In English, the epigraph of A Christmas Carol reads
I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.
Their faithful Friend and Servant, C.D.
In Carmen ad Festum Nativitatis, Tom Cotton translates this
Hoc scrípsí Manibus ornátum libellum nescióquid Phantasmatis subjiciendí causá quóminus sive inter meós lectórés singillatim vel úná sive dé tempore anní sive dé mé displiceantur. Eórum domicilia suaviter inquietentur neque sint qui expellere vélint.
Eórum Amícus fidélis et Servus, C.D.
Lewis Elementary defines subicio as
- to throw under, place under, cast below
- [of troops] to bring, cause to be encamped, post
- to set up, mount, throw up
- to substitute, forge, counterfeit
- to suborn
- [figuratively] to submit, subject, present
I'm assuming that Mr. Cotton is using subicio in its sixth meaning, "to submit, subject, present," since none of the others makes sense in this context. How does subicio used with this meaning work as a translation of "raise the Ghost of an Idea"? What are some other examples of subicio being used in this way?
(I understand that Latin is a far more concrete language than English, much less given to metaphor and fancy, so I see that a more literal translation of "raise the Ghost of an Idea" wouldn't be great Latinity. But in this case my impulse would have been to use suggero, whose sixth meaning is "to suggest, prompt," and I'm trying to understand what makes subicio a better choice here. Döderlein contains neither verb, so I don't have much to go on.)