Saturday, March 10, 2012

Septima iam, Phileros...

Here is today's distich by Martial, 10.43. The wicked joke at work here is that Phileros has inherited from each wife, one after the other - thus making more profit from this crop of wives than the more traditional agricultural endeavors.

Septima iam, Phileros, tibi conditur uxor in agro:
Plus nulli, Phileros, quam tibi, reddit ager.


Thy seventh wife lies buried in thy field:
Thy ground more gain than any man's doth yield.
- Fletcher

The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There are only two words in this poem that are not on the DCC list:

Phileros - proper name
septimus -a -um - seventh
 
ager agrī m.: field
condo -ere -didī -ditum: build, found; store up; hide, conceal
iam: now; already
in: in, on (+ abl.); into onto (+ acc)
nūllus -a -um: not any, no one
plūs plūris n.: a greater amount or number, more
quam: how?; (after comparative) than
reddo -dere -didī -ditum: return, give back
tū tuī tibi tē: you (sing.)
uxor uxōris f.: wife