Juvenal: SATVRAE

Plurima sunt, Fuscine, et fama digna sinistra
[et quod maiorum uitia sequiturque minores] 1a
et nitidis maculam haesuram figentia rebus,
quae monstrant ipsi pueris traduntque parentes.
si damnosa senem iuuat alea, ludit et heres
bullatus paruoque eadem mouet arma fritillo.

There are very many, Fuscine, and worthy of a sinister reputation
[and that the vices of the elders are followed by the younger] 1a
and fixing a stain that clings to shining things,
which parents themselves show and hand down to boys.
If ruinous dice delight the old man, the heir also plays;
bullated, he likewise shakes the same arms in a little dice-box.

nec melius de se cuiquam sperare propinquo
concedet iuuenis, qui radere tubera terrae,
boletum condire et eodem iure natantis
mergere ficedulas didicit nebulone parente
et cana monstrante gula. cum septimus annus

nor will the youth allow any near kinsman to hope better of him,
who learned, from a nefarious parent, to scrape up tubers of the earth,
to pickle a boletus and by the same right to plunge floating little figs (ficedulas),
and with gluttony made plain by grey hair. when the seventh year

transierit puerum, nondum omni dente renato,
barbatos licet admoueas mille inde magistros,
hinc totidem, cupiet lauto cenare paratu
semper et a magna non degenerare culina.
mitem animum et mores modicis erroribus aequos

when the boy shall have passed the seventh year, not yet with every tooth renewed,
though you place a thousand bearded masters beside him thence,
and as many again hereafter, he will long to dine with sumptuous provision
always and not to degenerate from a great kitchen.
a mild spirit and manners made even by modest faults

praecipit atque animas seruorum et corpora nostra
materia constare putat paribusque elementis,
an saeuire docet Rutilus, qui gaudet acerbo
plagarum strepitu et nullam Sirena flagellis
conparat, Antiphates trepidi laris ac Polyphemus,

he hurls down and thinks that the souls of servants and our bodies consist of matter and equal elements, or does Rutilus teach to rage, who delights in the bitter clamor of blows and with his whips equals no Siren, Antiphates of the trembling hearth and Polyphemus,

tunc felix, quotiens aliquis tortore uocato
uritur ardenti duo propter lintea ferro?
quid suadet iuueni laetus stridore catenae,
quem mire adficiunt inscripta, ergastula, carcer?
rusticus expectas ut non sit adultera Largae

then happy — how often, when someone is summoned to the torturer,
is he burned by the blazing iron, two (men) for the sake of linens?
what does the clank of the chain, glad, advise the young man,
whom the inscriptions, the ergastula, the prison strangely affect?
do you, countryman, expect that Larga’s wife will not be adulterous

filia, quae numquam maternos dicere moechos
tam cito nec tanto poterit contexere cursu
ut non ter deciens respiret? conscia matri
uirgo fuit, ceras nunc hac dictante pusillas
implet et ad moechum dat eisdem ferre cinaedis.

the daughter, who will never be able to name her mother's paramours
so swiftly nor with so great a weaving of haste
that she will not breathe "thirty" aloud? privy to her mother
the maiden was; now, this one dictating, she fills little wax tablets
and gives them to be carried to the adulterer by those same cinaeds.

sic natura iubet: uelocius et citius nos
corrumpunt uitiorum exempla domestica, magnis
cum subeant animos auctoribus. unus et alter
forsitan haec spernant iuuenes, quibus arte benigna
et meliore luto finxit praecordia Titan,

thus nature commands: more swiftly and sooner the examples of vices domesticly corrupt us,
when they enter souls with great authors. one and another
perhaps scorn these things—young men—whom kindly art
and a better clay shaped the praecordia by Titan,

sed reliquos fugienda patrum uestigia ducunt
et monstrata diu ueteris trahit orbita culpae.
abstineas igitur damnandis. huius enim uel
una potens ratio est, ne crimina nostra sequantur
ex nobis geniti, quoniam dociles imitandis

but the remaining ones are led by the footsteps of fathers to be avoided
and the long-shown track drags along the guilt of the old.
therefore refrain from condemning. for one potent kind of reason is this,
lest our crimes follow those born from us, since apt to imitation

turpibus ac prauis omnes sumus, et Catilinam
quocumque in populo uideas, quocumque sub axe,
sed nec Brutus erit Bruti nec auunculus usquam.
nil dictu foedum uisuque haec limina tangat
intra quae pater est. procul, a procul inde puellae

we are all base and perverse, and Catiline wherever you see him in the people, wherever under the sky; but neither will Brutus be Brutus nor the avuncle anywhere. Let nothing foul in speech or in sight touch these thresholds within which the father is. Away, far from there the girls

lenonum et cantus pernoctantis parasiti.
maxima debetur puero reuerentia, si quid
turpe paras, nec tu pueri contempseris annos,
sed peccaturo obstet tibi filius infans.
nam si quid dignum censoris fecerit ira

of pimps and the songs of a parasite who spends the night.
The greatest reverence is owed to the boy, if you are preparing any shameful thing,
nor should you scorn the boy’s years, but let an infant son obstruct you from sinning.
For if anger has done anything worthy of a censor

quandoque et similem tibi se non corpore tantum
nec uultu dederit, morum quoque filius et qui
omnia deterius tua per uestigia peccet,
corripies nimirum et castigabis acerbo
clamore ac post haec tabulas mutare parabis.

and sometimes a son will present himself like you not only in body
nor in countenance, but also in morals — and one who
in all things may sin worse than your footsteps,
you will of course reprove and chastise with bitter
clamour, and after these things you will prepare to change the tablets.

unde tibi frontem libertatemque parentis,
cum facias peiora senex uacuumque cerebro
iam pridem caput hoc uentosa cucurbita quaerat?
hospite uenturo cessabit nemo tuorum.
'uerre pauimentum, nitidas ostende columnas,

whence to you the brow and the liberty of a parent,
when you, an old man, do worse and with an empty mind
for some time now let this head seek a windy gourd?
none of your household will yield to a guest about to arrive.
' sweep the pavement, display the shining columns,

arida cum tota descendat aranea tela,
hic leue argentum, uasa aspera tergeat alter.'
uox domini furit instantis uirgamque tenentis.
ergo miser trepidas, ne stercore foeda canino
atria displiceant oculis uenientis amici,

when the whole dry spider lets down its web,
let one here lightly polish the silver, let another scrub the rough vessels.'
the voice of the master rages, pressing and holding his rod.
therefore the wretch trembles, lest with canine dung the halls be fouled
and displease the eyes of the coming friend,

ne perfusa luto sit porticus, et tamen uno
semodio scobis haec emendat seruulus unus:
illud non agitas, ut sanctam filius omni
aspiciat sine labe domum uitioque carentem?
gratum est quod patriae ciuem populoque dedisti,

lest the portico be smeared with mud, and yet with one
half-bushel of shavings this small slave corrects these things:
do you not aim at that, that the son in every respect
may behold the holy house without stain and free from vice?
it is pleasing that you have given a citizen to the fatherland and to the people,

si facis ut patriae sit idoneus, utilis agris,
utilis et bellorum et pacis rebus agendis.
plurimum enim intererit quibus artibus et quibus hunc tu
moribus instituas. serpente ciconia pullos
nutrit et inuenta per deuia rura lacerta:

if you make him suitable for his fatherland, useful to the fields,
useful also in the affairs of both war and peace to be carried out.
for it will be of very great importance by what arts and by what morals you
institute him. The stork feeds her young with a snake
and a lizard found through devious countrysides:

illi eadem sumptis quaerunt animalia pinnis.
uoltur iumento et canibus crucibusque relictis
ad fetus properat partemque cadaueris adfert:
hic est ergo cibus magni quoque uolturis et se
pascentis, propria cum iam facit arbore nidos.

they likewise, their wings assumed, seek out the same animals.
the vulture, the pack-beast and dogs and crosses left behind,
hastens to the offspring and bears a portion of the carcass:
this therefore is the food of the great vulture also and of himself
feeding, when he already makes nests with his own tree.

sed leporem aut capream famulae Iouis et generosae
in saltu uenantur aues, hinc praeda cubili
ponitur: inde autem cum se matura leuauit
progenies stimulante fame festinat ad illam
quam primum praedam rupto gustauerat ouo.

but in the woodland the birds hunt the hare or kid of Jove’s maid and of the noble-born
and there the booty is laid in the nest: moreover when the brood, now mature, has heaved itself up
and, urged by hunger, hastens to that which as soon as possible it had first tasted of prey from the broken egg.

85
aedificator erat Caetronius et modo curuo
litore Caietae, summa nunc Tiburis arce,
nunc Praenestinis in montibus alta parabat
culmina uillarum Graecis longeque petitis
marmoribus uincens Fortunae atque Herculis aedem,

85
the builder was Caetronius, and at one time on the curved
shore of Caieta, now preparing the highest heights on the citadel of Tibur,
now raising lofty summits of villas in the Praenestine mountains,
surpassing the temple of Fortune and of Hercules with marbles sought from Greece and far away,

ut spado uincebat Capitolia nostra Posides.
dum sic ergo habitat Caetronius, inminuit rem,
fregit opes, nec parua tamen mensura relictae
partis erat. totam hanc turbauit filius amens,
dum meliore nouas attollit marmore uillas.

as Posides the eunuch was conquering our Capitolia.
so therefore Caetronius dwelt, he lessened the estate,
he broke the riches, yet there was not a small measure of the part left.
his son, frenzied, ruined all this,
while with finer marble he raised new villas.

95
quidam sortiti metuentem sabbata patrem
nil praeter nubes et caeli numen adorant,
nec distare putant humana carne suillam,
qua pater abstinuit, mox et praeputia ponunt;
Romanas autem soliti contemnere leges

95
some, having drawn lots, fearing a sabbath‑keeping father,
worship nothing but the clouds and the numen of the sky,
and think that pork (suinum) differs not from human flesh,
from which the father abstained; soon they too cast off their foreskins;
but they are wont to despise Roman laws

100

Iudaicum ediscunt et seruant ac metuunt ius,
tradidit arcano quodcumque uolumine Moyses:
non monstrare uias eadem nisi sacra colenti,
quaesitum ad fontem solos deducere uerpos.
sed pater in causa, cui septima quaeque fuit lux

They learn the Jewish law by heart and observe and fear the statute,
Moses handed down whatever is in the hidden volume:
not to disclose the same paths except to one who worships the sacred rites,
to lead the sought-after verses only to the font/source.
but the father in the matter, for whom every seventh day was light

105

ignaua et partem uitae non attigit ullam.
sponte tamen iuuenes imitantur cetera, solam
inuiti quoque auaritiam exercere iubentur.
fallit enim uitium specie uirtutis et umbra,
cum sit triste habitu uultuque et ueste seuerum,

idle and touches no part of life at all.
yet the young voluntarily imitate the rest; alone
even the unwilling are commanded to exercise avarice.
for vice deceives by the appearance and shadow of virtue,
when it is stern in mien and face and severe in garb,

110

nec dubie tamquam frugi laudetur auarus,
tamquam parcus homo et rerum tutela suarum
certa magis quam si fortunas seruet easdem
Hesperidum serpens aut Ponticus. adde quod hunc de
quo loquor egregium populus putat adquirendi

nor, without doubt, should the avaricious man be praised as if frugal,
as if a sparing man and the guardian of his own things,
more certainly than if the Hesperian serpent or the Pontic
kept the same fortunes. Add that the man of whom I speak the people deem remarkable for acquiring

115

artificem; quippe his crescunt patrimonia fabris
[sed crescunt quocumque modo maioraque fiunt]
incude adsidua semperque ardente camino.
[et pater ergo animi felices credit auaros]
qui miratur opes, qui nulla exempla beati

the artisan; for indeed by such craftsmen estates increase
[but they increase in whatever way and become greater]
on the constant anvil and ever upon the glowing hearth.
[and therefore the father of the mind deems the avaricious happy]
who marvel at riches, who acknowledge no exemplars of the blessed

120

pauperis esse putat, iuuenes hortatur ut illa
ire uia pergant et eidem incumbere sectae.
sunt quaedam uitiorum elementa, his protinus illos
inbuit et cogit minimas ediscere sordes;
mox adquirendi docet insatiabile uotum.

he thinks himself poor, urges young men that they go that way and apply themselves to the same sect of pursuits.
there are certain elements of vices; straightaway he pours those into them and compels them to learn the smallest sordid things by heart;
soon he teaches an insatiable desire for acquiring.

125

seruorum uentres modio castigat iniquo
ipse quoque esuriens, neque enim omnia sustinet umquam
mucida caerulei panis consumere frusta,
hesternum solitus medio seruare minutal
Septembri nec non differre in tempora cenae

he chastises his slaves' bellies with an unjust bushel
he himself also, being hungry, for he never can endure to consume all
the musty scraps of dark bread,
accustomed to keep yesterday's small morsels until mid-September
and likewise to defer them to the time of supper

130

alterius conchem aestiuam cum parte lacerti
signatam uel dimidio putrique siluro
filaque sectiui numerata includere porri.
inuitatus ad haec aliquis de ponte negabit.
sed quo diuitias haec per tormenta coactas,

To enclose another’s summer shell with part of an arm,
branded or with half a rotten silurus (a catfish),
and to confine the threads of the cut leek, counted.
When invited to these things, someone from the bridge will deny.
But whither are these riches, driven and compelled through torments,

135

cum furor haut dubius, cum sit manifesta phrenesis,
ut locuples moriaris, egentis uiuere fato?
interea, pleno cum turget sacculus ore,
crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia creuit,
et minus hanc optat qui non habet. ergo paratur

when madness not doubtful, when phrenesis is manifest,
that the wealthy should die, the needy live by fate?
meanwhile, when the little purse swells with a full mouth,
the love of nummi grows as much as the pecunia itself has grown,
and he who does not have this desires it less. therefore it is procured

140

altera uilla tibi, cum rus non sufficit unum
et proferre libet finis maiorque uidetur
et melior uicina seges; mercaris et hanc et
arbusta et densa montem qui canet oliua.
quorum si pretio dominus non uincitur ullo,

another villa for you, when one rus is not sufficient
and it pleases to extend and a boundary seems larger
and the neighboring crop better; you will buy both this and
the orchards and the thick hill that the olive will make white.
if the lord of any of these is not conquered by any price,

145

nocte boues macri lassoque famelica collo
iumenta ad uiridis huius mittentur aristas
nec prius inde domum quam tota noualia saeuos
in uentres abeant, ut credas falcibus actum.
dicere uix possis quam multi talia plorent

at night gaunt oxen, with weary and famished necks,
the beasts of burden will be sent to the green ears of this field;
and not thence homeward until the whole newly-ploughed lands
have gone into the savage bellies, so that you would think them cut by sickles.
you can hardly tell how many would bewail such things

150

et quot uenales iniuria fecerit agros.
sed qui sermones, quam foede bucina famae!
'quid nocet haec?' inquit 'tunicam mihi malo lupini
quam si me toto laudet uicinia pago
exigui ruris paucissima farra secantem.'

and how many fields injury has made venal.
but what conversations, how foully the trumpet of fame!
"what harm is this?" he says, "I prefer a wolf-skin tunic to a tunic
if the whole neighborhood of the village praises me,
while they reap very little grain from my scanty farm."

155

scilicet et morbis et debilitate carebis
et luctum et curam effugies, et tempora uitae
longa tibi posthac fato meliore dabuntur,
si tantum culti solus possederis agri
quantum sub Tatio populus Romanus arabat.

certainly you will be free also from diseases and debility
and will shun grief and care, and long seasons of life
will hereafter be granted to you by a better fate,
if only you alone shall possess as much of cultivated field
as the Roman people ploughed under Tatius.

160

mox etiam fractis aetate ac Punica passis
proelia uel Pyrrhum inmanem gladiosque Molossos
tandem pro multis uix iugera bina dabantur
uulneribus; merces haec sanguinis atque laboris
nulli uisa umquam meritis minor aut ingratae

Soon also, with age broken and having endured Punic battles,
or the savage wars of Pyrrhus and the Molossian swords,
at last for many scarcely two iugera were given for their wounds;
this pay of blood and toil never seemed to anyone ever less than their merits or ungrateful

165

curta fides patriae. saturabat glebula talis
patrem ipsum turbamque casae, qua feta iacebat
uxor et infantes ludebant quattuor, unus
uernula, tres domini; sed magnis fratribus horum
a scrobe uel sulco redeuntibus altera cena

the curta faith of the fatherland. Such a little glebe fed the father himself and the throng of the house, in which his pregnant wife lay, and four children played, one a vernula, three masters; but for the great brothers of these, returning from ditch or furrow, another supper

170

amplior et grandes fumabant pultibus ollae.
nunc modus hic agri nostro non sufficit horto.
inde fere scelerum causae, nec plura uenena
miscuit aut ferro grassatur saepius ullum
humanae mentis uitium quam saeua cupido

bigger and the great pots smoked with porridges.
now this measure of land does not suffice for our garden.
thence almost the causes of crimes, nor did he mix more poisons
nor does any vice of the human mind more often rage with the sword
than fierce desire

175

inmodici census. nam diues qui fieri uolt,
et cito uolt fieri; sed quae reuerentia legum,
quis metus aut pudor est umquam properantis auari?
'uiuite contenti casulis et collibus istis,
o pueri,' Marsus dicebat et Hernicus olim

of immoderate riches. For he who wishes to be rich,
and wishes to be rich quickly; but what reverence for laws,
what fear or modesty is there ever in a hurrying avaricious man?
"Live content with those little huts and these hills,
O boys," Marsus used to say, and Hernicus long ago

180

Vestinusque senex, 'panem quaeramus aratro,
qui satis est mensis: laudant hoc numina ruris,
quorum ope et auxilio gratae post munus aristae
contingunt homini ueteris fastidia quercus.
nil uetitum fecisse uolet, quem non pudet alto

And old Vestinus, 'let us seek bread by the plough,
enough for a month: the rural numina praise this,
by whose power and aid, after the gift, grateful ears of grain
befall a man, the fastidiousness of the ancient oak.
He will wish to have done nothing forbidden, him whom it does not shame to be lofty

185

per glaciem perone tegi, qui summouet euros
pellibus inuersis: peregrina ignotaque nobis
ad scelus atque nefas, quaecumque est, purpura ducit.'
haec illi ueteres praecepta minoribus; at nunc
post finem autumni media de nocte supinum

to be shod with hobnails over the ice, he who drives off the south winds
with skins turned inside out: foreign and unknown to us
leads to crime and nefas whatever purple is.'
these were the old precepts to the younger; but now
after the end of autumn, in the middle of the night, lying supine

190

clamosus iuuenem pater excitat: 'accipe ceras,
scribe, puer, uigila, causas age, perlege rubras
maiorum leges; aut uitem posce libello,
sed caput intactum buxo narisque pilosas
adnotet et grandes miretur Laelius alas;

the clamorous father rouses the youth: 'take the wax tablets,
write, boy, be vigilant, plead causes, read through the red
laws of the ancestors; or demand a little book of the vine,
but let Laelius note the untouched head with boxwood and the nostrils hairy
and marvel at the great wings.'

195

dirue Maurorum attegias, castella Brigantum,
ut locupletem aquilam tibi sexagesimus annus
adferat; aut, longos castrorum ferre labores
si piget et trepidum soluunt tibi cornua uentrem
cum lituis audita, pares quod uendere possis

tear down the Moors' huts, the castles of the Brigantes,
that a rich eagle may bring to you your sixtieth year;
or, if you are averse to bearing the long toils of the camps
and the horns loosen your anxious belly when the trumpets are heard, so that you may sell them off as equals

200

pluris dimidio, nec te fastidia mercis
ullius subeant ablegandae Tiberim ultra,
neu credas ponendum aliquid discriminis inter
unguenta et corium: lucri bonus est odor ex re
qualibet. illa tuo sententia semper in ore

worth half again as much, nor let the annoyances of any merchandise
to be sent off across the Tiber come upon you,
nor think that any distinction should be placed between
unguent and hide: scent is good profit from any thing
whatsoever. Let that maxim be always on your tongue

205

uersetur dis atque ipso Ioue digna poeta:
"unde habeas quaerit nemo, sed oportet habere."'
[hoc monstrant uetulae pueris repentibus assae,
hoc discunt omnes ante alpha et beta puellae.]
talibus instantem monitis quemcumque parentem

let the poet be worthy of the gods and Jove himself:
"no one asks whence you have it, but you must have it."'
[hence the old women show to the crawling boys the roasted bits,
hence all girls learn even before alpha and beta.]
urging any parent with such admonitions

210

sic possem adfari: 'dic, o uanissime, quis te
festinare iubet? meliorem praesto magistro
discipulum. securus abi: uinceris, ut Aiax
praeteriit Telamonem, ut Pelea uicit Achilles.
parcendum est teneris; nondum impleuere medullas

thus I could address: 'say, O most vainglorious, who bids you hurry?
I present a pupil better than the master. Go off secure: you will be overcome, as Ajax surpassed Telamon, as Peleus conquered Achilles.
the tender must be spared; they have not yet filled their marrows

215

maturae mala nequitiae. cum pectere barbam
coeperit et longae mucronem admittere cultri,
falsus erit testis, uendet periuria summa
exigua et Cereris tangens aramque pedemque.
elatam iam crede nurum, si limina uestra

the evils of mature nequity. When from his chest he begins a beard
and to admit the point of a long knife,
he will be a false witness, he will vend great perjuries
for a trifling price and, touching Ceres' altar and foot.
now deem the daughter-in-law exalted, if your thresholds

220

mortifera cum dote subit. quibus illa premetur
per somnum digitis! nam quae terraque marique
adquirenda putas breuior uia conferet illi;
nullus enim magni sceleris labor.

when the deadly dowry comes upon her.
by which she is pressed in sleep by fingers! for that which you think must be acquired by land and sea
a shorter way will bring to her; for there is no labor of great crime.

"haec ego numquam
mandaui" dices olim "nec talia suasi."

"these things I never commanded
you will say one day "nor did I urge such things."

225

mentis causa malae tamen est et origo penes te.
nam quisquis magni census praecepit amorem
et laeuo monitu pueros producit auaros
[et qui per fraudes patrimonia conduplicari]
dat libertatem et totas effundit habenas

yet the cause and origin of an evil mind lie with you.
for whoever has enjoined a love of great estate
and by a sinister admonition brings up sons greedy
[and who by frauds causes estates to be doubled]
grants them liberty and pours out the whole reins

230

curriculo; quem si reuoces, subsistere nescit
et te contempto rapitur metisque relictis.
nemo satis credit tantum delinquere quantum
permittas: adeo indulgent sibi latius ipsi.
cum dicis iuueni stultum qui donet amico,

in his course; if you call him back, he does not know how to stop,
and, despising you, is swept away with his fears left behind.
no one adequately believes that he sins only so much as you allow:
so greatly do they indulge themselves the more freely.
when you say that a young man is foolish who gives to a friend,

235

qui paupertatem leuet attollatque propinqui,
et spoliare doces et circumscribere et omni
crimine diuitias adquirere, quarum amor in te
quantus erat patriae Deciorum in pectore, quantum
dilexit Thebas, si Graecia uera, Menoeceus,

who eases poverty and lifts up a kinsman,
and teachest to plunder and to circumscribe and by every crime
to acquire riches, the love of which in thee
was how great as the Decii’ love of fatherland in their breast, how great
as Menoeceus loved Thebes, if indeed Greece be true,

240

in quorum sulcis legiones dentibus anguis
cum clipeis nascuntur et horrida bella capessunt
continuo, tamquam et tubicen surrexerit una.
ergo ignem, cuius scintillas ipse dedisti,
flagrantem late et rapientem cuncta uidebis.

in whose furrows legions with fangs are born with shields
and seize up dreadful wars at once, as if a single trumpeter
had risen. therefore the fire, whose sparks you yourself gave,
you will see blazing far and wide and sweeping up all things.

245

nec tibi parcetur misero, trepidumque magistrum
in cauea magno fremitu leo tollet alumnus.
nota mathematicis genesis tua, sed graue tardas
expectare colus: morieris stamine nondum
abrupto. iam nunc obstas et uota moraris,

nor will mercy be shown to you, wretched one, nor to the trembling master;
in the cage a pupil will lift the lion with great roar.
your nativity is known to the mathematicians, but the heavy distaff
is slow to be awaited: you will die before the thread is yet
snapped. even now you stand in the way and delay your vows,

250

iam torquet iuuenem longa et ceruina senectus.
ocius Archigenen quaere atque eme quod Mithridates
composuit: si uis aliam decerpere ficum
atque alias tractare rosas, medicamen habendum est,
sorbere ante cibum quod debeat et pater et rex.'

now long and stiff-necked old age already torments the young man.
quickly seek out Archigenes and buy what Mithridates composed:
if you would pluck another fig
and handle other roses, a remedy must be had,
to sip before food that which both father and king ought.

255
monstro uoluptatem egregiam, cui nulla theatra,
nulla aequare queas praetoris pulpita lauti,
si spectes quanto capitis discrimine constent
incrementa domus, aerata multus in arca
fiscus et ad uigilem ponendi Castora nummi,

255
I show an extraordinary pleasure, for which no theatres,
no sumptuous praetor’s podia could you equal,
if you look at with what peril to the head there stand
the accretions of a house, much in a brazen chest
the fisc and coins of Castor placed aside for the night-watch,

260

ex quo Mars Vltor galeam quoque perdidit et res
non potuit seruare suas. ergo omnia Florae
et Cereris licet et Cybeles aulaea relinquas:
tanto maiores humana negotia ludi.
an magis oblectant animum iactata petauro

since that time Mars Ultor even lost his helmet and could not keep his affairs. therefore, though you may leave all the curtains of Flora and of Ceres and of Cybele: by so much the more are human affairs games. or do things tossed with a petasos more delight the mind?

265

corpora quique solet rectum descendere funem
quam tu, Corycia semper qui puppe moraris
atque habitas, coro semper tollendus et austro,
perditus ~ac uilis~ sacci mercator olentis,
qui gaudes pingue antiquae de litore Cretae

and whose bodies each are wont to descend the straight rope
which you, Corycian, who always linger on the stern
and dwell, always to be hoisted by north and by south,
a ruined ~ac uilis~ merchant of a smelly sack,
who rejoices in the fat bounty from the shore of ancient Crete

270

passum et municipes Iouis aduexisse lagonas?
hic tamen ancipiti figens uestigia planta
uictum illa mercede parat, brumamque famemque
illa reste cauet: tu propter mille talenta
et centum uillas temerarius. aspice portus

and that he had brought flagons of passum and the municipal jars of Jove?
this man, however, planting his footprints with a duplicitous sole,
secures his sustenance by that wage, and by that rope she guards against winter and hunger:
you, reckless for the sake of a thousand talents
and a hundred villas. behold the harbors

275

et plenum magnis trabibus mare: plus hominum est iam
in pelago. ueniet classis quocumque uocarit
spes lucri, nec Carpathium Gaetulaque tantum
aequora transiliet, sed longe Calpe relicta
audiet Herculeo stridentem gurgite solem.

and the sea, full of great beams: there are now more men upon the main
a fleet will come wheresoever the hope of profit shall call;
and it will not only leap the Carpathian and Gaetulian waters,
but with Calpe left far behind it will hear the sun shrieking in Hercules’ whirlpool.

280

grande operae pretium est, ut tenso folle reuerti
inde domum possis tumidaque superbus aluta,
Oceani monstra et iuuenes uidisse marinos.
non unus mentes agitat furor. ille sororis
in manibus uoltu Eumenidum terretur et igni,

it is a great reward of effort, that with the sail stretched you may return thence home and, proud, with swollen hide,
have seen the monsters of the Ocean and the marine youths.
madness stirs more than one mind. that man is alarmed by the sister’s hands, by the visage and fire of the Eumenides,

285

hic boue percusso mugire Agamemnona credit
aut Ithacum. parcat tunicis licet atque lacernis,
curatoris eget qui nauem mercibus implet
ad summum latus et tabula distinguitur unda,
cum sit causa mali tanti et discriminis huius

here, struck by an ox, he believes Agamemnon or Ithacus to bellow
let him spare tunics and cloaks, yet he lacks a curator who fills
the ship with merchandize to the very gunwale and whose plank is marked off by the wave,
when there is the cause of so great an evil and of this peril

290

concisum argentum in titulos faciesque minutas.
occurrunt nubes et fulgura: 'soluite funem'
frumenti dominus clamat piperisue coempti,
'nil color hic caeli, nil fascia nigra minatur;
aestiuom tonat.' infelix hac forsitan ipsa

silver chopped into tablets and faces made minute.
clouds and lightnings press together: "cast off the rope,"
cries the master of the grain or of pepper purchased,
"no hue of heaven here, no black band threatens;
it thunders for the summer." Unhappy perhaps by this very thing

295

nocte cadet fractis trabibus fluctuque premetur
obrutus et zonam laeua morsuque tenebit.
sed cuius uotis modo non suffecerat aurum
quod Tagus et rutila uoluit Pactolus harena,
frigida sufficient uelantes inguina panni

at night he will fall, his beams broken and pressed by the wave,
overwhelmed, and death will seize his girdle on the left with a bite.
but for whom the gold that lately did not suffice his vows,
which the Tagus and the gleaming sand of Pactolus desired,
cold cloths, veiling the groin, will suffice

300

exiguusque cibus, mersa rate naufragus assem
dum rogat et picta se tempestate tuetur.
tantis parta malis cura maiore metuque
seruantur: misera est magni custodia census.
dispositis praediues amis uigilare cohortem

and scant food, the shipwrecked man with his boat submerged begs a coin
while he pleads and shelters himself from the pictured storm.
what was won by such great evils is kept with greater care and fear
they are preserved: miserable is the guarding of a great estate.
with arms disposed, the very rich keep a cohort on vigil to watch

305

seruorum noctu Licinus iubet, attonitus pro
electro signisque suis Phrygiaque columna
atque ebore et lata testudine. dolia nudi
non ardent Cynici; si fregeris, altera fiet
cras domus atque eadem plumbo commissa manebit.

Licinus bids the servants by night, astonished for electrum
and for his insignia, and a Phrygian column
and of ivory and broad tortoiseshell. The vats of the naked
Cynics do not burn; if you break one, another will be made
tomorrow, and the same will remain entrusted with lead.

310

sensit Alexander, testa cum uidit in illa
magnum habitatorem, quanto felicior hic qui
nil cuperet quam qui totum sibi posceret orbem
passurus gestis aequanda pericula rebus.
nullum numen habes, si sit prudentia: nos te,

Alexander perceived, when he saw in that shell
a great inhabitant, how much more fortunate is he who
desires nothing than he who would demand the whole world for himself,
about to endure dangers so that his deeds be made commensurate with his affairs.
you have no divine power, if there is prudence: we you,

315

nos facimus, Fortuna, deam. mensura tamen quae
sufficiat census, si quis me consulat, edam:
in quantum sitis atque fames et frigora poscunt,
quantum, Epicure, tibi paruis suffecit in hortis,
quantum Socratici ceperunt ante penates;

we make you, Fortune, a goddess. yet I will give what measure of wealth
will suffice, if anyone consults me:
inasmuch as thirst and famine and cold demand,
how much, Epicurus, sufficed for you in your little gardens,
how much the Socratics formerly set aside for their penates;

320

numquam aliud natura, aliud sapientia dicit.
acribus exemplis uideor te cludere? misce
ergo aliquid nostris de moribus, effice summam
bis septem ordinibus quam lex dignatur Othonis.
haec quoque si rugam trahit extenditque labellum,

nature never says one thing and wisdom another.
Do I seem to confine you with sharp examples? Mix,
therefore, something of our mores, bring about a summa
in twice-seven orders which the law of Otho deigns.
If this too draws a wrinkle and extends the small lip,

325

sume duos equites, fac tertia quadringenta.
si nondum impleui gremium, si panditur ultra,
nec Croesi fortuna umquam nec Persica regna
sufficient animo nec diuitiae Narcissi,
indulsit Caesar cui Claudius omnia, cuius

take two horsemen, make the third four hundred.
if I have not yet filled the bosom, if it is stretched further,
neither Croesus’s fortune nor the Persian realms
suffice for the spirit, nor the riches of Narcissus;
Caesar, to whom Claudius yielded all, whose

330

paruit imperiis uxorem occidere iussus.

he obeyed the commands, having been commanded to kill his wife.