Aurelius Augustinus, Cōnfessiōnēs 1.14.23

In the Cōnfessiōnēs, Augustine reflects on his childhood education and asks why he loved Latin so readily yet resisted Greek. He contrasts the joy of learning Latin naturally among nurses and playmates with the fear and compulsion that accompanied his Greek lessons and concludes that free curiosity is a more powerful teacher than anxious necessity.

 

Tier 1

cūr linguam Graecam nōn amābam? Homērus, poēta Graecus, bonus erat. Homērus bonās fābulās nārrābat. fābulae dulcēs erant, sed lingua Graeca mihi nōn dulcis sed amāra erat. ego puer eram. Vergilius, poēta Latīnus, etiam bonās fābulās nārrābat. crēdō puerōs Graecōs Vergilium nōn amāre, quod linguam Latīnam discere cōguntur. sīcut ego linguam Graecam discere coāctus sum.

linguam Graecam discere difficile erat. lingua Graeca lingua aliēna erat. ego nūlla verba Graeca sciēbam. magistrī mē poenīs terrēbant. magistrī mē discere cōgēbant. ego timēbam et dolēbam.

sed lingua Latīna alia rēs erat. ego īnfāns eram. ego nūlla verba Latīna sciēbam. tamen linguam Latīnam sine metū et sine dolōre didicī. nūtrīcēs (fēminae quae mē cūrābant) mē amābant. āliī mēcum rīdēbant. āliī mēcum lūdēbant. ego laetus eram, et ita verba Latīna didicī. nēmō mē poenā cōgēbat.

itaque lībera voluntās plūs potest ad discendum quam metus et necessitās.

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