21 RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION - HERCULES 21 - FIRST LABOUR: THE NEMEAN LION WITH NOTES AND INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION

HERCULES 21 – FIRST LABOUR : THE NEMEAN LION

a)
Prímum ab Eurystheó iússus est Herculés leónem occídere quí illó tempore vallem Nemeaeam reddébat ínféstam. In silvás igitur in quibus leó habitábat statim sé contulit. Mox feram vídit, et arcum, quem sécum attulerat, intendit; éius tamen pellem, quae dénsissima erat, tráicere nón potuit. Tum clává mágná quam semper gerébat leónem percussit, frústrá tamen; neque enim hóc modó eum occídere potuit. Tum démum collum mónstrí bracchiís suís complexus est et faucís éius omnibus víribus compressit. Hóc modó leó breví tempore exanimátus est; núlla enim respírandí facultás eí dabátur. Tum Herculés cadáver ad oppidum in umerís rettulit; et pellem, quam détráxerat, posteá pró veste gerébat. Omnés autem quí eam regiónem incolébant, ubi fámam dé morte leónis accépérunt, vehementer gaudébant et Herculem mágnó honóre habébant.

b)

  Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR.

Primum  - is often used in enumeration whereas primo is used when contrasing one state or action with another which follows.

Reddebat – imperfect tense of the verb reddo, -dere, -didi, -ditus, give back, return, restore; or render as here ‘it was rendering’.

Vallem – accusative of vallis, -is, f., valley.

Infestam – is a false friend as it does not mean infested as you might think but comes from the adjective infestus, -a, -um, meaning ‘insafe, dangerous’.

In silvas – notice the accusative here meaning ‘into the woods’ involving motion into, whereas it is followed by in quibus meaning ‘in which’, ablative of place.

Se contulit – perfect tense of se conferre, to make one’s way to.

Attulerat – he had brought, pluperfect tense of ad-fero, adferre, (attuli, adlatus).

Secum – with him (referring to the subject),  notice that the preposition cum follows and is joined to the pronoun.

Intendit – perfect tense of intendo, -tendere, -tendi, -tentus meaning stretch out; stretch, draw, aim.

Gerebat – the imperfect tense is signposted here by the adverb semper ‘always’ indicating something repeated or habitual in the past. It comes from the verb gero, gerere, gessi, gestus, means wear or carry.

Neque enim – for … not.

Complexus est – this is the perfect tense of the deponent verb complector (verbs which look passive but are active in meaning) and means ‘he embraced’ but here we translated it as ‘he put his arms around’.

Omnibus viribus – ablative of manner meaning with all his strength or might.

Brevi tempore – ablative of time within which.

Facultas -atis – feminine noun of the third declension which agrees with nulla meaning ‘no opportunity’.

Respirandi – genitive of the gerund respirandum meaning ‘of breathing’.

Rettulit – another ‘ferre’ verb meaning to bring or carry back.

Ubi – can mean where, or as here ‘when’.

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Prímum ab Eurystheó iússus est Herculés

First Hercules is ordered by Eurstheus

leónem occídere quí illó tempore

to kill the lion which at that time

vallem Nemeaeam reddébat ínféstam.

Was making the Nemean valley unsafe.

In silvás igitur in quibus leó habitábat

Into the woods therefore, in which the lion was living

statim sé contulit. Mox feram vídit,

he made his way at once.  Soon he saw the beast,

et arcum, quem sécum attulerat, intendit;

and he drew his bow which he had brought with him;

éius tamen pellem, quae dénsissima erat,

his hide was so vert thick however,

tráicere nón potuit.

That he could not pierce it.

Tum clává mágná quam semper gerébat

Then with a large club which he always carried

leónem percussit, frústrá tamen;

he struck the lion, in vain however;

neque enim hóc modó eum occídere potuit.

For he could not in this way kill it.

Tum démum collum mónstrí bracchiís suís complexus est

Then at last he put his arms round the monster’s neck

et faucís éius omnibus víribus compressit.

And squeezed his throat with all his might.

Hóc modó leó breví tempore exanimátus est;

In this way the lion lost consciousness in a short time.

núlla enim respírandí facultás eí dabátur.

For he was given no opportunity of breathing.

Tum Herculés cadáver ad oppidum in umerís rettulit;

Then Hercules carried the body back to the town on his shoulders;

Et pellem, quam détráxerat, posteá pró veste gerébat.

And the hide, which he had, afterwards he wore as a garment.

Omnés autem quí eam regiónem incolébant,

All those however, who lived in that region,

ubi fámam dé morte leónis accépérunt,

when they heard about the death of the lion,

vehementer gaudébant et Herculem mágnó honóre habébant.

Rejoiced heartily and held Hercules in great esteem.

d) The following section is as a) but without the macrons for you to copy and: i) to see if you can put the macrons in; ii) provide your own translation.

Primum ab Eurystheo iussus est Hercules leonem occidere qui illo tempore vallem Nemeaeam reddebat infestam. In silvas igitur in quibus leo habitabat statim se contulit. Mox feram vidit, et arcum, quem secum attulerat, intendit; eius tamen pellem, quae densissima erat, traicere non potuit. Tum clava magna quam semper gerebat leonem percussit, frustra tamen; neque enim hoc modo eum occidere potuit. Tum demum collum monstri bracchiis suis complexus est et faucis eius omnibus viribus compressit. Hoc modo leo brevi tempore exanimatus est; nulla enim respirandi facultas ei dabatur. Tum Hercules cadaver ad oppidum in umeris rettulit; et pellem, quam detraxerat, postea pro veste gerebat. Omnes autem qui eam regionem incolebant, ubi famam de morte leonis acceperunt, vehementer gaudebant et Herculem magno honore habebant.