Latin passage from "The Leopard"

[Mark Goffee]

Hi,

A friend is trying to find a translation for a latin sentence in
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel "The Leopard," and I thought that
perhaps you wise and learned individuals would be able to help.

The sentence is: "Non olet...optime foeminam ac contubernium olet"

This is how it appears in the book:
"Angelica was just Angelica, a flower of a girl,
a rose merely fertilized by her grandfather's
nickname (Mmerda). Non olet, he repeated, non
olet: in fact, optime foeminam ac contubernium
olet."



Thank you kindly,
Mark

[August de Man]

Post by Mark Goffee
"Angelica was just Angelica, a flower of a girl,
a rose merely fertilized by her grandfather's
nickname (Mmerda). Non olet, he repeated, non
olet: in fact, optime foeminam ac contubernium
olet."

"It doesn't smell", he repeated, "It doesn't smell: in fact, it just
smells deliciously of women and living together".
"It" is the nickname, merda = shit.
"Contubernium" is living together with a slave girl.

August de Man
____________________________________

Post by Mark Goffee
Hi,
A friend is trying to find a translation for a latin sentence in
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel "The Leopard," and I thought that
perhaps you wise and learned individuals would be able to help.
The sentence is: "Non olet...optime foeminam ac contubernium olet"
"Angelica was just Angelica, a flower of a girl,
a rose merely fertilized by her grandfather's
nickname (Mmerda). Non olet, he repeated, non
olet: in fact, optime foeminam ac contubernium
olet."
Thank you kindly,
Mark

[August de Man]

Better: "it smells of a woman and living intimately together with
her".

"Contubernium" is living closely together, soldiers in a tent
(tabernaculum)
or slaves in a hut (taberna), that is why this was the right word.

AdM

[Mark Goffee]

Thank you very much! It is most appreciated.

Mark

Post by August de Man
Better: "it smells of a woman and living intimately together with
her".
"Contubernium" is living closely together, soldiers in a tent
(tabernaculum)
or slaves in a hut (taberna), that is why this was the right word.
AdM