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A First Latin Reader/1

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Herbert Chester Nutting
A First Latin Reader
Lesson 1
Christopher Columbus
1912

fons: librum vide
 Preface 2. Christopher Columbus (Continued) 

LATIN-ENGLISH EXERCISES
EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY


LESSON 1
Christopher Columbus

Quōdam in oppīdō Ītaliae ōlim nātus est puer, quī Columbus appellābātur. Diū in patris officīnā[1] labōrāvit. Sed prope erat mare, puerque saepe ad lītus ībat, ut vidēret nāvēs, quae ē portū ad terrās exībant dīversās. In nāvibus erant hominēs multī, et Columbus mare ipse trānsīre saepe voluit; tum autem pecūniam nūllam habēbat. Sed posteā, cum iam iuvenis esset, usque ad[2] Britanniam et Āfricam nāvigāvit.

Illīs temporibus[3] nautae timēbant mare Atlanticum, cursumque prope lītus tenēbant. Interdum[4] autem secundum Āfricae ōram[5] longē nāvigātum erat[6], quod Henrīcus, rēx Lūsitāniae, invenīre viam volēbat, quā[7] nāvēs circum Āfricam prōgressae, ad Asiam pervenīre possent[8].

Quīdam[9] tum crēdēbant terram esse rotundam[10], Columbusque etiam spērāre coeperat se trānsīre mare Atlanticum posse, et ita ad Asiam pervenīre; nēmō enim intellegēbat terram tam magnam esse, nec[11] Columbus ipse suspicātus est Americam interpōnī[12].

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  1. ↑ officina officina, -ae f., workshop.
  2. ↑ usque ad: all the way to, lit. even to.
  3. ↑ īllīs temporibus: in those days.
  4. ↑ interdum: not interim.
  5. ↑ ōram: i.e. lītus (ōra, -ae f.)
  6. ↑ nāvigātum erat: people had sailed, lit. it has been sailed (impersonal passive).
  7. ↑ quā: by which; antecedent, viam
  8. ↑ possent: could; subjunctive in a relative clause of purpose. In translating the verb possum, some other rendering than "be able" should often be chosen.
  9. ↑ quīdam: masc. pl., used as a noun.
  10. ↑ rotundam : rotundus, -a, -um round, or spherical
  11. ↑ nec: and ... not
  12. ↑ interpōnī: lit. to lie between
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