Ep. 5.2.1Accēpī pulcherrimōs turdōs, cum quibus parem calculum pōnere nec urbis cōpiīs ex Laurentīnō nec maris tam turbidīs tempestātibus possum.I have received some very fine thrushes, which I cannot match with an equal reckoning, either from the resources of the city, being at my Laurentine house, or from the sea in such stormy weather. Ep. 5.2.2Recipiēs ergō epistulās sterilēs et simpliciter ingrātās, ac nē illam quidem sollertiam Diomēdis in permūtandō mūnere imitantēs.So you will receive a letter that is barren and frankly ungrateful, not even imitating the shrewdness of Diomedes in exchanging gifts. Ep. 5.2.2Sed, quae facilitās tua, hōc magis dabis veniam, quod sē nōn merērī fatentur.But such is your good nature that you will pardon it all the more because it confesses it does not deserve pardon. Ep. 5.2.2Valē.Farewell.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 5 › Pliny, Letter 5.2
Pliny · Epistulae V
Pliny, Letter 5.2
Thanks for a gift of thrushes
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: indirect statement ×2, gerunds and gerundives ×1
Latin vocabulary for this passage (46 words)
| accipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take to oneself, receive, accept; hear; suffer |
| pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum | beautiful |
| turdus, -ī m. | thrush |
| cum, prep, with abl. | with |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| pār, paris | equal |
| calculus, -ī m. | pebble, stone; counter (for reckoning or voting); ad calculos vocare: reckon up exactly |
| pōnō, pōnere, posuī, positus | place, put; pōnī with in and abl., to be placed in, rest or depend on |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| urbs, urbis, f. | city |
| cōpia, -ae, f. | supply, abundance; plur., forces, troops |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| mare, maris, n. | sea |
| tam, adv. | so |
| turbidus, -a, -um | stormy, wild, confused |
| tempestās, -tātis, f. | weather; storm, tempest |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| recipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | take or get back, recover; sē recipere, to betake oneself, withdraw; to collect oneself, recover |
| ergō (adv.) | therefore, then; quid ergō? what then? |
| epistula, -ae f. | letter |
| sterilis, -e | barren, unable to bear children |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| simpliciter (adv.) | simply, plainly, frankly |
| ingrātus, -a, -um | unwelcome, unpleasant; ungrateful |
| atque, ac (conj.) | and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants) |
| nē, adv. | not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest |
| ille, illa, illud, dem. pron. | that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc |
| quidem, adv. | in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even |
| sollertia, -ae f. | ingenuity, resourcefulness |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| permūtō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | exchange, give in exchange (for: abl.) |
| mūnus, mūneris, n. | service, office, duty; present, gift |
| imitor, -ārī, -ātus sum | copy, imitate |
| sed, conj. | but |
| facilitās, -ātis f. | easiness of manner, good nature, approachability |
| tuus, -a, -um | thy, thine, your |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| magis, comp. adv. | more, rather |
| dō, dare, dedī, datus | give |
| venia, -ae f. | pardon, forgiveness |
| quod, conj. | that, in that, because |
| suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron. | himself, herself, itself, themselves |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| mereor, -ērī, meritus sum | deserve; (dē) do service to |
| fateor, -ērī, fassus sum | admit, confess |
| valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus | be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail |
Pliny, Epistulae V. Latin text: the Perseus digital text of Pliny's Letters, public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.