latin - pliny translation

ante lucem ibat ad Vespasianum imperatorem

Before dawn, he used to go to Vespasian the emperor

(nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur)

(for he too used to make use of nights),

deinde ad officium sibi delegatum.

then to the duties assigned to him.

reversus domum reliquum tempus studiis dabat.

On returning home, he used to give the remaining time to his studies.

saepe post cibum

Often after food

(qui veterum more interdiu levis et facilis erat),

(which, in the custom of his ancestors, was during the day, light and easy),

aestate, si quid otii erat,

in the summer, if he had any leisure time,

iacebat in sole,

he would lie in the sun,

liber legebatur,

a book would be read to him,

adnotabat excerpebatque.

he would take notes and extracts from it.

nihil enim legit quod non excerperet;

For he read nothing which he did not take extracts from;

dicere etiam solebat nullum librum esse tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset.

he even used to say that there was no book so bad that it was not of use in some part.

post solem plerumque aqua frigida lavabatur,

After the sun, he usually used to wash with cold water,

deinde gustabat

then he would have a snack

dormiebatque minimum;

and he would sleep very briefly;

mox quasi alio die

soon, as if it were another day,

studebat in cenae tempus.

he would study until dinner time.

super cenam liber legebatur adnotabatur,

Over dinner, a book would be read and noted,

et quidem cursim.

but indeed rapidly.

haec inter medios labores urbisque fremitum.

He did these things in the middle of other work and the bustle of the city.

in secessu solum balinei tempus studiis eximebatur

Away from the city, only time at the baths would take away from his studies

(cum dico ‘balinei’, de interioribus loquor;

(when I say ‘baths’, I am speaking about the inner rooms;

nam dum destringitur tergiturque,

for while he was being scraped down and dried,

audiebat aliquid aut dictabat).

he used to listen to something or dictate).

in itinere quasi solutus ceteris curis,

On a journey, as if freed from other concerns,

huic uni vacabat:

he would devote himself to this one thing:

ad latus notarius

by his side would be a secretary

cum libro et pugillaribus

with a book and wax tablets

cuius manus hieme manicis muniebantur,

whose hands were protected by long sleeves in the winter,

ut ne caeli quidem asperitas ullum studii tempus eriperet;

so that not even the harshness of the weather would take away any time for study;

qua ex causa Romae quoque sella vehebatur.

for this reason he was also carried around in a litter in Rome.

repeto me correptum ab eo, quod ambularem:

I remember that I was scolded by him, because I used to walk:

‘poteras’ inquit ‘has horas non perdere’;

he said ‘you were able to not waste these hours’;

nam perire omne tempus arbitrabatur,

for he thought all time wasted,

quod studiis non impenderetur.

which was not devoted to studies.

vale.

Farewell.