Vita Malis Libera
Nec cupio nec opes opto mihi: sit mihi parvo
Laeta, sed a duris libera vita malis.
Source: Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), Anthologia Graeca, vol. I. The poem is attributed to Theognis. Meter: Elegiac. Note the parallel expression: sit mihi [vita] parvo laeta, sed a duris malis libera.
The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. All the words in this poem are on that list:
I do not desire wealth for myself (nec cupio opes mihi) nor do I want it (nec opto): let me have a life (sit mihi vita) that is content with little (laeta parvo) but free from troublesome evils (sed libera a duris malis).
ā ab abs: from, by (+abl.)
cupiō -ere -īvī -ītum: desire
dūrus -a -um: hard, tough, harsh
ego meī mihi mē: I, me
laetus -a -um: glad, joyful
līber lībera līberum: free; līberī (m. pl.): freeborn children
malus -a -um: bad, evil; male: (adv.) badly
neque nec: and not, nor; neque . . . neque, neither . . . nor
ops opis f.: assistance, resources
optō -āre: choose, select
parvus -a -um: small
sed: but
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
vīta -ae f.: life
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