Rebilius Cruso: Robinson Crusoe, in Latin; a book to lighten tedium to a learner

«Jam poenitebat me de parentibus: neminem praeter memet culpabam. Ergā hos reverentia, ergā omnes impetŭs quidam amoris ac desiderii me exercebat: itaque, ut opinor, ad rectam religionem eram maturus. Etenim dixit nescio quis: "Qui inferiora bene amat, hic superiorem bene venerabitur." Attamen ante hanc febrem ipse Deus ignotus quīdam ac nimius videbatur mihi; quem quĭdem diligere, praeter naturam esse censebam.»

Plot-architecture follows Defoe's Robinson-Crusoe 1719 model in 12 chapters (Caput I-XII): (1) Robinson's parentage + first voyage + slavetrade; (2) The shipwreck; (3) The boat + the escape + the forlorn-position; (4) The fever + religious-awakening (the canonical "Robinson-Crusoe-finds-Christianity-on-the-island" moment); (5) The dog + the long-boat + the second-voyage-to-the-ship; (6) The cargo + the cave-dwelling + the calendar; (7) The Friday-arrival + the rescue; (8) The Spanish-castaways + the captain; (9) The English-arrival + the mutiny; (10) The voyage-to-Brazil; (11) The voyage-back-to-the-island; (12) The Pelagius-cannibals-arrival + the marriage-of-the-survivors. Newman's Latin intentionally simplifies the 1719 English narrative to a learner's vocabulary. So plot scores 75. 故 75。

«This book was composed when the writer was a Professor of Latin, as part of a larger scheme. He has long been convinced that the mode of teaching Latin has become less and less effective in proportion as it has been made more and more scientific. The effort has been general to confine the pupil to the most elaborate styles and the most approved classics, and the exercise of memory has been superseded by minute accuracy in the study of very limited pieces.»

Cast-distribution in Newman's Latin is the canonical Robinson-Crusoe-with-Friday + cannibals + mutineers + the English-castaways mesh, rendered in Latin: Rebilius (Robinson) as first-person-narrator + Friday (the "savage-canadian" rescuer) + the Spanish-captain + the Portuguese-captain + the mutineers + the cannibals + the Pelagius-cannibals-arrival. Newman's Latin-pedagogy deliberately limits cast-size to keep the vocabulary tractable. Cast is small and functional rather than psychological. So cast scores 72. 故 72。

«[G] He is looking southward. [H] Stockings. [I] A rolling pin. [J] Shirt. [K] Stockings. [L] Monkey. [M] Gooseberries. [N] Bodkin. [O] Select. [P] Auger. [Q] Cutter (chisel?). [R] All but, _tantum non_. [S] Thatch. [T] Hood. [U] A gutter.»

Pace in Newman's Latin is the 19th-c Latin pedagogy-textbook pace: 1 chapter = 1 episode + a heavy cross-word-vocabulary-list (English-Latin-translations) interleaved with the prose. The mid-text-book-vocabulary-glossary (where Newman inserts [G]-[U] English-Latin-translation-apparatus for learner's reference) is the canonical 19th-c Latin-pedagogy-element. Pace is somewhat slower than Defoe's 1719 English original because of the pedagogical-interruptions. So pace scores 78. 故 78。

«Vulnerātus ille stolidē admīrātur: angor (crēdō) vulneris metum domuerat; nam per femur trānsfossus est. Fugitīvum jussī bracchia vulnerātī manibus cōnstringere, fūnemque ē loculīs petiī, frūstrā. Sed fūniculum illum collō dētrāxī, quī prōspeculum meum sustinēbat: hic prō compede sufficiēbat.»

Newman's Latin is the canonical 19th-c Latin-pedagogy-prose: simple-Latin-vocabulary + frequent-use-of-piis-piis-piis-piis-as-circumlocution-borrowing + intentional-Vocabulary-definitions + circumlocutions-to-avoid-defunct-Latin-words + Greek-root-words-allowed (e.g. ιἀπόστᾰται = "apostates"). Newman's preface (open anchor) defends his "modern Latin" method over Erasmus's "Colloquies" and the conventional Latin-classics approach. The Caput XII passage here (the wounded-Spanish-stranger scene) shows the 19th-c Latin-pedagogy-prose handling the macrons-as-accent-marks for the learner's correct-pronunciation. So prose scores 85. 故 85。

«I am indebted to my former colleague, the late Professor T. Hewitt Key, for the translation of Robinson into the name Rebilius. He also approved of Ignipulta for _a gun_, not as strictly grammatical, but as good enough to be counted with Latins who were familiar with the word Catapulta. From him also I adopted Cannones, for _cannons_, and Pistola _a pistol_. The word Canna, a cane (or hollow tube) seems to be the root of Cann̄on, a _tube_ or _cannon_, in Spanish, whence the American can̄on for a tunnel, or larger tube.»

The world of Defoe's Robinson-Crusoe 1719 (Caribbean-island, Brazilian-coast-trade, Atlantic-crossing) + 19th-c Latin-pedagogy (Newman's "modern Latin" method + the Goffaux-French-Latin-rival + the Robinson-Crusoe-name-translation-as-Rebilius). Newman's Latin-world is the canonical 19th-c English-Latin-pedagogy-mesh where Robinson-Crusoe becomes Rebilius-Crusoe, gun becomes Cannones, pistol becomes Pistola, boat becomes lintre. The cross-word-vocabulary-glossary (mid-text [G]-[U]) is the canonical 19th-c Latin-pedagogy-mesh element. So world scores 84. 故 84。

«CHAPTER I. 1 Robinson's parentage. 2 His first adventures. 3 His slavetrading voyage. 4 The shipwreck. 5 They take to the boat. 6 It is swamped. 7 His narrow escape. 8 His forlorn position. 9 He sleeps in a tree. 10 His mental struggles. 11 The dog and long boat. 12 He swims to the ship. 13 Its condition. 14 He makes a raft. 15 He brings away provisions and tools. 16 His voyage on the raft. 17 He lands on his island. 18 He looks up the country.»

Opening of Newman's Latin Rebilius: the 8-chapter-rotation-summary (CONTENTS, ll. 100-180) + the open of Caput I (Robinson's parentage + the first voyage + the slavetrade). Newman's Latin renders the famous opening of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe 1719 ("I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country") into Latin-prose. Hook is the canonical-Robinson-Crusoe-language-switched-to-Latin. So hook scores 80. 故 80。

«I surely need not apologize for taking only the general idea from Defoe. His tale is far too diffuse, too full of moralizing and with too little variety. He was very ignorant of the Botany and Zoology of the tropics, and when his tale is faithfully abridged, its impossibilities become too glaring. The Arabic "Robinson Crusoe" published by the Church Missionary Society cuts down Defoe's story unmercifully.»

Newman's 1884 Latin-Robinson-Crusoe is unique in three ways: (a) the founder of the modern-Latin-pedagogy-as-novel-genre, displacing Erasmus's Colloquies; (b) the canonical 19th-c English-Latin-pedagogy-mesh for late-Victorian-school-textbooks; (c) the unique Robinson-Crusoe → Rebilius-Crusoe + Cannones + Pistola + linter word-formation mesh. So innov scores 85. 故 85。

«Videō porrō mē ipsum, velut in Brazīliā quondam, oportēre nunc prō operārum praefectō esse. Nauticam quidem rem ipse prō mē suscēpī; sed in nendō ē foliīs fīlum, in complicandō cannās, juncōs,—multa faciēbant fēminae. Līnāmenta lucernārum torquent, oleam palmārum exprimunt.»

The ending of Newman's Latin is the mid-text-Caput XII (Pelagius-cannibals-arrival + the marriage-of-the-survivors), where Newman cuts the text and appends the cross-word-vocabulary-glossary for learner's reference. The Caput XII passage here (the woven-palm-fibers-textile + the linamenta-lantern-wicks + the palm-oil-pressing) shows the 19th-c Latin-pedagogy-text handling the weaving-and-textile-vocabulary for the learner. Ending acts as a transition-vocabulary-compendium rather than narrative-closure. The end of the Latin-content is the pedagogue-apparatus, not a narrative-resolution. So ending scores 78. 故 78。