Ne rustica quidem femina humanitatem aut comitatem spernit, si vicinae pauperes auxilium petunt.

Ne ... quidem is an idiomatic Latin way to say not even.

In this sentence, rustica is placed between ne and quidem, so that is the especially emphasized idea. The sense is:

not even a rustic/country woman

Latin often uses this pattern to highlight the surprising element.

Because ne ... quidem is a fixed expression. You should learn it as a unit meaning not even.

So this ne is not functioning the same way as the ordinary sentence negative non. It is just part of the idiom.

Latin does not always put the whole noun phrase inside ne ... quidem. Often only the most emphatic word goes between them.

Here rustica is the key descriptive word being stressed, while femina stays nearby:

• ne rustica quidem femina

That still means not even a rustic woman. The adjective rustica agrees with femina, so the two belong together even though they are not packed tightly into one unit.

Both are accusative singular.

They are accusative because they are the direct objects of spernit:

• humanitatem = humanity, kindness, refinement
• comitatem = courtesy, friendliness, affability

So the woman despises or scorns these things.

They are similar, but not identical.

• humanitas often suggests humanity, kindness, civilized feeling, refinement
• comitas suggests courtesy, friendliness, graciousness, affability

Putting both together gives a fuller idea: she does not reject either kindness or courteous behavior.

Spernit is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• active voice
• indicative mood

It comes from spernere, meaning to despise, to scorn, or to reject.

Its subject is femina, so:

• femina spernit = the woman despises/scorns

With the negative idea from ne ... quidem, the overall sense is that she does not even scorn these qualities.

The subject of petunt is vicinae pauperes.

That phrase is nominative plural feminine, so it means something like:

• poor neighbors
  or
• poor neighboring women

And because the subject is plural, the verb is plural too:

• petunt = they seek / ask for

It can be understood either way, which is common in Latin.

It could mean:

• neighboring women if taken adjectivally with an implied noun
• female neighbors if taken more substantively

Since it agrees with pauperes and is feminine plural, the overall idea is clear: poor women nearby / poor female neighbors.

Because auxilium often works like the English uncountable noun help or assistance.

So:

• auxilium petunt = they ask for help

Latin frequently uses the singular for this kind of idea, just as English usually says help, not helps, in this context.

This is a straightforward present indicative condition:

• si ... petunt = if ... they ask

The main clause also has a present indicative:

• spernit

That gives a general or ordinary condition, something like:

• if poor neighbors ask for help
• whenever poor neighbors ask for help

So the sentence describes what happens in such a situation in general.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because Latin relies heavily on case endings rather than position alone.

Here the order helps with emphasis:

• ne rustica quidem comes early to stress the surprising subject
• humanitatem aut comitatem comes before the verb as the things not despised
• auxilium petunt closes the sentence neatly with the action in the si clause

So the order is not random; it is shaped by emphasis and style more than by strict English-like sentence structure.

Yes, here aut simply means or.

Latin has more than one word for or, and aut can sometimes feel a bit more definite or exclusive than vel, but in many sentences the difference is small.

So humanitatem aut comitatem means:

• humanity/kindness or courtesy

The point is that she does not disdain either sort of good behavior.