Nuper quidam homo nomine Thomae Cotton, Latinitatis haud imperitus,
versionem fecit Georgii Orwell apologi _Animal Farm_, qui hic reperietur:
http://phaselus.org.uk/FF.html
non autem sibi vindicavit iura redimprimendi a posteris rei familiaris
illius Orwell. Neque ego. Immo, talia iura nullo modo versionibus
recentioribus neo-Latinis ab operibus vernaculis pertinent.
If any of you is interested in comparing my changes to Cotton's Latin
"original," I would be interested in knowing where and how any such
changes help readability and where they have resulted in greater
infidelity to Orwell's text or where sound Latin has be replaced with
solecism.
In general I have left Cotton's grammar and diction alone and only
changed individual words (or their order) here and there. Since the
animals are also persons, they are sometimes neuter, or not, even in the
same sentence.
Finally would it be worthwhile to macronize the whole text? I am trying
to come up with a method to automate that process to the degree that
might be possible.
"
Hic incipit fabulae
PRAEDIOLUM ANIMALIUM
CAPUT I
Herus Iones, agricola et Praedioli Mansionis dominus, ostium gallinarii
sub noctem occluserat, sed nimis ebrius erat ut ****tulas cuniculi obdere
meminisset. Orbe lucis de laterna quoquoversus saltante, trans cortem
titubavit, iuxta posti*** calceos decussit, in cella scutellaria poculum
ultimum de dolio cerevisiae sibi hausit, et sursum ivit ad lectum, ubi
Hera Iones iam stertebat.
Simul atque lucerna cubicularia extincta erat, per omnia aedificia ortus
est tumultus et trepidatio. Dictum erat interdiu de Maiore Vetustiore,
ille verres palmaris Semicandidus, cui in somniis hesternis aliquid
mirabile subierat quod ceteris animalibus docere volebat. Constatum erat
ut, *** primum Iones e conspectu excederet, contio omnibus praesentibus
in horreo magno haberetur. Reverendus erat per fundum Maior Vetustior
(ut semper nominatus est, etsi nomine Villingdonae Pulcher exhibitus) ut
nemo esset quin insomnus horam perderet eius dictorum audiendorum causa.
Ad extremum horreum, in suggestu cuiusdam generis sublato, iam
condiderat sese Maior super stratum stramenticeum, sub laterna de trabe
pendenti. Natus erat duodecim annos et nuper aliquantum corpulentus, sed
****cus adhuc erat augustus visu qui, etsi dentibus nunquam tonditis,
sagax benevolusque specie videbatur. Mox alia animalia advenire
coeperunt, quae more proprio quisque commode quieverunt. Primi
advenerunt tres canes, Campanula, Iessica et Strictor, tum ****ci, qui in
stramento iuxta partem priorem suggestus considerunt. Gallinae liminibus
fenestrarum insiderunt, columbae tigna petiverunt, oves et vaccae pone
****cos dis***bentes ruminare coeperunt. Duo manni, Arcifer et Trifolia,
una intraverunt, perlente ambulantes et, ne animalculum in stramento
celatum laederent, ingentes ungulas pilosas magna cura deponentes.
Trifolia, equa pinguis materna fuit media ferme aetate, quae partu
quarto edito formam pristinam cor****is nunquam plane receperat. Arcifer
immane fuit animal, altum paene duodeviginti palmarum, et ipse sicut duo
equi soliti valens. Lineamentum album naso gerebat, ut subobtusus sit
visus, et profecto perspicacitate caruit, sed omnium consensu pertinax
erat et ob permagnas vires venerandus. Capra candida Muriel et asinus
Beniamin equos secuti sunt. Inter omnia fundi animalia Beniamin aetate
provectissimum erat et omnium stomachosissimum. Loquebatur raro, at
loquens sententia acerba usus est plerumque — exempli gratia, caudam
suam censuit a Deo datam muscarum repellendarum causa, at mallet quidem
et cauda et muscis carere. Solus inter animalia praedii ridebat nunquam.
Si quis eum rogavit, se aliquid ad ridendum aptum decernere negaret.
Arciferum tamen perbene amabat, hoc etsi non aperte confisus est; haec
duo animalia in saepto ultra pomarium diebus Solis pascentia una
impendere solebant, etsi nunquam alter alteri collocutus est.
Chapter I
Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night,
but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes. With the ring of
light from his lantern dancing from side to side, he lurched across the
yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass
of beer from the barrel in the scullery, and made his way up to bed,
where Mrs. Jones was already snoring.
As soon as the light in the bedroom went out there was a stirring and a
fluttering all through the farm buildings. Word had gone round during
the day that old Major, the prize Middle White boar, had had a strange
dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the other
animals. It had been agreed that they should all meet in the big barn as
soon as Mr. Jones was safely out of the way. Old Major (so he was always
called, though the name under which he had been exhibited was Willingdon
Beauty) was so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready
to lose an hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say.
At one end of the big barn, on a sort of raised platform, Major was
already ensconced on his bed of straw, under a lantern which hung from a
beam. He was twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout, but he
was still a majestic-looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance
in spite of the fact that his tushes had never been cut. Before long the
other animals began to arrive and make themselves comfortable after
their different fa****ons. First came the three dogs, Bluebell, Jessie,
and Pincher, and then the pigs, who settled down in the straw
immediately in front of the platform. The hens perched themselves on the
window-sills, the pigeons fluttered up to the rafters, the sheep and
cows lay down behind the pigs and began to chew the cud. The two
cart-horses, Boxer and Clover, came in together, walking very slowly and
setting down their vast hairy hoofs with great care lest there should be
some small animal concealed in the straw. Clover was a stout motherly
mare approaching middle life, who had never quite got her figure back
after her fourth foal. Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen
hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together. A
white stripe down his nose gave him a somewhat stupid appearance, and in
fact he was not of first-rate intelligence, but he was universally
respected for his steadiness of character and tremendous powers of work.
After the horses came Muriel, the white goat, and Benjamin, the donkey.
Benjamin was the oldest animal on the farm, and the worst tempered. He
seldom talked, and when he did, it was usually to make some cynical
remark--for instance, he would say that God had given him a tail to keep
the flies off, but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies.
Alone among the animals on the farm he never laughed. If asked why, he
would say that he saw nothing to laugh at. Nevertheless, without openly
admitting it, he was devoted to Boxer; the two of them usually spent
their Sundays together in the small paddock beyond the orchard, grazing
side by side and never speaking.
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