Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, 15.16 Recommended VCAA Time Limit: 59 Minutes (50 minutes per 90 words). Milo of Croton, a famous athlete, has retired and is journeying through Italy. Milo Crotoniensis, athleta inlustris, quem in chronicis scriptum est Olympiade LXII primum coronatum esse, exitum habuit e vita miserandum et mirandum. Cum iam natu grandis artem athleticam desisset iterque faceret forte solus in locis Italiae silvestribus, quercum vidit proxime viam patulis in parte media rimis hiantem. Tum experiri, credo, etiam tunc volens an ullae sibi reliquae vires adessent, inmissis in cavernas arboris digitis, diducere et rescindere quercum conatus est. Ac mediam quidem partem discidit divellitque; quercus autem in duas diducta partis, cum ille, quasi perfecto quod erat conixus, manus laxasset, cessante vi rediit in naturam manibusque eius retentis inclusisque stricta denuo et cohaesa, dilacerandum hominem feris praebuit. chronicon, chronicī, n. – chronicle. ANSWERS (NO PEEKING – TRY FINISHING PAST THE TIME LIMIT) My Translation: Milo of Croton, a distinguished athlete, who, as it is written in the chronicles, had been crowned first in the 62nd Olympics, had a death that was to be pitied and wondered at. When, he, by then quite old, had abandoned the athletic art and by chance was making the journey alone in the forested regions of Italy, he saw an oak tree near the road gaping with broad cracks in its middle. Then he, even at that time wanting, I suppose, to test whether he had any remaining strength, after putting his fingers into the hollows of the tree, he tried to separate and open up the oak. And indeed, he separated and tore apart the middle part; but when he, as if what he had strived to do had been accomplished, had relaxed his hands, when the act of force was ceasing, the oak, having been separated into two parts, returned to its natural state and after holding back the hands of the man and shutting them in, having been joined and stuck together afresh, it held out the man to be torn to pieces by beasts. Rolfe’s Translation (More liberal than mine): http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Gel.%2015.16&lang=original
