Ep. 9.16.1Summam tē voluptātem percēpisse ex istō cōpiōsissimō genere vēnandī nōn mīror, cum historicōrum mōre scrībās numerum inīrī nōn potuisse.I am not surprised that you took the greatest pleasure from that most plentiful kind of hunting, since you write, in the manner of historians, that the number could not be counted. Ep. 9.16.1Nōbīs vēnārī nec vacat nec libet: nōn vacat quia vindēmiae in manibus, nōn libet quia exiguae.I have neither the time nor the inclination to hunt: no time because the vintage is in hand, no inclination because it is meagre. Ep. 9.16.2Dēvehimus tamen prō novō mustō novōs versiculōs tibique iūcundissime exigentī ut prīmum vidēbuntur dēfervisse mittēmus.However, instead of new wine I am bringing down new verses, and since you demand them so very pleasantly, I shall send them to you as soon as they seem to have finished fermenting. Ep. 9.16.2Valē.Farewell.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 9 › Pliny, Letter 9.16
Pliny · Epistulae IX
Pliny, Letter 9.16
Hunting and a poor vintage
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Read in LectitōGrammar in this passage: gerunds and gerundives ×1, indirect statement ×2
Latin vocabulary for this passage (42 words)
| summus, -a, -um | uppermost, highest, greatest |
| tū, tuī, pers. pron. | thou, you |
| voluptās, -tātis, f. | pleasure |
| percipiō, -cipere, -cēpī, -ceptus | feel |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| iste, ista, istud, dem. pron. | that of yours, that |
| cōpiōsus, -a, -um | well supplied, wealthy |
| genus, generis, n. | kind, nature |
| vēnor, -ārī, -ātus sum | hunt |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| mīror, -ārī, -ātus | wonder, wonder at |
| cum, conj. | when, while, after; since; although |
| historicus, -ī m. | historian; (adj.) historicus, -a, -um: historical |
| mōs, mōris, m. | way, manner, habit, custom |
| scrībō, scrībere, scrīpsī, scrīptus | write |
| numerus, -ī, m. | number |
| ineō, -īre, -iī, -itus | go into, enter; adopt |
| possum, posse, potuī | be able, have power, can |
| nōs | plur. of ego |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| vacō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | be empty, be unoccupied |
| libet, -ēre, libuit (impers.) | it pleases; mihi libet: I like, I want |
| quia (conj.) | because |
| vindēmia, -ae f. | grape harvest, vintage; grapes |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| manus, -ūs, f. | hand |
| exiguus, -a, -um | small, scanty, short |
| dēvehō, -ere, dēvēxī, dēvectum | carry down, carry off |
| tamen, adv. | however, yet, nevertheless |
| prō, prep. with abl. | before, in front of; for, in behalf of; for, as; in return for, for |
| novus, -a, -um | new; novissimus, last |
| mustum, -ī n. | new wine, unfermented grape juice; vintage |
| versiculus, -ī m. | little verse, short line of poetry |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| iūcundus, -a, -um | sweet, pleasant |
| exigō, -ere, -ēgī, -āctum | drive out; finish, spend (a season) |
| ut, conj. | as; when; that; ita ut, as |
| prīmum, adv. | first, in the first place |
| videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus | see; pass., seem |
| dēferveō (dēfervēscō), -ēre, -ferbuī | cool down, calm down; stop fermenting |
| mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus | send |
| valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrus | be strong or effectual, have effect, prevail |
Pliny, Epistulae IX. 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.