Apuleius, Metamorphoses 1.1
Chiara Palladino / LTN201
- Created on 2018-06-19 12:50:46
- Modified on 2018-08-23 15:32:44
- Translated by A.S. Kline
- Aligned by Chiara Palladino
Test of translation alignment. Edition used is from Perseus (Gaselee repr. 1943)
Latin
English
urn:cts:latinLit:phi1212.phi002.perseus-lat1:1.1
At ego tibi sermone isto Milesio varias fabulas conseram auresque tuas benivolas lepido susurro permulceam , modo si papyrum Aegyptiam argutia Nilotici calami inscriptam non spreveris inspicere , figuras fortunasque hominum in alias imagines conversas et in se rursum mutuo nexu refectas , ut mireris . Exordior . Quis ille ? Paucis accipe . Hymettos Attica et Isthmos Ephyraea et Taenaros Spartiaca , glebae felices aeternum libris felicioribus conditae , mea vetus prosapia est : ibi linguam Attidem primis pueritiae stipendiis merui . Mox in urbe Latia advena studiorum , Quiritium indigenam sermonem aerumnabili labore , nullo magistro praeeunte , aggressus excolui . En ecce praefamur veniam , si quid exotici ac forensis sermonis rudislocutor offendero . Iam haec equidem ipsa vocis immutatio desultoriae scientiae stilo quem accessimus respondet . Fabulam Graecanicam incipimus : lector intende ; laetaberis .
Now
!
I’d
like
to
string
together
various
tales
in
the
Milesian
style
,
and
charm
your
kindly
ear
with
seductive
murmurs
,
so
long
as
you’re
ready
to
be
amazed
at
human
forms
and
fortunes
changed
radically
and
then
restored
in
turn
in
mutual
exchange
,
and
don’t
object
to
reading
Egyptian
papyri
,
inscribed
by
a
sly
reed
from
the
Nile
.
I’ll begin . Who am I ? I’ll tell you briefly . Hymettus near Athens ; the Isthmus of Corinth ; and Spartan Mount Taenarus , happy soil more happily buried forever in other books , that’s my lineage . There as a lad I served in my first campaigns with the Greek tongue . Later , in Rome , freshly come to Latin studies I assumed and cultivated the native language , without a teacher , and with a heap of pains . So there ! I beg your indulgence in advance if as a crude performer in the exotic speech of the Forum I offend . And in truth the very fact of a change of voice will answer like a circus rider’s skill when needed . We’re about to embark on a Greek tale . Reader , attend : and find delight .
I’ll begin . Who am I ? I’ll tell you briefly . Hymettus near Athens ; the Isthmus of Corinth ; and Spartan Mount Taenarus , happy soil more happily buried forever in other books , that’s my lineage . There as a lad I served in my first campaigns with the Greek tongue . Later , in Rome , freshly come to Latin studies I assumed and cultivated the native language , without a teacher , and with a heap of pains . So there ! I beg your indulgence in advance if as a crude performer in the exotic speech of the Forum I offend . And in truth the very fact of a change of voice will answer like a circus rider’s skill when needed . We’re about to embark on a Greek tale . Reader , attend : and find delight .