Ancient Ghost Stories > Translation • Latin Version
The Younger Pliny tells a ghost story about rattling chains, a haunted house no one wants, and a secret only the ghost can reveal. Latin teacher Rose Williams has re-written this story in a form suitable for classroom use.
Erat Athenis spatiosa et magna domus, sed infamis et pestilens. Per silentium noctis sonus ferri et strepitus vinculorum procul, tum e proximo auditi sunt. Mox apparebat senex macie et squalore confectus, qui barbam magnam et capillos villosos habebat; pedibus et manibus catenas habebat.
Inhabitantes domus(gen) noctes diras et non somnum habebant. Morbus et etiam mors ex timore veniebant. Deserta et damna casa in silentio remanebat. Titulum positum est, sed nemo casam desideravit. Venit Athenas philosophus Athenodorus. Legit titulum, et pretio audito, multa rogat. Omnia audit, sed tamen casam capit.
In vespera, Athenodorus lumen, stilum, et pugillares in prima parte casae posuit; tum omnes servos dimittit. Animum, oculos, et manum cum pugillaribus occupat, quod vacua mens multos timores fingit.
Primo silentium est. Tum vincula procul audiuntur. Philosophus oculos non movet; stilo scribit. Soni in casa, tum in camera sunt. Athenodorus spectat; figuram videt. Senex stat et digito vocat. Athenodorus stilum iterum capit. Vincula audiuntur super caput. Nunc philosophus lumen capit. Senex tarde ad ianuam ambulat, et Athenodorus etiam ambulat post senem. In area casae senex philosophum deserit. Desertus philosophus in loco herbas ponit.
Postero die magistratum vocat et magistratus locum effodit. Ossa inserta in vinculis invenit, et, collecta, publice sepeliuntur. Numquam iterum senex videbatur.
Can't read Latin? No problem. I've provided a very loose translation for you.About Rose Williams
"My name is Ruby Rose Williams, though I usually go by Rose because my mother's name is also Ruby and there was confusion. I took a BA from Baylor in 1959 with major in English and minors in history and Latin. I received a Master's in Latin from UNC at Chapel Hill. I taught Latin I-IV in high school in Abilene, Texas for many years, and then taught English and Latin at McMurry University. In 1988 I studied at Oxford in England and Pisa in Italy on a Rockefeller Grant and did post-graduate study at the University of Dallas and the University of Texas in Arlington. I have written twelve books and various articles and presentations."Rose's Update: February 6, 2007
Here is a list of the books I have had published and the recent presentations I have made at conventions
- Presentation "Building a Bridge from Rome to the Present," American Classical League Institute, June 2003
- Presentation "Teaching Latin Through Roman Youth," Texas Classical Association, October 2003
- Presentation "Teaching a Whole Culture," American Classical League, June, 2004
- Presentation "Roman Words of Citizenship," Classical Association of the Atlantic States, October, 2004
- Presentation "Roman Thoughts in Many Cultures," Massachusetts Foreign Language Association, October, 2004
- Presentation "Latin Words as the Romans Saw Them," Classical Association of the Middle West and South, November, 2004
- Presentation "Family and Politics in Cicero's Rome," American Classical League Institute, June, 2005
- Presentation "The Janus Approach to First Year Latin," American Classical League Institute, June, 2006
- Workshop "Transition to Literature in the Latin Classroom," Classical Association of Virginia Workshop, Richmond VA, October, 2006
Books Published
- Veni, Vidi, Vici, Michael O'Mara Books, Ltd. London, 1999. (translator)
- Issued as Which way to the Vomitorium, St. Martin's Press, 1999
- Going to Hades is Easy, Michael O'Mara Books, Ltd. London, 2000
- Issued as Latin Quips at your Fingertips, Barnes and Noble, 2001
- Lectiones de Historia Romana, Wimbledon Publishing, London, 2000
- Duces Romanorum, Wimbledon Publishing, London, 2001(now Bolchazy)
- Once Upon the Tiber, Wimbledon Publishing, London 2002(now Bolchazy)
- The Young Romans, Wimbledon Publishing, London 2002 (now Bolchazy
- The Labors of Aeneas, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Illinois, 2003
- Cicero the Patriot, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2004
- Examining Vergil's Aeneid, L and L Enterprises, 2005
- Vergil for Beginners, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2006
- Tres Porculi, L and L Enterprises, 2006
- The Lighter Side of the Dark Ages, Wimbledon, London, 2006
Update From Rose Williams on October 27, 2011
I have 21 published books, the latest being:
- From Rome to Revolution Bolchazy-Carducci, 2009
- The Clay-Footed Superheroes Bolchazy-Carducci, 2009 and
- A Beginning Latin Christian Reader: De Bonis Cogitationibus Bolchazy-Carducci, 2010.
- I have finished the basic draft for two more
- A Caesar Workbook which I co-authored with Debra Nousek, and
- Caesar: A Legamus Reader, which I co-authored with Hans Mueller.
- I am working on a Latin textbook series for children Latin for the Very Young.
- Presentation "Alike Yet Different: Greek and Roman Gods, Temples, and Festivals"
- American Classical League Institute, June 2009
- Article "Latin All Around Us," OCHEC Informer Winter, 2009
- Article " Neo-Latin Classical Tradition: Latin and its Influence in the New World, " AANLS Newsletter, Spring 2010
- Presentation "Active Beginning Latin," American Classical League Institute, June 2010
- Presentation "Roman Influence in the Hispanic New World,"
- Texas Classical Association Annual Conference, November 6, 2010.
- TFLA/SWCOLT In April 2011 a 60 minute workshop entitled "Latin and Roman Ideals in the Hispanic New World"
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