Lectitō › Fabulae Faciles › Fabulae Faciles: Perseus
Fabulae Faciles 5
The Gorgon's head
Ritchie, Fabulae Faciles: Perseus. Latin text with a sentence-by-sentence English translation, notes and vocabulary.
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Read in Lectitō5.1Rēs difficillima erat caput Gorgonis abscīdere; eius enim cōnspectū hominēs in saxum vertēbantur.
It was a very difficult thing to cut off the Gorgon's head, for at the sight of her people were turned to stone.
Note. vertēbantur: the imperfect shows what always happened: people 'were turned' to stone.
5.2Propter hanc causam Minerva speculum Perseō dederat.
For this reason Minerva had given Perseus the mirror.
Note. dederat: pluperfect, 'had given'.
5.3Ille igitur tergum vertit, et in speculum īnspiciēbat; hōc modō ad locum vēnit ubi Medūsa dormiēbat.
So he turned his back, and looked into the mirror; in this way he came to the place where Medusa was sleeping.
Note. hōc modō: 'in this way'.
5.4Tum falce suā caput eius ūnō ictū abscīdit.
Then with his sickle he cut off her head with one stroke.
Note. falce suā: 'with his sickle'. ūnō īctū: 'with one blow'.
5.5Cēterae Gorgonēs statim ē somnō excitātae sunt, et ubi rem vīdērunt, īrā commōtae sunt.
The other Gorgons were at once woken from sleep, and when they saw what had happened, they were moved to anger.
5.6Arma rapuērunt, et Perseum occīdere volēbant.
They seized their weapons, and wanted to kill Perseus.
5.7Ille autem dum fugit, galeam magicam induit; et ubi hoc fēcit, statim ē cōnspectū eārum ēvāsit.
But while he was fleeing, he put on the magic helmet; and when he did this, he at once escaped from their sight.
Vocabulary
| rēs, reī, f. | thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really |
| difficilis, -e | not easy, difficult |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| caput, capitis, n. | head |
| abscīdō, -cīdere, -cīdī, -cīsus | cut away or off |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| enim, conj. | for |
| cōnspectus, -ūs, m. | sight |
| homō, hominis, m. | man |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| saxum, -ī, n. | rock, stone |
| vertō, vertere, vertī, versus | turn |
| propter, prep. with acc. | on account of, because of |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| speculum, -ī, n. | looking-glass, mirror |
| dō, dare, dedī, datus | give |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| igitur, conj. | therefore |
| tergum, -ī, n. | back |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| īnspiciō, -spicere, -spēxī, -spectus | look into or upon |
| modus, -ī, m. | way, manner |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| locus, -ī, m., plur. loca, -orum, n. | place, situation |
| veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus | come |
| ubi, adv. | where; conj., when |
| dormiō, -īre, -īvī | sleep |
| tum, adv. | then, at that time |
| falx, falcis, f. | sickle; curved sword, falchion |
| suus, -a, -um | his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| īctus, -ūs, m. | blow |
| cēterī, -ae, -a, plur. adj. | the other, the remaining, the rest of |
| statim, adv. | on the spot, forthwith, at once, immediately |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| somnus, -ī, m. | sleep, drowsiness |
| excitō, -citāre, -citāvī, -citātus | call out, arouse |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| īra, -ae, f. | anger, wrath |
| commoveō, -movēre, -mōvī, -mōtus | move, rouse; disturb |
| arma, -ōrum, n. plur. | arms, weapons |
| rapiō, -ere, -uī, -tus | seize, snatch |
| occīdō, -cīdere, -cīdī, -cīsus | cut down, kill |
| volō, velle, voluī | wish |
| autem, conj. | moreover; but, however; now |
| dum, conj. | while, as; as long as; until |
| fugiō, fugere, fūgī, fugitūrus | flee, run away |
| galea, -ae, f. | helmet |
| magicus, -a, -um | magic |
| induō, induere, induī, indūtus | put on; clothe |
| faciō, facere, fēcī, factus | make, do; iter facere, see iter |
| ēvādō, -vādere, -vāsī, -vāsus | go forth, get away, escape |