Latin joke No. 1
SIR: The article about the Pope’s Latin teacher (September issue) prompted me to share this joke.
An apprentice monk was given the job of translating the monastery’s old books from Latin into English. After a couple of weeks, he asked the abbot to check he was translating the Latin properly. After six hours, the abbot hadn’t returned. The apprentice found him sitting in a dark corner, hunched over a very old, dusty book, sobbing his heart out. The apprentice asked, ‘What’s wrong?’ The abbot said, ‘I’ve just read a very old translation. We were meant to “celebrate”, not be “celibate”.’ Dorian Eady, Halesworth, Suffolk