I. Libro primero
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Love advice and myths for B2
The Art of Love El arte de amar
Ovid, 1821
Ovid’s didactic poem in an 1821 Spanish prose translation, complete, not an adaptation. In the catalog it is B2: about 23,800 words and 18 words per sentence on average. Three books of advice: how to find and keep a lover, and in the third, advice to women; every page draws on myth.
- B2
- 23 810 words
- 4-7 hours
Will this text hold?
B1
Earlier
At B1 the mythological names on every page and old words of the translation such as nao or empero will slow you down.
B1B2
This text
You can manage it at B2: the advice comes in even sentences of 18 words, and an unfamiliar myth rarely hides the point of the advice.
Check this passageC1
With room to spare
At C1 the poem reads freely; only the rarer myths slow you down.
Start readingThe average sentence has 18 words, the longest among the catalog’s Spanish B2 books, and one word in eleven has 9 letters or more, as in Quiroga’s stories. The difficulty is even: all three books of the poem run at 17-18 words per sentence; only the translator’s preface is denser, at 38. Mythological names on every page and old words of the 1821 translation such as nao or empero add work, though the spelling has been modernized. Hence B2, right on the edge of C1. This is the catalog’s assessment, not a certificate.
- 23 810
- words
- 18
- words in an average sentence
- 4-7
- hours of reading
- 1821
- Repullés
Repullés, 1821. Project Gutenberg
What it is about, without the ending
Ovid sets out to teach the Romans to love the way one is taught to drive a chariot or steer a ship. In the first book he advises where in Rome to look for a lover and how to win her; in the second, how to keep love, and between the tips he tells the myth of Daedalus and Icarus; the third book gives advice to women. Every tip is illustrated with examples from myth.
Compare two places
Three times “por el arte”
Ovid builds his opening on a repetition: por el arte se guía..., por el arte se rigen..., por el arte ha de ser regido el amor (“by art is steered...”). Ame at the end of the first sentence is a command: “let him love”. Nao and empero are old words; today one says nave and pero. Automedon and Tiphys are Achilles’s charioteer and the helmsman of the Argonauts’ ship.
Wings of wax
Daedalus makes wings out of feathers (plumas), thread (hilo) and wax melted over the fire (cera derretida al fuego). Bajel is “ship” here in a figurative sense, and aportar has its old meaning, “to reach port”, not “to contribute”. Manejaba el muchacho sonriéndose la cera y las plumas: the boy plays with the wax and feathers, smiling, not knowing what they are for.
Chapters
Translation while you read
The book stays free on every plan. Reader, €1 a month, removes the daily limit on words and sentences.
Reader
€1 a month
In the translator’s preface sentences average 38 words: translating the whole sentence in Reader helps untangle the old-fashioned style.
ReaderIf this book is not the one
All books at this levelBefore you read
Is this the original or a learner adaptation?
It is Ovid’s complete Ars amatoria, all three books, in a Spanish prose translation, not an adaptation. The translation is anonymous: in the preface the translator signs only as EL TRADUCTOR. The reader follows the 1821 Madrid edition by Repullés, with the spelling modernized to the 2010 rules.
Is there an audiobook?
The Art of Love has no audiobook on MovaReader: here the poem is read. The translation appears when you tap a word, and you will need it most for old words such as nao or empero.
Can I translate a whole sentence?
Yes, with the Reader plan. In this book it helps most in the translator’s preface, where sentences average 38 words; in the poem itself sentences are even, at about 18. Without the plan, single words are translated up to the daily limit.
How many hours does it take?
The whole poem takes about 4-7 hours: the pace of someone reading with translation of new words, slower than a native speaker’s. The three books are nearly equal, 7,200-7,600 words each, so one takes two or three evenings.
Where does the text get easier?
The difficulty is even: all three books run at 17-18 words per sentence. The densest part is the translator’s preface, at 38 words per sentence, so you can start straight with the first book.
Will my place in the book be saved?
Yes. Once you sign in, the reader keeps your last place and the words you opened, so you can come back to the poem every evening where you left off. Each of the three books also opens from the contents on this page, for example the second, with the myth of Daedalus and Icarus.