōn clārē audiuntur,                      the words themselves aren’t clear on the video
   haec sunt: Mediā nocte, orbem terrārum morte,                   but here they are: At midnight, I will take over
   metū et excidiō in potestātem meam redigam!  Sōl                the world with death, fear and destructuion! The
   tempestāte devorābitur! Magnetismus terrestris rever-       sun be destroyed by storm!  The terrestrial mag-
   tētur. Tellus in tenebrās clādēsque incidet!                                netism will reverse. Earth will fall into darkness
                                                                                                                    and disaster!

Dē dēclārātiōne pontificālī


Audīvistī Summum Pontificem ministeriō suō Latīnē             You’ve heard the Supreme Pontiff resigning his
renūntiantem. Quālis est Latīnitās eius?                                     office in Latin. What’s his Latin like?
   Crēdō eum linguam optimē scrībere atque  bene                       I believe he writes the language excellently and
   modō ecclēsiasticō dīcere. In locīs quibusdam, tamen,            speaks  well in the church pronunciation.
   nimis celeriter loquēbātur atque ipse ūnum errōrem               However, he sometimes went too fast and he made
   grammaticum fēcit. Erat etiam error typographicus                one grammar mistake. There was also a typo in
   in textū orīgināliter in sitū Vaticānō positō sed iam ibi             the text orignally uploaded to thr Vatican site but
   correctiōnēs factae sunt. Sī pāginam interrētiālem                   now corrections have been made. If they visit
                                                          http://linguae.weebly.com/latinitas-pontificalis.html                  
   vīsitāvērunt, omnēs quōs nūgae grammaticae dēlec-               all those who enjoy grammatical trivialities can
   tant occāsiōnem errōrēs corrigendī ipsī habēbunt.                   have a chance to correct  the errors themselves.
Benedictus linguā Latīnā ūsus est ut `decisiōnem                    Benedict made use of Latin to communicate `a
magnī momentī prō Ecclēsiae vītā’ commūnicāret sed           decision of great importance for the life of the
in vītā cottīdiānā aedium Vaticānārum nōnne lingua             church in daily life at the Vatican, isn’t Italian of
Italica maiōris est momentī quam Latīna?                                greater importance than Latin?
   Rectē dīxistī. Post annōs sexagēsimōs in diēs minuitur           That’s right. After the 1960s the number of those
   nūmerus eōrum quī Latīnam bene intelligant itaque               who understand Latin well has continually gone
   lingua Italica, quae in colloquīs infōrmālibus semper             down and so Italian, which always had the domi-
   praevalēbat, in rēbus officiālibus quoque plērumque             nant role in informal conversation, is also now
   adhibētur. Abhinc annōs sexaginta rēs valdē dissimilēs          generally used for official purposes also.  That
   fuisse ē hīs verbīs ā Piō XII annō  millēsimō nōngen-              things were very different sixty years ago is appa-
   tēsimō prīmō dictīs apparet: Quid dignē celēbret hunc          rent from the words spoken by Pius XII in1951:
   imperiālem sermōnem - βασιλικη γλωσσα ā Graecīs              How can one adequately celebrate this imperial
   appellābātur - quae vēra nōn ēnūntiat sed sculpit, quae       language – basilike glossa as the Greeks styled it -
   in ēdictīs et sententiīs pecūliārī splendet gravitāte, quae       which does not proclaim but engraves truths,
   in Latīnā Ecclēsiā līturgicō fruitur ūsū,  quae dēnique           which gives its own special splendour and weight
  Catholicae Ecclēsiae est magnī pretiī  vinculum?                      to decrees and statements, which is employed in
  Nūllus sit sacerdōs, qui eam nesciat facile  et expedītē             the Latin Church’s liturgy and which is a bond of
  legere et loquī!                                                                                      great value for the Catholic Church. Let no priest
                                                                                                                         be unable to read and speak it easily and fluently!

_
Quamquam ūsus linguae Latīnae iam intrā atque extrā Ecclēsiam dēminūtus est, nōnne renūntiātiō pontificālis effēcit ut in nūntiōrum dīvulgātiōne multa dē linguā dīcerentur atque scrīberentur?   

Ita vērō. Etiam hīc in urbe nostrā rēs se ita habēbat. Ut omnēs scītis, in actīs diurnīs quibus titulus
South China Morning Post dē Circulō nostrō quoque scrīptum est.  Rēlātiō illa adhūc in Interrētī lēgī potest:
Although the use of Latin has diminished both inside and outside the Church, hasn’t the papal 
resignation resulted in lots of coverage for Latin in the news media?

It has indeed. Even here in our own city that was the case. As you all know, there was also a report about our Circulus in the South China Morning Post. The report can still be read on the Internet:
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1187369/linguist-discovers-new-papal-pickle
Apud situm Sociētātis Radiophonicae Britannicae ēditum est relātiō titulō Pope resignation: Who speaks Latin these days?, in quā Reginaldus Foster, fautor nōtissimus Latīnitātis vīvae, Nicholas Ostler, quī librum c.t. Ad Infinitum: a Biography of Latin scrīpsit, atque Maria  Beard,  profestrix  histōriae antīquae in Universitāte Cantabrigiēnsi sententiās suās expressērunt. Ad  hoc vinculum  eundum est:
The BBC’s website carried a report entitled `Pope resignation: Who speaks Latin these days?, in which Reginald Foster, a celebrated proponent of Living Latin,, Nick Ostler, the author of Ad Infinitum: a Biography of Latin, and Mary Beard, Professor of ancient history in Cambridge University, expressed their opinions. This is the link to go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21412604
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                  Reginaldus  Foster                                  Nicholas Ostler                                          Maria Beard  

Nōnne Marīa Beard (dīcendum est `Barba’?) ōlim dē Nūntiis Latīnīs Helsinkiēnsibus satis incomiter locūta est?

Rēctē dīxistī. In columnā quam  in actīs diurnīs quibusdam Britannicīs scrībere solet, affirmāvit `Finnōs illōs amoenōs’ nūntiīs Latīne reddendīs et `paucīs exspectantibus’ ēmittendīs ōtium suum inutiliter terere.

Rēvērā  multī professōrēs Latinitātem Vīvam nōn magnī aestīmant vel etiam contemnunt. Dē causīs tālium sententiārum sodālis quīdam Gregis Latīne Loquentium haec scrīpsit: `Prīmum Latīnē loquendō neque inter doctōrēs prōmovēbimur neque habilitābimur, ut ita dīcam. Deinde professōrēs scrīpta interpretārī volunt, Latīnē autem loquī dē rēbus cottīdiānīs puerōrum esse existimant neque hominum litterātōrum. Postrēmō linguam Latīnam ab aliīs,  quī neque doctōrēs neque professōrēs sunt, tractārī nōlunt’. Ipse tertiam causam nōn magnī esse momentī crēdō, sed fortasse aliquid vēritātis est in  prīmā secundāque.
 
​Nihilōminus eī quibus Latīnitās vīva est maximē cordī  opera  sua alacriter facere pergunt. Verbī grātiā,
mēnsē  Martiō apud Prosōpobiblion    
Didn’t Mary Beard (or should it be Barba’?) once say something rather rude about the Helsinki  `Nuntii Latini’?

That’s right. In her regular column for a British
newspaper, she claimed that `those charming
Finns’ were wasting their spare time translating
the news into Latin and broadcasting it `to the           waiting handful’
 In fact many professors of Latin do not think much
of `LivingLatin’ or even hold it in contempt. One
member of the Grex Latine Loquentium wrote this:
on the reasons for such attitudes: `First, we won’t
get our Ph.D. nor get `habilitated’ (so to speak) by
speaking Latin. Then the profesors want to inter-
pret texts and they think that speaking Latin about
  everyday matters is for children, not for intellect-
tuals. Finally, they don’t want Latin handled by  others who are not doctors or professors. Myself, I
think the third reason is not very important but          perhaps there’s something in the first and second

Still, those who are real fans of Living Latin
continue their work with enthusiasm. For
example, in March on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=579840842026946
posita est taenia in quā discipulī graduum variōrum Latīnē  interrogantur. Neque tamen obliviscendum est  ūnum ex sodālibus  nostrīs hīs dialogīs ipsīs ūtitur ut  pelliculās  iūcundās ad  ūsum tirōnum apud Tutubulum  pōnat.  Ecce vincula  ad  quīndecim partēs pelliculae`Dē Tē Ipsō' dūcentia:
there was a video posted with students at   various levels interviewed in Latin. And we
should not forget one of our members is using
these dialogues to upload some delightful videos
to YouTube. Here is the link to the fifteen  parts of `De Te Ipso':
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFRE2KjFl6lCdU-0J1fwlnHjDYzYCB1d0
 Etiam Marīa ipsa Barba nūperrimē  confessa est sē Latīnē colloquī parātam esse dummodo prīmum satis vīnī  rubrī biberit!

Bene dīctum est!  Nōs quoque pōcula tollāmus! Prōsit!

Even Mary Beard herself recently  confessed   she's  ready to talk in Latin if she’s had enough red wine first!

Well said! Let’s raise our glasses, too! Cheers!


Dē Rē Culīnāriā   (recitātiō)
Satis cōnstat plūrimōs fautōrēs Latīnitātis vīvae dēlectāre cibō vīnōque fruentēs ūsum linguae exercēre. Suntne multī   quī nōn tantum cōnsūmere sed etiam coquere sciunt? 
​
Ita vērō. Exemplī grātiā, in `Septimānīs Latīnīs’ duce
Robertō Maier habitīs et in conventibus Lexintoniēn- sibus quae administrat Terentius Tunberg,  participātō -rēs cibum ūnā parant. In TūTubulō  taeniam magnēto- scopicam inveniētis in quō  alius magister, Iāsōn Slanga,  dē arte coquendī Latīnē loquitur    
Everyone knows most `living Latin’ enthusiasts 
like to practise the language while enjoying food  
and wine.  Are there many   who can cook as well as  consume?  

Yes, indeed. For example, in the `Latin Weeks’ 
 held under Robert Maier’s leadership and in the
Lexington conventicula which Terentius  Tunberg organises, the participants prepare food  together.  On YouTube you’ll find a video in  which another teacher, Jason Slanga, talks in Latin about the art of cooking.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKxrHvbfHWo​
Nūperrimē autem sodālis quīdam  Gregis Latīnē 
Loquentium de mūnere culīnāriō suō amoenissimē 
scrīpsit: Mihi datur ut coquō familiārī parāre  
apparātum ad bene cēnandum. Cum uxor vēnerit 
necesse erit ut cibī omnēs (nempe esicia, holera, 
iūscellum fervidum ex pīsīs cum spinaciīs 
carrōtīsque factum, pānis persicus  āliīs caesīs  
atque oleō  sparsus,  acētāria ex herbīs facta) cum 
suīs vāsīs  atque ūtēnsilibus  omnibus sint parāti et
positī in mēnsā. Īdem scrīptor in aliā epistulā dē 
labōribus suīs addidit: Equidem artem  parandī 
cibōs dēlectābilēs amō quamvīs senectūte īnstante  
nōnnumquam labōribus prae fornāculā domesticā  
atque ōnere obsōnandī saltem sexcenties per 
hebdomadem aliquantulum fatīger.

Bene scrīptum est neque tamen intellegō quid significent `esicia’, `āliīs’ atque `pānis persicus’                                         

 `Esicia’ est vocābulum mediaevāle, cuius sunt aliae fōrmae  multae, ut `esocius’,  `isicius’, `isox’, `esox’. Vocābulum clāssicum, quod in operibus Plīniī invenītur, est `salmō.’   `Āliīs’ est figūra ablātīva `ālium’ nōminis, quod `allium’  quoque scrībitur et Anglicē `garlic’ dīcitur.  `Pānis persicus’ est  tālis pānis quālis in Persiā comeditur. Linguā Persicā `naan’ dīcitur, ut sciunt omnēs quī apud caupōnās Indicās in urbe nostrā cēnāre solent!  

Tū ipse coquere scīs?                                                                     

Multōs per annōs sōlus habitābam itaque cibōs simplicēs coquere didicī. Postquam uxōrem in cōnūbium dūxi,  complūrēs diēs coquī mūnere functus sum, sed in arte  culīnāria adeo deeram ut coniūnx mōx constituerit ipsa culīna potīrī!      
                                                                       
Dē cibō satis! Apud Gregem nūper dē vīnō āctum est?

 
Certissimē. Ecce versūs quōs composuit alius sodālis.                   Bacchus profectō deus est vīnī, Amphītrītē dea maris.


Quid mē Bacche iubēs? Adsum! tua iussa capessam:
Pōcula multa bibam sīn minus inteream     
Sint mihi tot cyathī quot mōbilis Amphītrītē  
Piscēs in gremiō quā patet usque gerit! 
Pōma quot autumnus, gignit quot brūma pruīnās 
Flōrēs quot vernō tempore terra pārit!   
    
Optimē! Pōcula tollāmus ad salūtem auctōris exoptandam et exemplum eius nōbile sequāmur!  Deinde apud TūTūbulum pelliculam novam ā Lūciō nostrō ēditō spectēmus,  in quō obsōnātur et  pastam et lycopersica duōbus hominibus coquit                                    

t  And very recently a member of the Grex Latine  
 Loquentium wrote very charmingly about his 
 kitchen job. `It’s down to me as the family cook to 
 prepare the equipment for dining well. When my 
 wife gets back it’s necessary that all the food (salmon,
 vegetables, hot broth made from peas with spinach
 and carrots,  Persian bread sprinkled with, 
 chopped-up garlic and oil, herb salad) with all its 
 dishes and utensils have been got ready and put on 
 the table.’  The same writer in another letter added
 this about his tasks : `Personally I love the art of 
 preparing delicious food even though, as old age 
 bears down,  I may sometimes be a little tired from 
 labours before the domestic stove  and the  burden
 of shopping at least six hundred  times a week,

It’s well written but I don’t understand what                     `esicia’, `aliīs’ and `pānis persicus’ mean.


`Esicia’ is a medieval word, which has  many other  forms such as `esocius’, `isicius’, `isox’, `esox’.  The classical word, which is found in Pliny’s  works, is `salmon’. `Aliīs’ is the ablative form of the noun `āliium’, which is also spelt `allium’ and called `garlic’ in English. `Pānis persicus’ is the kind of bread that’s eaten in Iran. In the Farsi  language,  it’s called `naan’ as all those who dine regularly in the Indian restaurants in this town know.

Can you cook yourself?


​For many years I lived alone and so learned to cook simple food. After I married my wife, for several days I did the cooking, but I was so deficient in the culinary art that my spouse soon decided to take charge of the kitchen herself.

Enough about food! Has there been any discussion of
wine in the Grex recently?

Most certainly.  Here are verses another member
composed. Bacchus, of course, is the god of wine and Amphitrite the goddess of the sea.


What are your orders for me, Bacchus? I’m here!  I’ll follow your commands.  I’ll drink many cups but if less, let me perish! Let my ladles be as many as the fish the moving sea, where laid open, carries in its bosom! as the apples autumn brings, or frosts winter,
As the flowers the earth brings forth in spring.

Excellent!  Let’s raise our glasses to drink the
author’s health, then follow his noble example!  Then let's watch a YouTube video published by our Luke, in which he goes shopping and cooks pasta and tomatoes for two people.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOnF-5pmqjk
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Dē operibus Latīnīs dē rēbus Americānīs scrīptīs


Didicistīne linguam Latīnam in patriā tuā, 
Mexicō ?             

Minimē, tantum Honcongī stūdēre incēpī sed,  cum lingua  Hispānica simillima est Latīnae, sententiās simplicēs intellegere nōn mihi est difficile. 

Audīvī post Americam Merīdiōnālem  in potestātem  Hispānōrum Lusitānōrumque redāctam litterās  Latīnās multōs per annōs ibi flōruisse.                                                   

Ita vērō. Multa opera Latīna in Americā scrīpta sunt sed fortasse opus Americānum nōtissimum nōn in Americā ipsā sed in Eurōpā compositum est. Dē carmine cuī titulus Rusticātiō Mexicāna loquor, quod sacerdōs Iēsuīta Guātemālēnsis, nōminē Raphael Landivar, post  ordinem suam suppressam in Eurōpam relēgātus,  annō  millēsimō septingentēsimō octōgēsimō prīmō ēdidit.  In  prooemiō amōrem patriae suae magnā cum eloquentiā expressit: 
Salvē, cāra Parēns, dulcis Guātīmala, salvē,            
   Dēlicium vītae, fōns et orīgo meae;      
 Quam iuvat, alma, tuās animō persolvere dōtēs,
  Temperiem, fontēs, compita, templa, larēs. 
Iam mihi frondōsōs videor discernere montēs,
  Ac iūgī viridēs mūneris vēris agrōs.                                                                                                           

Pulchrī sunt versūs sed crēdō auctōrem vōcālēs longās et brevēs cōnfūdisse. Nōnne dīcere dēbēmus `Guātimāla’ et orīgō’? 


Fortasse rectē dīxistī sed poētīs per occāsiōnem licet verba ipsa mūtāre. Nōnne Vergilius et Ovidius  `Italia’ verbum in `Ītalia’ trānsfōrmāvērunt?  Certissime est aliquid Vergiliānum in carmine Raphaelis. Rosa Williams, in  symbolā in Interrēti positā, hōs versūs (XIV, 272-76) citat: 
Sed iam laeta vocat rursum mē cervus ad arva
Cervus ab umbrōsīs veniēns ad flūmina silvīs 
Cornigeram sēcum dūcēns per dēvia turbam. 
En tibi septēnōs praestantī corpore cervōs,      
Ingentem superant quī vastā mōle juvencum         
Quībuscum versūs a Vergiliō ipsō in librō prīmō Aenēidos (189-93) scrīptīs comparat: 
ductōrēsque ipsōs prīmum, capita alta ferentēs
cornibus arboreīs, sternit, tum volgus, et omnem
miscet agēns tēlīs nemora inter frondea turbam;
nec prius absistit, quam septem ingentia victor corpora fundat humī, et numerum cum nāvibus aequet]

Scrīpsitne auctor tantum dē animālibus plantīsque?              

Minimē, etiam dē dīversīs activitātibus incolārum      scrīpsit. In librō XV, exemplī grātiā, dē lūdīs agitur,
et haec pictūra in opere ē typīs expressō inclūditur, in quā iuvenēs fūnibus revinctī et circum stīpitem revolventēs dēpinguntur:                           
Did you learn Latin in your own country,  Mexico ?

 
 No, I only started studying in Hong Kong but, as  Spanish is very similar to Latin, it isn’t difficult for me to understand simple sentences.

I’ve heard that after South America fell under Spanish and Portuguese control, Latin literature flourished there for many years.

 
Indeed so. Many Latin works were written in America but perhaps the most famous American work was not produced in America itself but in Europe.  I’m talking about the poem entitled Country Life in Mexico, which was published in  1781 by a Guatemalan Jesuit priest, Raphael Landivar, who was exiled to Europe after the suppression of his order. In his introduction he expressed his love for his native land with great eloquence:
Hail, dear parent, sweet Guatemala, hail
   The delight, source and origin of my life
How pleasant, mother, to think of your gifts
   Climate, springs, byways, churches, spirits
Now I seem to behold your leafy mountains
   And green fields, gift of spring ploughing


The verses are beautiful but I think the author has
mixed up his long and short vowels.  Shouldn’t  we say `Guātimāla’ and `orīgō’?


Perhaps you’re right but poets are sometimes                 
allowed to change the actual words.  Didn’t Virgil
and Ovid turn `Italia’ into `Ītalia’?  There’s certainly something Virgilian in Raphael’s poem. Rose Williams cites these lines on the Internet: 

Now the deer calls me again to happy fields
A  deer coming to rivers from forest shade
Bringing the horned herd in winding line
See! Seven deer with outstanding bodies
Whose vast bulk surpasses a huge bullock
With these she compares lines written by Virgil
himself in Book I  of the Aeneid:
And first the leaders, holding heads high
with tree-like horns he slays, then the rest,
confusing all with spears midst leafy glades
nor stops till in triumph seven great bodies
He lays low in number equaling his ships

Did the author just write about animals and plants?


No, he also wrote about the inhabitants’ various activities, and this picture in included in the printed text. In it, youngsters are shown  fastened with ropes and revolving round a pole.
                          
Picture
Dīxistī auctōrem Guātemālēnsem fuisse. Mīror, igitur, eum in titulō nōn `Americānā’ sed `Mexicānā’ scrīpsisse.   

Respōnsum dedit auctor ipse in  praefātiōne suā:     
`Rusticātiōnis Mexicānae' huic carminī praefīxī  
titulum, tum quod fere omnia in eō congesta ad agrōs Mexicānōs  spectant, tum etiam quod dē Mexicī nōmine tōtam Novam Hispāniam in Eurōpā appellārī sentiam, nūllā dīversōrum  rēgnōrum ratiōne habitā.  
Sī carmen legere vīs, imāginēs secundae ēditiōnis (annō  millēsimō septingentēsimō octōgēsimō) apud Interrēte  in hōc sitū positum est:.
You said that the author was a Guatemalan, so I’m surprised he wrote `Mexicana’ not `Americana’  in his title.

The author himself answered in his preface :
I titled the poem `Rusticatio Mexicana’ both because almost all its contents are concerned with the Mexican countryside and as I feel that all of New Spain is called `Mexico' in Europe, without taking any account of the  different regions.
If you want to read the poem, a reproduction of the whole of  the original edition has been uploaded to this site:
 https://archive.org/details/raphaelislandiva00land
​Annō bis millēsimō prīmō apparuit ēditiō ex typīs ūniversitātis Guātimālēnsis cui nōmen inditum est ex auctōre ipsō.  Textuī Latīnō ​addita sunt prolegomena longa versiōque Hispānica, sed in Interrētī praebentur tantum versūs orīginālēs cum prolegomenīs
In 2001 an edition was published by a Guatemalan university names after the author himself. As well as the Latin text, this included a long Spanish introduction and translation, but only the original verses and the introduction can be accessed on the Internet:
​http://biblio3.url.edu.gt/Rusticatio/rus-latin/
Est etiam ēditiō recēns, ab Andreā Laird cūrāta, in quā  textus  Latīnus,  versiō Anglica et explicātiōnēs amplae praebentur:                                                                        
There’s also a recent edition brought out by   Andrew Laird, with the Latin text, English translation and extensive commentary:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Epic-America-Introduction-Land%C3%ADvar-Rusticatio/dp/0715632817/
Quamquam liber huius scholāris nōn in Interrētī īnspicī potest, relātiōnem ūtilem hīc inveniēs:                              
Although thus scholar’s book can’t be viewed on     
the Internet, you’ll find this account useful:
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2006/2006-10-22.html
Dignus quoque lectū est tractātus ā Rosā Williams, Latīnistā Americānā nōtissimā, scrīptus, cuius mentiōnem anteā fēcī:
Also worth reading is the essay by the prominent American Latinist Rose Williams which I mentioned before:
http://roserwilliams.com/Latin.RomanIdealsHispanicNewWorld.pdf

Suntne alia opera eiusdem generis quae adhūc exstant?

Sciō Iosēphum Rodericium Mellium in Italiā carmen scrīpsisse   c.t. Dē Rēbus Rusticīs Brasilicīs Quattuor Librī sed incertus   sum ūtrum ipse Brasiliēnsis an Lusitānus fuerit. Opus  annō  millēsimō septingentēsimō octōgēsimō  prīmō ēditum est,  sed  ēditiō posterior Olispone millēsimō septingentēsimō  nōnagēsimō  octāvō ē typīs expressa est, quam iam in Interrētī legī potest:
Are there other  works of the same type still extant?

I know José Rodriques de Mello wrote a poem in Italy called De Rebus Rusticīs Brasilicis Quattuor Libri but I’m not sure if he himself was Portuguese or Brazilian.  The work was first published in 1781 but a later edition was printed in Lisbon in 1798 and this can now be read on the Internet:

https://archive.org/details/josephrodericiim00mell
In hāc ēditiōne inclūditur quoque carmen `Dē  Sacchāriī Opificiō’, quod composuit Prudentius Amiralius.  Versūs Melliī, in quibus dē  cultūrā nicotiī et bovum agitur, nūper iterum ēditī sunt et per Interrēte emī possunt:
This edition also includes the poem `On the       Production of Sugar’ by Prodencio do Amiral. Mellio’s work, which deals with the cultivation of nicotine and keeping cattle, has recently been re-published and can be bought on the Internet.
          http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/josephi-rodrigues-mello-rusticis-brasiliae-rebus-carminum/page-1/
Fortasse viatōrēs Eurōpaeī, quī postquam Americam vīsitāvērunt Eurōpam rediērunt, librōs Latīnōs scrīpsērunt.

Ita vērō. Forsitan nōs hodiē maximē tenent relātiō pictūraeque  incīsae quās ēdidit Francofortiī annō millēsimō quīncentēsimō  nōnagēsimō  prīmō Leodiēnsis quīdam,  nōmine  Theodōrus de Bry.  Affirmāvit et  relātiōnem et  pictūrās ab Iacobō le Moyne factās  esse, quī in  expeditiōne Francogallicā annō millēsimō quīncentēsimō  sextagēsimō quartō ad Floridam iter fēcerat et, colōniā  Protestantōrum Francogallōrum ob causās et ēconomicās et religiōsās, āb Hispānīs exstinctā, vix ad Eurōpam vīvus effūgerat. Inter perītōs  dispūtātur ūtrum pictūrae ā le  Moyne in  Floridā rēvērā pictae sint  sed certissimē dēmōnstrant imāginem Indōrum Americānōrum quae in mentibus Europaeīs haesit.  Fortasse nōtissima est haec pictūra, in quā prīnceps Indus ducī Francogallōrum līmitem saxeum dēmōnstrat `insignibus Rēgis Galliae insculptum’ et annō proximō ab  aliō  Francogallicō, nōmine Iōhanne Ribaldō, conditum.  
Perhaps European travellers, who returned to Europe after visiting America, also wrote in Latin.


Yes, indeed. Perhaps most interesting today are
the account and engravings published in Frankfurt in 1591 by a man from Liège, Theodor  de Bry. He claimed that both account and pictures were by Jacques le Moyne, who had travelled to Florida in the 1564 expedition and, after the French Protestant colony was destroyed by the Spaniards for economic and religious  reasons barely escaped with his life to Europe. Experts dispute whether the pictures were really drawn by le Moyne in Florida but they most certainly illustrate the image of American Indians that stuck in European minds. Perhaps the best-known is this picture in which an Indian chief shows the French leader the stone marker`engraved with the King of France’s arms’ which was set up the previous year  by another Frenchman,  Jean Ribault.
Picture
Liber, cui est titulus Brevis nārrātiō eōrum quae in Floridā Americae prōvinciā  Gallīs accidērunt, apud Interrēte in prīmō ex hīs sitibus legere potes. Sī tantum pictūrās īnspicere vīs, eundum est ad secundum:
You can read the book, A short account of that which happened to the French in the American province of Florida, on the Internet on the first of these sites. If you just want to look at the pictures,  go to the second:
http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=PlZEAAAAcAAJ&pg
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/photos/native/lemoyne/lemoyne.htm
Postrēmō mentiō facienda est operis recentiōris, ā magistrō Latinitātis nōmine Herbertō Nutting annō nōnagentēsimō duodecimō ēditi. In hōc librō, cui titulus est A First Latin Reader, sunt multae fābulae iūcundae simplicēsque dē historiā Americae Septentriōnālis agentēs. Ecce paragraphus prīmus:
​

`Quōdam in oppidō Ītaliae ōlim nātus est puer, quī Columbus appellābātur. Diū in patris officīnā labōrāvit. Sed prope erat mare, et puer saepe ad lītus ībat, ut vidēret nāvēs, quae ē portū ad terrās ībant dīversās. In nāvibus erant hominēs multī, et Colombus mare ipse trānsīre saepe​ voluit; tum autem pecūniam nūllam habēbat. Sed posteā, cum iam iuvenis esset, usque as Britanniam et Āfricam nāvigāvit.'

​


​Hoc liber aut in Interrētī legī aut in computātrum dēprōmī potest:

​
Finally, mention should be made of a more recent work, brought out in 1912 by an American Latin teacher called Herbert Nutting. This book, entitled A First Latin Reader, includes many entertaining and simple stories dealing with North American history.  Here is the first paragraph:

​`Once in a certain town in Italy there lived a boy who was called Columbus. He worked for a long time in his father's workshop. Bit the sea was nearby and the boy often used to go to the shore to see the ships, which went out from the port to various lands. There were many people on the ships, and Columbus often wanted to cross the sea himself; however at that time he had no money. But later, when he was already a young man, he sailed as far as Britain and Africa.'

The book can either be read on-line or downloaded to your own computer:
https://archive.org/details/firstlatinreader00nuttrich
​

Dē Centrālī Occupandā

Susceptiō quae `Centrālis Occupanda’ appellātur iam  paene quattuor septimānās habētur. Iam in viīs nōn tot reclāmātōrēs  manent quot in prīncipiō convēnerant sed  studentēs locōs quōsdam adhūc claudunt necnōn interdum conflictūs intrā illōs et custōdēs vigilēs vel susceptiōnis adversāriōs oriuntur.   Quid de hīs rēbus arbitrāris?

Ipse crēdō  quae reclāmātōrēs poscunt iūsta esse neque tamen susceptiōnem prūdentem esse, nam regimen centrāle nōn cessūrum est et magna pars cīvium nostrōrum, quamquam systema electōrāle ā regimine prōpositum nōn comprobant, nōn adeō stomachantur ut ad systema melius adipsiscendum ācriter certent.                                                                                    
 
 

The `Occupy Central’ movement has now been
running for four weeks. There are not now as
many protestors as came together at the start but
students are still blockading certain areas and
there are sometimes clashes between them and
the police or opponents of the movement. What do you think about the situation?          

Personally I believe that the demonstrators’
demands are just but that the movement is not
realistic as the central government is not going
 to give way and the majority of citizens, while
 not approving the electoral system proposed by  
the regime,  are not sufficiently dissatisfied to
fight hard for a better one.
Picture
Reclāmātōrēs affirmant rēctōrēs Pekingēnsēs nōn fēcisse   
quae anteā prōmīsissent; fautōres tamen regiminis centrālis necnōn quīdam officiālēs Britannicī quī ante annum 1997 dē  Honcongō Sīnīs reddendō cum Sīnēnsibus colloquēbantur dīcunt omnia secundum Lēgem Fundamentālem Hongongī facta esse. 


Rēs est intricāta quod per dēfīnītiōnem verbī `dēmocratiae stat. In lēge scrīptum est administrātōrem prīncipālem nostrum annīs prīmīs post Honcongum redditum ā conciliō speciālī, posteā `suffrāgiō ūniversālī secundum modōs  dēmocraticōs’ ēlēctum īrī sed fore ut candidātī ipsī semper  ā conciliō nōminātīvō nōminārentur. Concilium illud ita cōnstitūtum est ut maior pars ā ordinibus commerciālibus  aliīsque ēligātur, quās cōnstat ā regimine centrālī facile movērī. Annō 2017 Administrātor Prīncipālis ā populō ēligētur sed nēminī candidātus fierī licēbit nisi saltem quīnquāgintā centēsimae conciliī nōminātīvī eum nōmīnāvērunt. Sententiā meā atque, ut crēdō, plūrimōrum Honcongēnsium tāle systema dēmocraticum vocārī nōn potest, nam tantum eī quos regimen centrāle comprobābit candidātī fīentur.  Itaque factiōnēs dēmocraticae  iūs`nōminātiōnis cīvilis’  
postulant, per quem omnēs quī numerum quemdam fau-
tōrum dēmōnstrābunt, candidāti esse possint.                            
 




​Cūr regimen Pekingēnse nōn vult Honcongēnsēs modō vērē 
dēmocraticō Administrātōrem Prīncipālem ēligere? Quisquis illō officiō fungētur, etiamsī  cōnsilia regiminis centrālis interdum culpābit, in plūrimīs rēbus cum illō collabōrābit nam inter regiōnem nostram et Sīnam continentālem vincula ēconomica tam dēnsa sunt?  Nōnne autem Pekingēnsēs intelligunt quō sevēriōrēs  sē in rēbus Honcongēnsibus ostendant eō vehementius Taivāniēnsēs reūnificātiōnem recūsātūrōs esse?


Sunt illīus sevēritātis causae variae. Ut mercātōrēs Honcongēnsēs, quōs sibi coadiūtōrēs adiunxērunt, timent nē sī  cīvēs quemlibet ēligere possint, vectigālia augeantur ut plūs pauperibus dētur. Verentur quoque ne, autonomiā in ūnā regiōne auctā,  iūra similia in aliīs partibus, praecipuē in Tibetō et Singangō poscantur et potestās factiōnis commūnisticae dīminuātur. Omnēs scīmus in mentibus eōrum haerēre memoriam Ūniōnis Sovieticae dissolūtae necnōn inceptōrum hodiernōrum ad Britanniam atque Hispāniam dīvidendam spectantium.                                                                                        

The demonstrators claim the Beijing leaders
have not done what they had promised earlier;
however, the regime’s supporters and some
British officials who discussed the return of
Hong Kong to China with the Chinese before 1979 say everything has been done according to Hong Kong’s Basic Law.

It’s a complicated question because it depends on your definition of `democracy.’ The law says that our Chief Executive would be elected by a special committee in the first years after the handover and then `by universal suffrage according to democratic procedures’ but that the  candidates themselves would always be nominated by a nominating committee. That committee has been constituted so that the majority are selected by commercial and other organisations who are known to be under the influence of the central government. In 2017 the Chief Executive will be elected by the people but nobody will be allowed to stand  unless at least 50% of  the committee has nominated them. In my opinion and, I believe, that of most Hong Kongers, such a system cannot be called democratic as only those the central government approves  will become candidates. So the democratic parties are demanding `civil nomination’, with all those able to demonstrate a certain level of popular support allowed to stand.

Why does the Beijing government not want
Hong Kongers to choose a Chief Executive in
a truly democratic manner?  Whoever gets the
job might sometimes criticise the central
 government but will co-operate with them in most things as we are so intertwined economi-
cally with the mainland.  And doesn’t Beijing
realize that the stricter they are on Hong Kong issues, the more vehemently the Taiwanese will
oppose reunification?

There are various reasons for the hard line. Like
the Hong Kong tycoons who they’ve co-opted
to work with them, they fear that if the citizens
can choose anyone they like, taxes could be
increased so more can be spent on the poor.
They are also afraid that if one region is given      
more freedom, similar rights might be demanded
in others, particularly Tibet and Xinjiang. We
all know that they’re obsessed by the memory
of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and also
the recent movements aimed at splitting Britain
and Spain.
Picture
Difficillimum igitur sit reclāmātōribus ea quae dēsīderant efficere.  Impōnēturne sine violentiā inceptō fīnis?   


Quamquam ūnus reclāmātor ab custōdibus verberārī per  
televisiōnem vīsus est et adversāriī reclāmātōrum vim 
interdum adhibuērunt, tumultūs maximī nōn ēvēnērunt. 
Plērīque custōdēs pūblicī mitiōrēs sunt quam in aliīs terrīs,  mitiōrēs quoque sunt reclāmātōrēs nostrī quam peregrīnī. Exspectō inceptum sēnsim ēvānitūrum esse.


Spērō sententiam tuam rēctam esse.    
       

Dē Festīs Vernālibus apud Sīnēnsēs et Rōmānōs  


Erāntne tibi multa ante Novum Annum Sīnicum facienda?



Ita vērō.  Necesse erat tōtam diaetam purgāre et omnia in
locō suō pōnere. Ipse omnēs librōs ē librāriīs extrahere
dēbēbam ut pluteōs necnōn librōs ipsōs purgārem sed labor maior erat uxōrī, quippe cui  nōn tantum omnia alia  verrenda mundandaque sed etiam cibus et flōrēs nōbīs atque aviae emendi erant.



Cēnāvistisne diē ultimō annī veteris cum familiāribus?



Ita, ut semper illō diē fit,apud socrum meam ūnā cum
sorōre uxōris atque marītō eius cēnāvi. Deinde fīliam meam ad Forum Flōrāle condūxistī, ubi balūnam et lūsōrium  ēmit.

Quid diē prīmā Novī Annī fēcistī?

Ad diaetam aviae īvimus ut inter trālāticiō nōs et ūnā
cēnārēmus. Diē secundā uxōris materteram et eius
familiam eius vīsitāvimus, vesperī iterum apud aviam
cēnāvimus et spectāculum pyrotechnicum, quod illā diē
quotannīs in portū Victōriānō fit,  televisiōne spectāvimus.

So it would be very difficult for the demonstra-
tors to achieve what they want. Will the movement be brought to an end without violence ?

Although one demonstrator was shown on TV
being beaten by the police and opponents of the
demonstrations have sometimes used force, no
large-scale riots have taken place. Most of the
police are gentler than in other countries and
the demonstrators are gentler than foreign ones.
I expect the movement will gradually fade. 

I hope you’re right about that.





Did  you have a lot of things to do before
Chinese New Year?


Indeed yes. We needed to clean the whole flat a
and put everything in its proper place.  I myself
had to take out all the books from the book-
cases so that I could clean the shelves as well  
as the books but my wife had more work as she
not only had to sweep and clean all the other
things but also buy food and flowers for us    
 and for grandma.

Did you dine with your relatives on the last day      of the old year?

 
Yes, as always on that day, we had dinner at  my mother-in-law’s with my sister-in-law and  her husband. Then I took my daughter to the Flower Market, where she bought a balloon and a toy.

What did you do on  New Year day?

We went to grandma’s flat to exchange greet-
ings in the traditional way and have dinner
together. On the second day we visited my
wife’s aunt and in the evening again dined at
grandma’s and watched on television the fire-
works show that always takes place in  Victoria Harbour on that day. 
Picture
Estne necesse vōbīs multam `Pecūniam Faustam’ dare?


Profectō danda est familiāribus nātū minōribus, līberīs 
amīcōrum necnōn custōdibus nōn sōlum in aedificiō nostrō sed etiam in aliīs quae vīsitāre solēmus.    


Quid aliud facitis ad festum celebrandum?                               
Titulōs trālāticiōs, ut `Dracōnis Equīque Spīritus’ (`龍馬精神)  `Corpus  Sānum’ (身體建康)  et `Exeuntī Ineuntīque Pāx’  (出入平安) in chartīs rubrīs scrīptōs parietibus affigimus.  

Did you have to give a lot of `Lucky Money’?


Of course we have to give it to younger relatives, friends’ children and also the  security guards not just in our own building but also in other ones which we visit regularly.

What else do you do to celebrate the festival?

We stick on the wall traditional sentences
 written on red paper, for example  `Dragon
and horse spirit' (Lung Ma Jing San),`Bodily Health’ (San Tai Kin Hong) and `Peace as You Leave and Enter’ (Cheut Yap Ping On).
Picture
Sīnēnsēs novum annum vere instaurant. Quid dē Rōmānīs antīquīs?        
​                                                                                          

Crēdimus annum Rōmānum in prīncipiō ā mēnse Martiō incēpisse, quam ob rem nōmina Quīnctīlis, Sextīlis, September,  Octōber, November, December mēnsibus data sunt quae, cum  initium annī ad Iānuārium mōtum esset, septimus, octāvus,  nōnus, decimus, ūndecimus et duodecimus factī sunt. 


Quandō Iānuārius prīmus factus est?                                         
Rēs est incerta. Trāduntur Rōmulus urbem mēnse Martiō condidisse et eundem mēnsem initium annī fēcisse, successor eius, Nūma Pompilius mēnsibus decem patris  Iānuārium Februāriumque addidisse et Iānuārium prīmum fēcisse.  Huic fābulae, tamen, historicī diffīdunt, hoc  sōlum prō certō habent, cōnsulēs, ōlim Īdibus Martiīs, ab annō  153 ante Christum nātum Kalendīs Iānuāriīs officium suscēpisse.  Crēdimus diem mūtātam esse quod saepe necesse esset cōnsulibus, rēbus urbānīs compositīs, ad Hispāniam pervenīre antequam tempus pugnandī inciperet.   





​Etiamsī aevō classicō  mēnsis Martius nōn erat initium annī,
fortasse festum vernāle adhūc celebrābātur? 

Rectē dīxistī, nam festum Annae Perennae, quae Īdibus   Martiīs incidēbat, quasī continuātiō erat rītuum quae   
ōlim nōn tantum veris sed etiam annī initium celebrābant. Quamquam erant inter Rōmānōs ipsōs quī crēdēbant illam  deam esse Annam Tyriam, sorōrem Dīdōnis, rēvēra nōmen eius `annus’ vocābulō cognātum est. In opere Ovidiī, cui  titulus Fastī, poēta modum celebrandī hīs versibus dēscrīpsit:  


Īdibus est Annae festum geniāle Perennae 
     nōn procul ā rīpīs, advena Thӯbri, tuīs                            
plēbs venit ac viridēs passim disiecta per herbās                      pōtat, et accumbit cum pare quisque suā.                       
sub Iove pars dūrat, paucī tentōria pōnunt,                         

     sunt quibus ē rāmīs frondea facta cas’ est;                        pars, ubi prō rigidīs calamōs statuēre columnīs, 
     dēsuper extentas imposuēre togās.                                      
sōle tamen vīnōque calent annōsque precantur  
     quot sūmant cyathōs, ad numerumque bibunt.  

                                                   (ex Librō III,  523-532)           


Ēheu, exemplum antīquum nōn sequendum est!  Ut mittam sodālem tantum octō annōrum, etiam nōs plūs sexagintā  nātī  ēbriissimī fiāmus, si tot pōcula hauriāmus quot  annōs futūrōs dēsīderāmus!   
The Chinese start the New Year in the spring.
What about the ancient Romans?

We believe that the Roman year originally began in March, for which reason the names Quinctilis, Sextilis, September, October, November and December were given to the months which became the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth after the start of the year was  moved to January.

When was January made the first?
That’s uncertain. Romulus is traditionally said to have  founded the city in the month of March and made that month the start of the year and his successo Numa Pompilius to have added January and February to his father’s ten months and made January the first one.  However, historians are sceptical about this story and the only thing they regard as certain is that the consuls once came into office on the Ides (15th) of March but from 153 B.C. on the Kalends (1st) of January. We believe the date was changed because it was often necessary for the consuls, after making arrangements in the capital, to reach Spain before the military campaigning season began,

Even if March was not the start of the year, perhaps a spring festival was still celebrated?

You’re right as the festival of Anna Perenna.
which fell on the Ides of March, was a kind
of continuation of the rituals which once
marked not only the start of spring but also
of the year.  Although some Romans thought
that goddess was Anna from Tyre, the sister
of Dido, the name is really cognate with the
word `annus’ (year). In Ovid’s Fastī, the poet
described the celebrations in these verses:

`On the Ides is the pleasant festival of Anna
Perenna. Not far from your banks, stranger
Tiber, the common people come and drink,
scattered all over the green grass and each
one lies back with his partner. Some brave

the open air, a few pitch tents, and some
make a leafy hut from branches. Some, after
erecting canes for rigid columns, place
spread-out togas on them. Still they are warm
from the sun and the wine and they pray for

as many years as they consume glasses, and
drink till they get to the number.’

Oh dear, the ancient example should not be
followed!  To say nothing of the member
who is only eight, even those of us over sixty
would get very drunk if we downed as many              cups as we want future years!
Picture
Fōns Annae Perennae / Fountain of Anna Perenna
Dē Festō Mediī Autumnī

Quōmodo Honcongēnsēs Festum Mediī Autumnī celebrant ?
 
Multī sunt qui mōrēs veterēs adhūc sequantur. Tōta familia solet diē ipsō domī ūna cēnāre deinde, sī caelum serēnum est, hortum pūblicum adeunt aut collem proximum ascendunt ut omnēs lūnam plēnam spectantēs placentās lūnārēs edant et līberī lanternīs lūdant.
 
Tū ipse Honcongō trigintā annōs habitās. Recordārisne prīmum festum Mediī Autumnī quod hīc dēgistī ?
 
Ita vērō. Magister eram in schola secundāria et occupātissimus. Cum sōlus illō tempore habitārem, cōnstituī ad summum Montem Victōriānum pedibus ascendere ut celebrātiōnēs vidērem. Illō modō nunquam anteā īveram, nam tantum trāmine fūniculārī vectus ascenderam, sed semper sursum progressus ad summum montem sine difficultāte pervēnī. Clāriter recordor mē statim institōri cuidam incurrisse, quī, simulatque faciem umbrivirī cōnspexit, vās metallicum cervisiae ē cistā extractum mihi obtulit. Neque tamen accēpi nam valdē sitiēbam et primum necesse erat mihi potiōnem sine alcoholī bibere. Deinde familiās lanternāsque aliquamdiū spectāvī et domum sērius revertī. Difficultās nōn erat, nam quotannīs nocte Mediī Autumnī trāmina subterrānea per tōtam noctem hominēs vehunt et postrīdiē est fēria pūblica.
 
Quid dē orīgine festī illīus scīmus ?
 
Temporibus antiquissimīs Sīnēnsēs lūnam deam coluisse videntur, sub dynastiā Tangia prīmum nōbilēs deinde plebs coēpērunt sub dīvō sedentēs dum lūnam admīrantur convīvium participāre. Aevō Sungiō diēs decima quīnta mēnsis octāvī  cōnstitūta est ad hanc cēlebrātiōnem quotannīs habendam. Dē hīs rēbus in hāc pāginā legere poteris :
https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/mid-autumn-festival-history-origin.htm
 
Et quid dē placentīs lūnāribus ?
 
Trādunt cum Sīnēnsēs contrā dynastiam Mongoliānam rebelliōnem facere cōnstituissent ducēs mandāta in tālibus placentīs cēlāta ad populum mīsisse.
 

How do Hong Kong people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival?

There are many who still follow the old customs.  On the day itself the whole family normally has dinner at home together, then, if the weather is goof, they go to a park or climb a nearby hill so that they can all eat moon cakes whilst looking at the full moon and the children can play with lanterns,

​You have been living in Hong Kong yourself for thirty years. Do you remember the first Mid-Autumn festival you spent here?

Yes, indeed. I was a secondary school teacher and very busy. As at that time I was living on my own, I decided to go up to the top of Victoria Peak on foot so  I could look at the celebrations. I had never before done it like that, as previously I had only gone up on the Peak Tram, but I just kept on going up-hill and I reached the top without any problem. I remember very clearly that I immediately came across a hawker, who, as soon as he saw a gweilo face, pulled out a can of beer from his box and offered it to me. However, I didn't take it because I was extrmely thirsty and needed a non-alcoholic drink first.  Then i spent some time looking at the families and the lanterns and returned home rather late. There was no problem with this because every year  on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival the MTR trains keep carrying passengers right through the night and the next day is a public holiday.



What do we know about the origin of the festival?

 In very ancient times the Chinese seem to have worshipped the moon as a goddess and under the Tang dynasty (618-907) first the nobles and then the common people started to sit outside and join in a party whilst they admired the full moon. In the Sung period (960-1279) the 15th day of the 8th month was fixed as the day for holding an annual celebration. You can read about this in the following page:

​​https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/mid-autumn-festival-history-origin.htm

And what about moon cakes?

​The traditional story is that when the Chinese had decided to rebel against the Mongol (Yuen) dynasty their leaders sent instructions to the people  hidden in cakes of that kind,
Picture
https://internchina.com/the-strange-thing-about-chinese-holidays/
​Suntne aliae fābulae ad hoc festum pertinentēs ?

Ita vērō. Dīcunt fēminam quandam, nōmine Seung Ngor (嫦娥, Chang E), potiōnem immortālitātis, ā Rēgīnā Caelī ipsā marītō eius datam, cōnsumpsisse et statim ad lūnam volāvisse. Seung Ngo ibi cum cuniculō ingentī et furciferō quōdam, quī arborem caedere semper frūstrā cōnātur, aeternō vīvit. Alii affirmant fēminam potiōnem ā marītō dolōsē abstulisse, aliī crēdunt illam bibisse nē medicīna ā discipulō marītī abriperētur. Videnda sunt hae pāginae :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e
 
https://www.ancient.eu/article/894/most-popular-gods--goddesses-of-ancient-china/
 
Et quid tū ipse hōc annō faciēs ?
 
Vesperī festī discipulōs docēre dēbēbō sed postrīdiē barbacoae tuae intererō neque, ut abhinc trigintā annōs, cervisiam recūsābō.
Are there other stories connected with this festival?

Yes indeed. People say that a woman named Seung Ngor consumed the elixir of immortality given to her husband by the Queen of Heaven herself and then immediately flew to the moon. Seung Ngor lives there for ever in the company of a giant rabbit and of a criminal who is always trying in vain to cut down a tree.. Some state that the woman stole the elixir from her husband by a trick, others believe that she drank it to stop a student of her husband from stealing it. See the following pages:


​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e
 
https://www.ancient.eu/article/894/most-popular-gods--goddesses-of-ancient-china/

​
And what will you yourself do this year? ​

I will have to teach students on the evening of the festival but the following day I'll be at your barbecue, and, unlike thirty years ago, I won't refuse a beer!
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