14 SEPTEMBER 1889, Page 15

SCHOOL-BOYS' BLUNDERS.

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] Sra,—I send you two translations made in the lowest form of a public school one Christmas examination. They were shown to us in the sixth :—" He asked whether his father and mother were well:" " Rogavit vervex pater et mater bene erant." "He fortified the city:" " Quadragintavit urbem." I have also heard the following renderings :—" Magis calleo quam Callum aprugnum callet" (Plautus) : "I am as hot as an apricot on a south wall." In Tacitus' account of one of Vespasian's miracles, the person who was to be cured, Genua eius advolvitur :" " Was wheeled up by his daughter- in-law." "ipt TroMt" (Hesiod) : " Poll early."—I am, Sir, &c.,— 3. W. P.