5.5

[1] Eā nocte ad suam Psȳchēn sīc īnfit marītus (namque praeter oculōs et manibus et auribus eius nihil nōn sentiēbātur): [2] “Psȳchē dulcissima et cāra uxor, exitiābile tibi perīculum minātur Fortūna saevior, quod observandum pressiōre cautēlā cēnseō. [3] Sorōrēs iam tuae mortis opīnīone turbatae tuumque vestīgium requīrentēs scopulum istum prōtinus aderunt, quārum sī quās forte lāmentātiōnēs accēperīs, neque respondeās immō nec prōspiciās omnīnō; cēterum mihī quidem gravissimum dolōrem, tibi vērō summum creābis exitium.” [4] Annuit et ex arbitriō marītī sē factūram spopondit, Sed eō simul cum nocte dīlāpsō diem tōtum lacrimīs ac plangōribus misella cōnsūmit, [5] sē nunc maximē prōrsus perīsse iterāns, quae beātī carceris custōdiā sēpta et hūmānae conversātiōnis colloquiō viduāta nec sorōribus quidem suīs dē sē maerentibus opem salūtārem ferre ac nē vidēre eās quidem omnīnō posset. [6] Nec lavācrō nec cibō nec ūllā dēnique refectiōne recreāta flēns ūbertim dēcessit ad somnum.

Cupid tells Psyche that she must beware listening to her sisters’ laments. Psyche spends the entirety of the next day in tears.him the opportunity to give an account of his life.

eā nocte: abl. of time when

nihil nōn sentiēbātur: “she felt everything.”

observandum: gerundive of obligation modifying quod.

sorōrēs…turbatae: “Your sisters, troubled by the belief of your death.”

quārum: antecedent is sorōrēs; possessive genitive depending on lāmentātiōnēs.

ex arbitriō: See note on 5.5.2

eō…dīlāpsō: “But when he had disappeared with the night.”

maximē prōrsus: Note the redundancy.

quae: nom. f. s.; Psȳchē is its antecedent.

īnfit (irregular verb): he/she/it begins to speak

exitiabilis, -e: destructive

minor, -ārī: to threaten

pressus, -a, -um: close, exact, accurate, strict (L&S s.v. premo, pressus, -a, -um II B)

cautēla, -ae f.: caution

vestīgium, -ī n.: footprint, trace

censeō, -ēre, -suī, census:  to be of the opinion

ad/annuo, -ere, -uī, -ūtus: to assent by nodding

spondeō, -ēre, spopondī, spōnsus: to vow

plangor, -ōris m.: a striking, a beating

misellus, -a, -um:  wretched, unfortunate

pereō, -īre, -iī, -itus:  to be lost

s(a)epio, īre, -psī, -ptum: to fence in, enclose

viduō, -āre: to bereave, deprive of (+ abl. of separation)

maereō,- ēre, maeruī: to lament

refectio, -ōnis f.: a restoring, refreshment

ūbertim (adv.): abundantly, copiously

dēcēdō, -ere, -cessī, -cessus: to withdraw

Remains of a Roman lavacrum (Baths of Neptune, Ostia Antica, Italy)

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