Translating 'multos labores subierunt'

Question

I am trying to translate the following sentence:

Diu in undis errabant et multos labores subierunt.

I am able to translate the first part as:

For a long time the ship was wandering in the waves

But I am stuck on the second part. The definitions given are:

• labor, laboris — effort, exertion, labour, work task, hardship, suffering, distress
• subeo [mainly in this context] — go under

I could attempt to translate this as 'and many efforts went under' but that does not fit in with the context.

How do I translate "multos labores subierunt"?

Answer 1

The relevant meaning of subeo in this case is (strangely enough) directly derivable from the parts of the word: sub + eo = "under + go" = undergo. Lewis & Short lists this meaning in B.2.c., though many of the other meanings also fit:

B.2.c. (The figure taken from stooping under a load, under blows, etc.) To subject one's self to, take upon one's self an evil; to undergo, submit to, sustain, endure, suffer it

For your example sentence, note that errabant is plural and thus cannot refer to a singular ship: a literal translation would be that "they" (i.e. the crew) wandered. The rest is fairly straightforward:

Long they wandered in the waves, and they underwent many trials.