RITCHIE'S FABULAE FACILES RITCHIE'S SIMPLE STORIES: 18/12/2011

THIS IS A STATUE OF HERCULES AND CACUS

HERCULES 42 - CACUS STEALS THE OXEN
a)Breví tempore ad flúmen Tiberim vénit. Tum tamen núlla erat urbs in eó locó, Róma enim nóndum condita erat. Herculés itinere fessus cónstituit ibi paucós diés morárí, ut sé ex labóribus recreáret. Haud procul á valle ubi bovés páscébantur spélunca erat, in quá Cácus, horribile mónstrum, tum habitábat. Híc speciem terribilem praebébat, nón modo quod ingentí mágnitúdine corporis erat, sed quod ígnem ex óre exspírábat. Cácus autem dé adventú Herculis fámam accéperat; noctú igitur vénit, et dum Herculés dormit, quattuor pulcherrimórum boum abripuit. Hós caudís in spéluncam tráxit, né Herculés é vestígiís cógnóscere posset quó in locó célátí essent.

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.

Brevi tempore – ablative of time within which.

nulla erat urbs – don’t forget that erat can mean ‘there was’ as here and notice the word order, literally ‘none there was city’ or as we might say ‘there was no city’

itinere - ablative of cause.

in eo loco – ablative of place where (locus i, neuter noun second declension) following in, ‘in this place’.

(nondum) condita erat – ‘had (not yet) been built’ agreeing with Roma feminine noun of the first declension.

fessus – past participle being used as an adjective with Hercules meaning ‘Hercules since he was weary, or ‘Hercules being weary’ etc. A Latin partiple or adjective must often be expanded into a clause when we translate into idiomatic English.

paucos dies – accusative of duration of time.

recrearet – imperfect subjunctive of recreo, recreare, -avi, -atus, make anew, renew, or refresh following ut meaning in order that, in order to, with se, himself – all taken together meaning therefore ‘in order that he might refresh himself’, or ‘in order to refresh himself’.

haud – adverb, ‘not at all, by no means’ which modifies a single word, usually an adjective or an adverb, as here as it is is modifiying procul, an adverb meaning far off, at a distance, far.

valle – following the preposition a or ab we have the ablative of vallis, -is, feminine noun of the third declension, meaning ‘from the valley’.

praebebat – third person singular imperfect tense of praebeo, ere, ui, itus, meaning to give, show, present, exhibit, display etc.
Cacus autem - autem is a tricky word to translate; it can mean, but, however, moreover, on the other hand etc. I put 'Cacus however' originally, but upon reflection prefer moreover as has been suggested, but over and above both I have opted for 'Now Cacus had heard' etc which leads us to ... and so ... implied, giving the reason he came sneakily at night to steal the cattle.

acceperat – third person singular pluperfect tense of accipio, -ere, epi, which depending on the context can mean, take to oneself, receive, accept, or as here, hear, meaning therefore ‘he had heard’.
dum Hercules dormit - dum is followed by a present tense in Latin (here dormit is third person singular present tense of dormire) but should be translated with a past tense 'while he slept'.

abrupuit – third person singular of abripio, -ripere, -ripui, -reptus meaning, ‘he snatched away, carried off’.

pulcherrimorum boum - genitive plural of the superlative adjective pulcherrimus a um, agreeing with genitive plural of bos, bovis (cow, ox).

ne – ne here introduces a negative clause of purpose, ‘so that, in order that .... not’, followed by the imperfect subjunctive posset, put together they mean ‘so that he could not’.

quo in loco – ‘in which place’ but notice the word order; the preposition is often sandwiched like this.

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.

Brevi tempore ad flumen Tiberim venit.

In a short time he came to the river Tiber.

Tum tamen nulla erat urbs in eo loco,

At that time however there was no city in this place

Roma enim nondum condita erat.

For Rome had not yet been built.

Hercules itinere fessus

Hercules, since he was tired by the journey

constituit ibi paucos dies morari,

decided to linger there for a few days,

ut se ex laboribus recrearet.

in order that he might refresh himself from his labours.

Haud procul a valle ubi boves pascebantur

Not far from the valley where the cattle were feeding

spelunca erat, in qua Cacus,

was a cave, in which Cacus,

horribile monstrum, tum habitabat.

a horrible monster, was living at that time.

Hic speciem terribilem praebebat,

He had a terrible appearance,

non modo quod ingenti magnitudine corporis erat,

not only because of the enormous size of his body

sed quod ignem ex ore exspirabat.

but because from his mouth he breathed out fire.

Cacus autem de adventu Herculis famam acceperat;

Now Cacus had heard a rumour of the arrival of Hercules;

noctu igitur venit, et dum Hercules dormit,

and so when night came and while Hercules slept,

quattuor pulcherrimorum boum abripuit.

he snatched away four of the most lovely cattle.

Hos caudis in speluncam traxit,

These he dragged into the cave by their tails

ne Hercules e vestigiis cognoscere posset

so that Hercules would not be able to find out from the tracks

quo in loco celati essent.

in which place they were hidden.

d) The following section is for you to copy and translate.