by Giovanni Boccaccio
– a collaborative translation effort by Audrey, Mimi, and the rest of Prof. Valentino’s 2nd year Latin class People always look impressed when I tell them I take Latin, and I concur that Latin is, for me at least, a rather daunting language to learn. (I speak not for my other six classmates, including fellow editor Audrey Jeane.) I myself find the grammar to be perfectly mind-bending at times, but translating Latin into English is always interesting, especially when you discover just how very related the two languages are. In this short passage by Boccaccio, a 14th century Italian writer, many examples with Latin words as English word roots can be found – so look closely, and enjoy! – Mimi Quae fuerit Dantis figura Hic poeta noster mediocri statura fuit et postquam ad maturitatem pervenit, paululum incurvus incessit; gravis et mansuetus ambulabat; honestissimas vestes semper induebat, illo quidem habitu qui eius maturam aetatem decebat. Eius os oblongum fuit et nasus aduncus et oculi grandes potius quam parvi et maxillae magnae et ex labro superiore inferius protensum. Colore fusco fuit, capillis barbaque spissa, nigris, crispis; semper autem vultu maestus erat et deliberabundus. Quamobrem accidit ut olim Veronae, cum iam per omnes gentes vulgata esset eius operum fama imprimisque illius partis Comoediae quae ab auctore “Infernus” nuncupata est, quam iam noverant multi viri ac mulieres, dum ille transit ante ianuam ubi complures mulierculae sedebant, una ex illis submisse (non adeo tamen ut a poeta et ab illis qui cum eo erant non audiretur) ceteris diceret: “Videtisne eum qui in infernum descendit atque ad arbitrium suum redit et nuntios huc affert de iis qui illic sunt?” Cui alia ex illis ingenue: “Tu quidem” inquit “vera dicis: nonne vides ut homini barba crispa sit et color fuscus propter aestum fumumque qui illic est?” Quae verba cum is post se dici audiret et intelligeret simplici mulierum fide profecta esse, gaudens et fere laetatus quod illae in eiusmodi opinione versarentur, leviter subridens praeteriit. This poet of ours was of small stature, and after he reached maturity, he stooped slightly when he walked; his stride was grave and stately; and he always dressed in simple robes in accordance to his middle age. His face was long and his nose aquiline, and his eyes were rather large, his jowls heavy, and his lower lip protruded from the upper. He was of dark coloring, with thick, black, crisply curling hair and beard; he was always august and deliberate of expression. Since the fame of his work was already renown, and especially the part of the Comedy named Inferno by the author was known by many men and women, because of this, it happened once in Verona while he passed by a door where several women were seated, one of them quietly (but not so much that it could not be heard by the poet and his companions) said to the others, “Do you see that one who descends into Hell and returns as he likes to tell us of those there?” To whom another of them naively replied: “What you say is true; don’t you see that the beard of that man is curled crisp and his coloring dark, because of the fire and fumes in that place?” As he heard these words behind him, he understood that they were pronounced from the simple faith of the women, and delighted that they were of this opinion, he continued on his way smiling to himself. a
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May 2024
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