Sagae Thessalae

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  • Created by: elareare
  • Created on: 24-03-23 15:41

1. As a young man, I set out from Miletus to the Olympic games, as I was also wanting to visit the places of this famous province. Having travelled through the whole of Thessalae, I arrived at Larissa.

1. iuvenis ego Mileto profectus ad spectaculum Olympicum, cum haec etiam loca provinciae clarae visitare cuperem, peragrata tota Thessalia Larissam perveni.

2.And, while wandering around the city, and looking for a remedy for my poverty as my travelling allowance had diminished, I caught sight of an old man in the middle of the forum.

2.ac dum urbem perarrans tenuato viatico paupertati meae fomenta quaero, medio in foro senem conspicio. 

3. He was standing on a stone and proclaiming in a loud voice that if anybody wished to guard a corpse, he would receive a large reward. 

3. insistebat lapidem magnaque voce praedicabat, siquis mortuum costodiere vellet, magnum praemium acceptarum esse.

4. And I said to a certain passerby, "What's this I hear? Are dead bodies accustomed to running away here?"

4. et cuidam praeterunti "quid hoc" inquam "cuidio? hic mortui solent aufugere?"

5. "Be quiet!" he replied. 
"For you are a but a boy and a mere foreigner, and you clearly don't know that you are in Thessaly, where witches always bite pieces out of the faces of the dead, which they use as supplements for their magic arts."

5. "tace," respondit ille.
"nam puer satis peregrinus es, meritoque nescis in Thessalia te esse, quae sunt illis artis magicae supplementa."

6. In reply I said, "What sort of protection is needed?"

6. contra ego "quali custodela" inquam "opus est?"

7. "First of all," he replied, "for the whole night you must stay awake with open and unclosing eyes always intent on the corpse, and you must not turn your glance away anywhere, since those very wicked witches creep up secretly, having changed shape into any animal."

7."iam primum" respondid ille "totam noctem" eximie vigilandum est apertis et inconivis oculis semper in cadaver intentis, nec acies usquam devertenda est, cum illae pessimae sagae latenter arrepant, forma in quodvis animal conversa.

8. For they take the form of both birds and dogs and mice, and even indeed flies.

8. nam et aves et canes et mures, immo vero etiam muscas, induunt."

The man ends with a warning that if someone fails to deliver the body intact in the morning, he is forced to replace the missing pieces of flesh with pieces sliced from his own face.

9. Having discovered these things I strengthened my resolve and I immediately approached the old man and said, "Stop shouting now. A guard is here, ready!"

9. his cogitis animum meum conmasculo et statim accedens senem "clamare" inquam "iam desine. adest custos paratus."

10. I had scarcely finished and he immediately led me to a certain home, where he pointed out a woman weeping and dressed in dark clothing.

10. vic finieram et statim me perducit ad domum quandam, ubi demonstrat matronam flebilem fuscis vestimentis

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