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Pliny · Epistulae VIII

Pliny, Letter 8.7

Playing master to a friend

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Ep. 8.7.1Neque ut magistrō magister neque ut discipulō discipulus - sīc enim scrībis -, sed ut discipulō magister - nam tū magister, ego contrā;Not as a master to a master, nor as a pupil to a pupil — for so you write — but as a master to a pupil — for you are the master, I the opposite; Ep. 8.7.1atque adeō tū in scholam revocās, ego adhūc Sāturnālia extendō - librum mīsistī.and indeed you are calling me back to school, while I am still prolonging the Saturnalia — you have sent me your book. Ep. 8.7.2Num potuī longius hyperbaton facere, atque hōc ipsō probāre eum esse mē quī nōn modo magister tuus, sed nē discipulus quidem dēbeam dīcī?Could I have made a longer hyperbaton, and by this very fact prove that I am the man who ought to be called not only not your master, but not even your pupil? Ep. 8.7.2Sūmam tamen persōnam magistrī, exseramque in librum tuum iūs quod dedistī, eō līberius quod nihil ex mē interim missūrus sum tibi in quō tē ulcīscāris.Still, I shall assume the role of master, and exercise against your book the right you have given me, all the more freely because I shall not be sending you anything of mine meanwhile on which you could take revenge.

Ep. 8.7.2Valē.Farewell.

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Latin vocabulary for this passage (54 words)
neque or nec, conj.and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
magister, -trī, m.master
discipulus, -ī m.pupil, disciple
sīc, adv.so, thus
enim, conj.for
scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptuswrite
sed, conj.but
nam, conj.for
tū, tuī, pers. pron.thou, you
ego, meī, pers. pron.I
contrā, prep, with acc.against, contrary to
atque, ac (conj.)and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
adeō (adv.)so far, to such a degree; so
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
schola, -ae f.lecture hall, school; lecture
revocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumcall back, recall
adhūc, adv.to this point, up to this time, yet, still
extendō, -ere, -tendī, -tentumstretch out, extend
liber, librī m.book; record
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missussend
num, adv., introducing a question to which a negative answer is expecteduntranslatable
possum, posse, potuībe able, have power, can
longē, adv.far
hyperbaton, -ī n.hyperbaton, inversion of the natural word order
faciō, facere, fēcī, factusmake, do; iter facere, see iter
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
probō, -āre, -āvī, -ātumprove, show; approve
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
nōn, adv.not
modo, adv.only
tuus, -a, -umthy, thine, your
nē, adv.not; nē ... quidem, not ... even; conj., that not, lest
quidem, adv.in fact, indeed, certainly; nē ... quidem, not ... even
dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itusowe; with infin., ought
dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictussay, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day
sūmō, sūmere, sūmpsī, sūmptustake under or up, take; poenam sūmere, to exact or inflict punishment
tamen, adv.however, yet, nevertheless
persōna, -ae f.mask; character, role; personal standing
exserō, -ere, -seruī, -sertusput out, stretch out; bare
que, enclitic conj.and
iūs, iūris, n.right, justice, law; iūs dīcere, to pronounce judgment; iūs iūrandum, iūris iūrandī, oath
dō, dare, dedī, datusgive
eō (adv.)to that place, thither; to that point (usque eō); (with comparatives) by so much, all the (more)
līberē (adv.; comp. līberius)freely, frankly
quod, conj.that, in that, because
nihil, n., indecl.nothing
ex, ē (prep. + abl.)out of, from; of (ē only before consonants)
interim (adv.)meanwhile
ulcīscor, ulcīscī, ultusavenge
valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrusbe strong or effectual, have effect, prevail
Pliny, Epistulae VIII. 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.