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Saturnalia (2022)

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Well, this was some time in the making. Heck of a project to translate, as there is so much colloquial speech and interesting sentence structure, but yay, it's done! For the curious, no audiobook today, look for that on Saturday.

Also, credit to my friend for helping me voice the werewolf in the opening, since my voice just doesn't go that low. Thank you!

Latin (everything in parentheses is silent/implied, including ellisions):
Studium Jacci (Incubus Ante Saturnalia) (1, 2, and 3)

Errat cum Jacco.
Errat cum Jacco.
S(i) (eum) umquam recepturi sumus nescio. (4)

Est solus sursum, clausus ab intus. (5)
Verbum non dicit.
Spero (eum) non perisse.
Errat cum Jacco.
Errat cum Jacco.

Saturnalia (in) calva stridet. (6)
Relinquet (me)? Non (possum) intellegere.
Sunt res tot quos complecti non possum.
Cum puto m(e) id haber(e) atque tandem,
(Per) digitos osseos (meos) labitur,
Similis niv(i) in man(u) ignea.

Non plan(e) intelleg(o) aliquid,
Cum temptem perg(o) oblivisci,
(Similis) memoriae iam pridem.
Hic in momento, fulgor(e) ivit,
Quidne dicit? Quidne dicit?

In illis opusculis, (7)
Arcan(um) invenir(e) exspectat. (8)
(Haec) pupae ludaque permiscent (me),
Damn(a) omni(a) amo id etsi.

Res simplices, nihil plus,
(Tamen) per ianu(am) aliquid celat,
Non habe(o) etsi clavem.
(Est hic) non vider(e) aliquid possum,
Quidne dicit? Quidne dicit? Quidne dicit?

Legi tam libros Saturnalia. (9)
Fabulas nosc(o) et poemates nosco. (10)
(Nosco) Saturnalia melos (omnes) memoria. (11 and 12)
Calv(a) est tam plena ut me lacerat.
Sed quotiens (eos) legi, aliquid est falsum,
(Tam) arduus digit(um) osse(um) imponere.

Aut fortass(e) est non ver(e) altum quam putare ductus sum.
Temptone nimis valde?
Certe! (Fui nimis) propinquus visu! (13)
Responsum est recta pro me,
Recta pro me!

Clarissimum, est simplex vere,
(Similis) fluitanti cantu(i) (in) aere,
Invisus sed ubique.
Cum (id) possim non videre,
Significat me (id) credere (posse).

Esto, (puto) rem (hanc) Saturnalia (14)
Non quam dolos(am) esse videtur.
(Ac) cur haber(e) (eos) oportet ludum (omnem)?
Esse decet cuiusquam!

Non cuiusquam, re vera, (sed) mei.
Eia! possem facer(e) arborem (Saturnalia)! (15 and 16)
(Et est) non causa (quae) poss(um) invenire,
Non possim id (Saturnaliam) tractare. (17)
Pono (me) poss(e) emendar(e) (id) etiam! (18)
Et (illud) adeo est quid agam!

Eureka! Anno, Saturnali(a) erit nostri! (19)

Notes
(1) Jacci - I kept as true to the original name 'Jack' as possible, so the 'K' became a 'C' and a simple -us ending was added.
(2) incubus - The word has the connotation of 'night demon' or 'sleep demon', so though it's not a perfect translation, it works well enough.
(3) Saturnalia - The traditional midwinter festival translates better as the Western world's consumer celebration than the too religious 'nativitas', referring to the birth of Christ.
(4) recepturi sumus - future active participle
(5) ab - 'away' with 'locked' (clausus) so it acts as an adverb
(6) calva - Used in this sense to refer to a 'bare head' to distinguish from the more common 'caput', which has a multitude of meanings.
(7) opusculis - Invented word 'opusculus', meaning 'little work'; similar enough to the English-specific 'knickknack' and 'bric-a-brac'.
(8) inveniri - I changed the original 'crack a secret (open)' to 'find a secret', as Latin doesn't possess that idiom.
(9) Saturnalia - Ablative of description, translated with 'of' or 'about/concerning'
(10) poemates - The Latin word for 'rhyme' is 7 syllables (homoeoteleuton) and therefore the more manageable 'poemas' (poem) was used.
(11) melos - The word 'melus' has the connotation of 'hymn', the style in which most traditional carols are written.
(12) memoria - Literally 'by/from memory', translating the English idiom ' by heart'.
(13) visu - Ablative supine following 'propinquus'
(14) esto - Interjection meaning something along the lines of 'well' or even 'um', acting as a spacer the same way English uses 'you know'.
(15) eia! - Interjection expressing (among other things) delight.
(16) possem - The subjunctive is used here to express 'could' in the sense of 'I might be able to (in the future)' instead of using the indicative to mean 'I was able to (in the past)'. 'Possim' is in the present subjunctive to follow the main verb 'est'.
(17) id - A shorter word to stand in for 'Saturnaliam' (Christmas [time]).
(18) Pono me posse - Literally 'I place/wager myself to be able'.
(19) Eureka! - The original word is kept intact as the phrase comes from the ancient Greek (literally 'I have found') and is used in several languages.

*The original song operates on a sort of semi-rhyme couplet scheme, so though rhymes were made where possible, grammar was generally not sacrificed to ensure it.