Virgo Ardens is a Latin novella published by Bombax Press. This sample for Virgo Ardens contains the preface to the novella, which takes place before Iphis, the main character, is born. It provides important background information to characters, themes, and events in the story, but it is weighty because it discusses female infanticide through exposure.
The novella is about 16,500 words long and contains 433 unique words. Of those 433 unique words, 21 are proper nouns, 21 are glossed, and 75 are clear cognates, like rigidum and dēfendam. With proper names, glossed words, and clear cognates removed, students need a working vocabulary of 318 words to read this novella. The complete dictionary is available here. More detailed information beyond the prefatory sample for Virgo Ardens is available here.
Praefātiō: Sample for Virgo Ardens
Telethūsa parāns cēnam et cōgitāns manum in abdōmine posuit et cum spē et amōre suspīrāvit. Paene, paene, māter erat. Telethūsa dē mātre suā quae eam bene ēdūcere cōnāta erat cōgitāvit. Quālis māter Telethūsa mox esset? Telethūsa voluit esse māter tam bona quam māter sua.
Cēnā parātā, Telethūsa pānem, cāseum, et olīvās in mēnsā posuit et Ligdum, marītum suum, rīsit. Telethūsa quoque vīnum quod Ligdum dēlectāvit in mēnsā posuit. Cēna parva erat, sed bona.
Cibō et vīnō in mēnsā positīs, Telethūsa sedēns dīxit, “Spērō infantem futūram esse fīliam. Fīliam facientem lānam[1] mēcum mente fingō. Ligde, cor meum, nonne tū mē cum fīliā nostrā facientem lānam mente fingis?”
Ligdus diū nōn respondit. Telethūsa nōn iam rīdēbat, et ānxietāte affecta est. Telethūsa surrēxit et ambulāvit ut lānam suam spectāret. Telethūsa lānam mollem tetigit et cēpit. Māter Telethūsae eam lānam facere docuerat, et Telethūsa docēre fīliam suam voluit.
Ligdus mēnsam et cēnam parvam pānis, olīvārum, et cāseī spectāvit. Spectāvit ubīque in casulā in quā habitāvērunt. Ōs uxōris cārae nōn spectāvit. Abdōmen uxōrī nōn spectāvit. Lānam mollem et candidam quam Telethūsa tenēbat spectāvit. Mente fingere nōn poterat quod Telethūsa voluit.
Tandem, Ligdus respondit, “Telethūsa, mel meum, hoc mente nōn fingō. Hoc nōn videō.”
Telethūsa respōnsum timēns tamen rogāvit, “Quid tū vidēs?”
Ligdus incipiēns flēre respondit, “Volō duo: Cum infāns noster vēnerit, tē esse tūtam volam, et volam infantem esse fīlium. Nōs nōn habēmus satis pecūniae ut fīliam ēdūcāmus. Satis dōtis[2] nōn habēbimus ut aliquis fīliam nostram uxōrem dūcat.”
Telethūsa fortius lānam tenuit, et tristis flēre quoque incēpit. Ipsa dōtem parvam ovium habuerat. Memoriā tenuit patrem et mātrem cōnantēs pecūniam invenīre ut illam dōtem parvam facerent. Difficillimum fuerat. Suspīrāvit. Pater et māter sua dōtem eī dare potuerant. Ipsa agere hoc quoque posset etiamsī[3] difficillimum esset. Cum lānā mollī ad mēnsam cibī Telethūsa revēnit.
Telethūsa lānam Ligdō dēmōnstrāvit et cum spē respondit, “Sed nonne nōs habēbimus plūs pecūniae? Nonne plūrēs ovēs et plūs lānae habēbimus? Fundus[4] noster maior fīet! Hoc agere iam cōnāmur!”
Ligdus tandem ōs uxōrī spectāvit. Cum amōre ōs tetigit et flēns respondit, “Hoc nescīmus. Rēctē dīcis. Nōs hoc agere iam cōnāmur, sed nātūra et fortūna saepe mūtantur. Nōs dōtem aut pecūniam iam nōn habēmus. Cūr pecūnia aut dōs nōbīs in futūrō erit?”
Telethūsa lānam quam in manū tenēbat spectāvit. Satis pecūniae in fundō numquam erat. Ōs marītō spectāre nōn poterat. Oculōs flentēs eī spectāre nōn poterat. Telethūsa fīliam semper voluerat. Telethūsa fīliam ēdūcere et lānam cum fīliā suā facere semper voluerat.
Telethūsa adhūc lānam spectāns et flēns rogāvit, “Sed nātūra fortasse fīliam nōbīs dabit. Nātūra et fīliōs et fīliās dat! Quid est nātūrālius fīliā?”
Ligdus flēns et surgēns manum suum in manū Telethūsae posuit et rogāvit, “Quid est cārius fīliā?”
Telethūsa suspīrāns et flēns in mēnsā lānam posuit. Sine dōte, quāle futūrum fīlia habēret? Telethūsa hoc intellegēbat.
Telethūsa tandem respondit, “Fīliae cārae corde et pecūniā sunt.”
Nēmō mōvit. Telethūsa lānam spectābat, et Ligdus uxōrem spectābat. Flēbant.
Telethūsa timēns respōnsum—sciēns respōnsum—tandem rogāvit, “Sī nātūra fīliam nōbīs det, quid agāmus?”
Ligdus flēns respondit, “Mē pudet,[5] Telethūsa. Pōnere infantem extrā moenia urbis necesse nōbīs erit. Aliquis infantem fortasse ēdūcet. Hominēs quī hoc agant sunt.”[6]
Telethūsa flēns suspīrāvit, “Sed semper fīliam voluī.”
Ligdus tristis uxōrem cāram amplexus est.[7] Telethūsa nōn mōvit, sed in bracchiīs[8] marītō flēvit.
Ligdus adhūc flēns respondit, “Hoc quoque sciō. Fīlius tamen mihi et fundō necesse est.”
Telethūsa nōn respondit, sed lānam in mēnsā spectāvit. Telethūsa cēnam parvam edere nōluit, sed dormīre voluit. Ligdus lānam manū iam cēpit. Lāna mollis erat, et Ligdus suspīrāvit.
“Mel, velim satis pecūniae habēre ut fīliam ēdūcāmus, sed nescīmus. Volō tē tūtam esse, et volō tē semper cibum et casulam habēre.”
Telethūsa nōn iam flēvit, sed respondit, “Ego sōla esse volō. Dormītum eō.”
Telethūsa dormītum īvit, et Ligdus sōlus tangēns lānam mollem et candidam mēnsam in quā cēna parva aderat spectāvit. Ligdus cibum quoque edere nōluit, sed flēvit et īvit ut ovēs cūrāret. Nēmō cēnam parvam in casulā ēdit aut vīnum bibit.
* * *
Telethūsa male dormiēbat. Per somnium infantem flentem audīvit, sed infantem invenīre nōn poterat. Invenīre infantem flentem iterum iterumque cōnāta est et cōnāta est, sed nōn poterat. Telethūsa per somnium ipsa ōre manibus suīs cēlātō flēbat.
Subitō, Telethūsa aliquem per somnium audīvit.
“Cūr tū flēs, Telethūsa?” haec fēmina rogāvit.
Telethūsa ab ōre manūs mōvit et deam Īsidem[9] vīdit. Īsis per somnium tamquam lūna candida fulgēbat. Coma longa eī erat tamquam caelum ātrum sine lūnā et sine sōle et sine sīderibus fulgentibus. Coma longa ātra Īsidis, tamen, quoque fulgēbat. Corōnam magnam in quā sōl et cornua taurī erant gerēbat. Īsis tam pulchra et fulgēns erat ut Telethūsa deam bene spectāre nōn posset.
Īsis Telethūsam flentem spectābat. Telethūsa flēns manūs in abdōmine posuit, et Īsis abdōmen eī spectāvit. Telethūsa nescīvit quid ageret aut dīceret. Īsis dea ipsa per somnium erat! Nonne dea scīvit cūr Telethūsa flēret?
Subitō, Telethūsa memoriā tenēns clāmāvit, “Ubī infāns est? Infantem flentem audīvī.”
Īsis respondit, “Tū ipsa mox infantem flentem audiēs et cūrābis.”
Telethūsa flēbat, “Hoc volō. Sed sī fīliam habeam…”
Īsis rogāvit, “Mea fīlia cāra, quid nātūrālius fīliā est?”
Telethūsa flēns nescīvit quid dīceret. Nescīvit quid ageret. Ipsa hoc rogāverat, sed respōnsum nōn habuerat. Fīliae cārae et nātūrālēs erant. Dea ipsa per somnium ad Telethūsam iam vēnerat. Dea adhūc eam spectābat, et Telethūsa respōnsum adhūc nōn habuit.
Telethūsa tandem rogāvit, “Dea optima, quae mātrēs et fīliās cūrās, quid ego agam?”
Īsis rīsit et Telethūsae abdōmen tetigit. Dea ipsa fulgēbat tam fortiter ut Telethūsa eam spectāre nōn iam posset.
“Certē,” dea Īsis dīxit, “infantem ēdūcēs. Tē et fīliam tuam cūrābō et dēfendam.” Et tandem Telethūsa bene dormīvit.
[1] Spinning wool
[2] Dowry
[3] Although
[4] Farm
[5] It shames me; I am ashamed
[6] Romans, like other ancient peoples, sometimes left infants exposed when they could not raise the child themselves. Sometimes other individuals raised these children, but often they died. Children who were exposed but then raised by another were often sold into slavery. A common trope in Roman comedy is for parents to be reunited with a child who had been exposed. The infant had been left with some sort of recognizing token that helped parents make the connection that this adult was their child—and thus free, not a slave. Given the prevalence of this trope, we can infer that this decision was a heartbreaking one for many families.
[7] Hugged
[8] Arms
[9] The goddess Isis, an Egyptian goddess of the moon, was popular with Romans. She was very closely associated with women, motherhood, and children.
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