M — 11th century (manuscript M)
| Faithful, readable English rendering (segment-by-segment) | Beatrix Potter–esque adaptation (preserving punctuation, hyphenation and capitalization) |
|---|
| Since concerning both cities. |
Quince and thrush of two gardens. |
| the earthly and the heavenly, |
tangled hedgerows and moonlit, |
| with fitting boundaries; henceforth I perceive that I must argue — first the matters that should be expounded as far as the nature of finishing this work allows, |
daisy‑border limits henceforth i see there is to be disputing first matters to be set out as far as the patch's finishing nature allows, |
| the arguments of mortals. |
tales agile-bunny. |
| by which they themselves strove to make beatitude in the unhappiness of this life, |
whereby the hedgehogs themselves contrived happiness amid this life's misfortune, |
| so that from their vain possessions our hope may not differ from what God has given us. |
that from their vain trinkets our hope differs from what the robin gave us. |
| and the thing itself: this is true beatitude which it will grant, not only by divine authority. |
& the box itself this is true comfort which shall grant it not only by the gardener's authority. |
| but with reason also applied, of the sort we can use on account of unbelievers, |
but having fitted a tidy reason the sort we may use on account of strangers, |
| let it be made clear. |
may it become clear. |
N — 14th century (manuscript N)
| Faithful, readable English rendering (segment-by-segment) | Beatrix Potter–esque adaptation (preserving punctuation, hyphenation and capitalization) |
|---|
| Since concerning both cities, the earthly and the heavenly. |
Quince for both hedgerows earthly and moonlit. |
| with proper bounds: henceforth I perceive that I must argue; first those things to be set forth as far as the nature of finishing this work permits . |
dandelion fences henceforth i see there is to be chattering t first to be told as far as the story's ending sense permits . |
| the arguments of mortals, |
tales petal-sprig, |
| by which they themselves strove to make beatitude in the unhappiness of this life • |
whereby the mice themselves contrived comfort in this year's mischief • |
| so that from their vain possessions our hope may differ / |
that from their cracked teapots vain our hope should differ / |
| than what God has given us, and the thing itself / |
which the robin gave us and the chest itself / |
| this is true beatitude / |
this is true contentment / |
| which it will give / |
which will grant / |
| not only by divine authority • |
not only by mother's decree • |
| but with reason also applied / |
but with reason also applied / |
| such as, on account of unbelievers, we can apply (to be applied) — let it be made clear |
such as because of strangers we may (employ) brighten- |
Notes: left column gives a concise, segment‑by‑segment readable rendering of the Latin witness fragments. Right column is deliberately different in nouns and context (pastoral / small‑animal, Beatrix Potter‑like imagery) but preserves exactly the manuscript punctuation tokens shown (periods, commas, bullet •, slashes /, parentheses (), ampersand & and hyphens). Hyphenation positions were reproduced in the hyphenated words (e.g. "agile-bunny", "petal-sprig") and the terminal hyphen in the final N segment is retained ("brighten-"). Capitalization at the start of each adapted segment mirrors the manuscript pattern (initial capitals or lower‑case as in the original).