Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Latin term or phrase:
"Ipsa subibo humeris; nec me labor ipse gravabit"
English translation:
I myself shall take [you] on my shoulders; and this task won't be a burden to me.
- The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2010-08-28 06:54:11 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Aug 24, 2010 09:36
13 yrs ago
Latin term
Not a translator
Canada
Canada
"Ipsa subibo humeris; nec me labor ipse gravabit"
Non-PRO
Latin to English
Art/Literary
History
The above is quoted in one of Capt. James Cook's log books (Cook's Voyages of Discovery). Via a Google search I found another KudoZ discussion that indicates that the second part at least is a quotation or adaptation from Virgil's Aeneid, and means roughly "nor will this task be a burden to me". Does the first part come from the same source, and what does it mean? (From long ago, dimly remembered Latin lessons I'm guessing something like "I'll take this upon my shoulders" or "I'll undertake this").
Proposed translations
+4
4 hrs
Stephen C. Farrand
United States
United States
Native in English
Specializes in field
United States
Experienced. Literate. Thorough.
Native in: English 
Works in: Latin to English, Greek (Ancient) to English, Russian to English
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Selected
I myself shall take [you] on my shoulders; and this task won't be a burden to me.
The problem is ipsa is not in the original; it should be ipse (nom.masc.). This intensive/reflexive pronoun is not often used independently as an object.
Cook may well have known Latin well enough to play with the original. Ipsa requires a feminine subject: the Endeavour itself, perhaps? (navis "ship" is feminine in Latin).
The source is Aeneid II.708.
Cook may well have known Latin well enough to play with the original. Ipsa requires a feminine subject: the Endeavour itself, perhaps? (navis "ship" is feminine in Latin).
The source is Aeneid II.708.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Rebecca Garber
: The gender change would make sense, as Aeneas is carrying his father in the quote, and navis and navigatio are both feminine.
1 hr
|
| agree |
Jennifer White
: This version is more likely IMO. There is no obvious object of subibo
1 day 5 hrs
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| agree |
Michael McCann
: Thank you, Stephen, for the precise location in the Aeneid. One translation of this text is given as "I will hold my shoulders ready for you; this labour of love will be no weight to me."
3 days 7 hrs
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| agree |
Joseph Brazauskas
3 days 7 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks to all who replied or commented. The choice of "most helpful" was pretty much a coin toss."
+3
47 mins
Michael McCann
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
Ireland
A professional translation every time
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, Italian to English, French to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
I shall place these things on my shoulders; nor will this task burden me down.
I cannot say whether both parts of the quotation come from Virgil or not.
My translation is quite literal, and may be better expessed as " I shall undertake these things". I think that the "ipse" [itself] in the second part is a typo, or maybe a deliberate one at that for "iste" [that] - the demonstrative adjective "that" = "nor will that job/task/labour be any trouble to me/ any burden" etc.
Yes, it was Captain Cook's motto on his travels, but it also a common motto of the Middle Ages.
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Note added at 3 days12 hrs (2010-08-27 21:50:51 GMT)
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Stephen gave the precise location of the text in the Aeneid as II, 708. The Latin reads "`Ergo age, care pater, cervici imponere nostrae; ipse subibo umeris, nec me labor iste gravabit." [Translated by an unstated author as "Come now, dear father, you must let them lift you onto my back. I will hold my shoulders ready for you; this labour of love will be no weight to me.]
The final "ipse" was as I suspected a typo for "iste".
My translation is quite literal, and may be better expessed as " I shall undertake these things". I think that the "ipse" [itself] in the second part is a typo, or maybe a deliberate one at that for "iste" [that] - the demonstrative adjective "that" = "nor will that job/task/labour be any trouble to me/ any burden" etc.
Yes, it was Captain Cook's motto on his travels, but it also a common motto of the Middle Ages.
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Note added at 3 days12 hrs (2010-08-27 21:50:51 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Stephen gave the precise location of the text in the Aeneid as II, 708. The Latin reads "`Ergo age, care pater, cervici imponere nostrae; ipse subibo umeris, nec me labor iste gravabit." [Translated by an unstated author as "Come now, dear father, you must let them lift you onto my back. I will hold my shoulders ready for you; this labour of love will be no weight to me.]
The final "ipse" was as I suspected a typo for "iste".
Discussion
Here's the Lewis and Short definition: "αὐτός, self, in person, he (emphatic), himself, herself, itself, used both substantively and adjectively, to denote that person (thing) of which something is eminently or exclusively predicated." The qualities of eminence or exclusivity just do not apply to something undefined.
Moreover, as I said, this is a close variant on a quotation from the Aeneid, which the author surely knew. There it is ipse, nom. masc., referring to Aeneas (a natural, idiomatic use of the word).