The letter with two cum clauses
A Level 2 student is translating a short prose letter for an internal assessment. The passage begins: 'Cum haec scripsissem, litterae tuae adlatae sunt. Quas cum legissem, gavisus sum quod tam diligenter responderas.' The previous sentence, which the student has already translated, says that the writer had been afraid his friend was angry. The student's draft reads: 'Although I had written these things, your letter was brought. Although I had read it, I rejoiced because you had replied so carefully.' The teacher marks the first two clauses as 'check cum'. The student protests that cum + subjunctive always means 'although' because that is what the textbook table says. The passage is 42 words long, and the assessment asks for a literal translation plus one sentence explaining the writer's change of mood. The deadline is tomorrow.
1. Are the teacher's 'check cum' marks justified? Decide the force of each cum clause and explain the signals.
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Yes, both marks are justified. Cum with a past-tense subjunctive can be temporal ('when'), causal ('since'), or concessive ('although'); the textbook table is incomplete if it gives only one meaning.
- Cum haec scripsissem: the context is sequence, not contrast. The writer writes; then the letter arrives. 'When I had written these things' fits. 'Since I had written' is possible but less natural because the arrival is not presented as a result of the writing.
- Quas cum legissem: 'When I had read them' is clearly temporal. The next clause, gavisus sum, reports the response after reading.
- A concessive 'although' would need a contrast such as 'although I had written, nevertheless no reply came'. Here the reply does come, and it produces joy. The subjunctive is regular in cum temporal clauses in past narration, so it does not by itself signal concession.
2. Rewrite the student's draft as a literal translation that shows the writer's change of mood.
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A literal version:
'When I had written these things, your letter was brought to me. When I had read it, I rejoiced because you had replied so carefully.'
The mood change is from fear, mentioned in the previous sentence, to relief and joy. The first cum clause sets the time of writing; the second sets the time of reading. Quod introduces the reason for rejoicing and takes the indicative here, so it is causal, not indirect statement. Gavisus sum is the past of gaudeo and means 'I rejoiced' or 'I was glad'. The student's repeated 'although' creates an unnecessary contrast and obscures the sequence that produces the joy.