pliny avunculus meus

GCSE LATIN PROSE SET TEXT 2

ante lucem ībat ad Vespasianum imperātōrem (nam ille quoque noctibus ūtēbātur), deinde ad officium sibi dēlēgātum. reversus domum reliquum tempus studiis dabat. saepe post cibum (qui veterum mōre interdiu levis et facilis erat) aestāte, sī quid ōtiī erat, iacebat in sōle, liber legēbātur, adnotābat excerpēbatque.

Before sunrise he would go to Emperor Vespasian (for that man also made use of the night), then to the task that had been assigned to him. Having returned home, he would give the remaining time to study. Often after food (which in the custom of our forefathers was light and easy during the day) in summer, if there was any leisure time, he would lie in the sun, a book would be read, and he would make notes and extracts.

nihil enim legit quod nōn excerperet; dicere etiam solēbat nullum librum esse tam malum ut nōn aliquā parte prōdesset. post sōlem plerumque aquā frīgidā lavābātur, deinde gustābat dormiēbatque minimum; mox quasi aliō die studebat in cēnae tempus. super cēnam liber legēbātur adnotābātur, et quidem cursim.

For he read nothing from which he did not make extracts; he even used to say that no book was so bad that it was not of use to him in some part. After sunset he would usually bathe with cold water, then he would have a snack and would sleep for a very short time; soon, as if on another day, he would study right up to dinnertime. Over dinner a book was read [and] annotated, and indeed at a rapid pace.

haec inter mediōs labōrēs urbisque fremitum. in sēcessū sōlum balinei tempus studiīs eximēbātur (cum dīcō ‘balinei’, dē interiōribus loquor; nam dum destringitur tergiturque, audiēbat aliquid aut dictābat).

These things [are what would take place] in the midst of his labours and the bustle of the city. When he was away from the city, only the time of his bath was taken away from his studies. (When I say ‘bath’, I'm talking about the inner rooms; for while he was being scraped and dried, he would listen to something or dictate).

in itinere quasi solūtus cēteris cūrīs, huic ūnī vacābat: ad latus notārius cum librō et pugillaribus, cuius manūs hieme manicīs mūniēbantur, ut nē caeli quidem asperitās ūllum studiī tempus eriperet; qua ex causā Rōmae quoque sellā vehēbātur. repetō mē correptum ab eo, quod ambulārem: 'poterās' inquit 'hās hōrās nōn perdere'; nam perīre omne tempus arbitrābātur, quod studiīs nōn impenderētur. valē.

On a journey, as if he had been released from the rest of his concerns, he would make time for this one thing: at his side [there would be] a secretary with a book and writing tablets, whose hands were being protected with long sleeves in the winter, so that not even the harshness of the weather could take away any time for study; for this reason, he would be carried around in a carrying-chair in Rome as well. I remember that I was told off by him because I walked: he said, “You could not squander these hours;” for he believed that all time which was not being dedicated to his studies was being wasted. Farewell.