Furtum certe punit |
certe: adverb |
by what law is theft punished? | |
quis enim fur aequo animo furem patitur? nec copiosus adactum inopia. |
quis: interrogative adjective, with fur (which thief, what thief?) patitur: s.v. patior (deponent verb, transitive, takes object furem) nec = et non et copiosus (fur) non (patitur furem) adactum inopia: parallel structure inopia: ablative, with passive adactum |
how do thieves themselves look upon theft? | |
et ego furtum facere volui, et feci, nulla conpulsus egestate, nisi penuria et fastidio iustitiae et sagina iniquitatis. |
nulla egestate: ablative, with passive
conpulsus penuria: ablative sagina: ablative |
what reason did Augustine have for committing theft? | |
nam id furatus sum, quod mihi abundabat et multa melius; |
id: neuter accusative, object of furatus sum (transitive deponent
verb) quod: relative pronoun, antecedent is id melius: neuter, comparative of bonus |
was there something that Augustine lacked so that he had to steal it? | |
nec ea re volebam frui, quam furto appetebam, sed ipso furto et peccato. |
ea re: ablative, with frui frui: deponent infinitive, s.v. fruor quam: relative pronoun (antecedent is ea res) ipso furto et peccato: ablatives, with frui |
what did Augustine enjoy about stealing? | |
arbor erat pirus in vicinia nostrae vineae, pomis onusta, nec forma nec sapore inlecebrosis. |
onusta: fem. adjective, with arbor pomis: ablative plural, with onusta nec = et non forma...sapore: ablative (with the adjective inlecebrosis - the pears were tempting, but not because of their forma, not because of their sapor) |
where was the pear tree located? | |
ad hanc excutiendam atque asportandam nequissimi adulescentuli perreximus nocte intempesta, |
excutiendam...asportandam: gerunds
of purpose nequissimi: superlative of nequam perreximus: s.v. pergo nocte intempesta: ablative of time |
who else stole the pears, along with Augustine? | |
quousque ludum de pestilentiae more in areis produxeramus, |
quousque: in other words, all the way till night ludum: object of produxeramus |
why were the boys running around so late at night? | |
et abstulimus inde onera ingentia non ad nostras epulas, sed vel proicienda porcis, etiamsi aliquid inde comedimus, dum tamen fieret a nobis quod eo liberet, quo non liceret. |
inde: adverb (thence, from there) onera: s.v. onus; neuter acc. pl., object of abstulimus abstulimus: s.v. aufero vel: here in the sense of "actually" proicienda: neuter plural, with onera (future passive) inde: from there = from those pears, of those pears dum fieret: dum + subjunctive fieret: remember, fio is the passive of facio (it was done) a nobis: "by us", with the passive fieret liberet: s.v. libet (it is pleasurable) liceret: s.v. licet (it is permitted) eo...quo...: it was pleasurable for the reason that it was not permitted |
what did the boys do with the pears that they stole? | |
ecce cor meum, deus, ecce cor meum, quod miseratus es in imo abyssi. |
quod: relative pronoun (antecedent
is cor), neuter accusative, object of transitive deponent
verb miseratus es |
what does Augustine present to God? | |
dicat tibi nunc ecce cor meum, quid ibi quaerebat: ut essem gratis malus et malitiae meae causa nulla esset nisi malitia. |
dicat: jussive subjunctive cor meum: neuter nominative (subject of dicat) gratis: ablative plural (like English gratis, for free, for no reason) ut essem... esset: ut + subjunctive |
what does Augustine's heart confess to God? | |
foeda erat, et amavi eam; amavi perire, amavi defectum meum, non illud, ad quod deficiebam, sed defectum meum ipsum amavi, |
foeda: adjective (foeda erat malitia) quod: relative pronoun (antecedent is illud) |
what was it that Augustine loved so passionately? | |
turpis anima et dissiliens a firmamento tuo in exterminium, non dedecore aliquid, sed dedecus appetens. |
anima: ablative, with turpis (turpis in anima; see Jim
O'Donnell's commentary) |
how does Augustine regard his earlier behavior? what was the point of it all? |