Persius: A. PERSI FLACCI SATVRAE

Nec fonte labra prolui caballino
nec in bicipiti somniasse Parnaso
memini, ut repente sic poeta prodirem.
Heliconidasque pallidamque Pirenen
illis remitto quorum imagines lambunt

Nor from the horse-fountain did I bathe my lips
nor do I remember having dreamt on two-headed Parnassus,
that thus so suddenly I should come forth a poet.
And Helicon and pale Pirene I leave to those whose images lick them

hederae sequaces; ipse semipaganus
ad sacra uatum carmen adfero nostrum.
quis expediuit psittaco suum 'chaere'
picamque docuit nostra uerba conari?
magister artis ingenique largitor

clinging ivy; I myself, a half‑pagan,
bring our carmen to the sacred rites of the vates.
who contrived for his parrot its 'chaere'
and taught the magpie to attempt our words?
a master of art and a bestower of ingenium

uenter, negatas artifex sequi uoces.
quod si dolosi spes refulserit nummi,
coruos poetas et poetridas picas
cantare credas Pegaseium nectar.

the belly, an artificer of following denied voices.
but if the deceitful hope of money gleams forth,
you would believe that crows—poets—and magpie-poets
sing the Pegasean nectar.

SATVRA I

SATIRE I

O curas hominum! o quantum est in rebus inane!
'quis leget haec?' min tu istud ais?

O cares of men! O how great is the inanity in things!
"Who will read these?" Do you really say that?

nemo hercule. 'nemo?'
uel duo uel nemo. 'turpe et miserabile.' quare?

no one, by Hercules. 'no one?'
either two or no one. 'shameful and pitiable.' why?

ne mihi Polydamas et Troiades Labeonem
praetulerint? nugae. non, si quid turbida Roma

Would Polydamas and the Trojan women have preferred Labeo to me?
Trifles. No — not, if aught turbulent Rome

eleuet, accedas examenue inprobum in illa
castiges trutina nec te quaesiueris extra.
nam Romae quis non—a, si fas dicere—sed fas
tum cum ad canitiem et nostrum istud uiuere triste
aspexi ac nucibus facimus quaecumque relictis,

raise it up, approach or put to the test the wicked examen in that
you chastise the trutina and do not seek yourself outside.
for in Rome who is not—ah, if it be lawful to say—but lawful
then when I looked toward canities and that our sad living,
and with nuts we do whatever with things left behind,

cum sapimus patruos. tunc tunc—ignoscite (nolo,
quid faciam?) sed sum petulanti splene—cachinno.
scribimus inclusi, numeros ille, hic pede liber,
grande aliquid quod pulmo animae praelargus anhelet.

when we know our uncles. then then—pardon me (I do not wish, what shall I do?) but I, with a petulant spleen—cachinnate.
we write enclosed, he the metres, this one free in foot,
something great which the lung of the soul, too lavish, pants forth.

scilicet haec populo pexusque togaque recenti

of course these things for the people, with hair arranged and with a fresh toga

et natalicia tandem cum sardonyche albus
sede leges celsa, liquido cum plasmate guttur
mobile conlueris, patranti fractus ocello.
tunc neque more probo uideas nec uoce serena
ingentis trepidare Titos, cum carmina lumbum

and finally, with natal gems and white sardonyx on the lofty seat of law,
when with clear fluid of the mould you shall have bathed the movable throat,
wearied by a watching little eye.
then neither in a respectable custom would you appear nor with a serene voice
to set mighty Titus trembling, when songs the loins

intrant et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima uersu.
tun, uetule, auriculis alienis colligis escas,
articulis quibus et dicas cute perditus 'ohe'?
'quo didicisse, nisi hoc fermentum et quae semel intus
innata est rupto iecore exierit caprificus?'

they enter and are scraped with a trembling verse where the inmost parts.
then, old man, do you gather morsels for alien ears,
with the articulations by which you might also cry, skin-ruined, 'oh me'?
'whence to have learned, if not this ferment and what once within
is innate—when the liver is burst—should issue forth a caprificus?'

en pallor seniumque! o mores, usque adeone
scire tuum nihil est nisi te scire hoc sciat alter?
'at pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier "hic est."
ten cirratorum centum dictata fuisse
pro nihilo pendes?' ecce inter pocula quaerunt

behold pallor and old age! O mores, is it really so that your knowing is nothing unless another knows that you know it?
'but it is handsome to be pointed at with a finger and to be said "this is he."
do you hold that the hundred things dictated by the gossipers,

Romulidae saturi quid dia poemata narrent.
hic aliquis, cui circum umeros hyacinthina laena est,
rancidulum quiddam balba de nare locutus
Phyllidas, Hypsipylas, uatum et plorabile siquid,
eliquat ac tenero subplantat uerba palato.

What should Romulean satires, divine poems, recount?
here someone, about whom a hyacinthine cloak is draped around the shoulders,
having spoken some slightly rancid little thing, stammering from the nose,
Phyllidas, Hypsipylas, of seers and anything plaintive,
he dribbles it out and sets words beneath his tender palate.

adsensere uiri: nunc non cinis ille poetae
felix? non leuior cippus nunc inprimit ossa?
laudant conuiuae: nunc non e manibus illis,
nunc non e tumulo fortunataque fauilla
nascentur uiolae? 'rides' ait 'et nimis uncis

The men assented: is not that ash of the poet now happy?
does not a lighter tombstone now press upon his bones?
the guests praise: will not from those very hands now,
will not from the tomb and the fortunate ash
violets be born? "you laugh," he says, "and too hooked

naribus indulges. an erit qui uelle recuset
os populi meruisse et cedro digna locutus
linquere nec scombros metuentia carmina nec tus?'
quisquis es, o modo quem ex aduerso dicere feci,
non ego cum scribo, si forte quid aptius exit,

you pamper the nostrils. Or will there be one who will refuse to wish
that he merited the people's voice and, having spoken words worthy of cedar,
to abandon, nor fearing mackerel, the songs nor incense?'
whoever you are, O only one whom I lately made speak from the opposite,
not I, when I write, if perchance anything more apt issues forth,

quando haec rara auis est, si quid tamen aptius exit,
laudari metuam; neque enim mihi cornea fibra est.
sed recti finemque extremumque esse recuso
'euge' tuum et 'belle.' nam 'belle' hoc excute totum:
quid non intus habet? non hic est Ilias Atti

since this bird is rare, if nevertheless anything more apt should issue forth,
I would fear to be lauded; for my fibre is not of horn.
but I refuse that your "euge" and "belle" be the end and utmost boundary of right:
"belle," cast off this whole thing: what does it not have within? this is not Attius' Ilias

ebria ueratro? non siqua elegidia crudi
dictarunt proceres? non quidquid denique lectis
scribitur in citreis?

Drunk on the pen?
Did any unseasoned nobles dictate elegies?
Or is not, finally, whatever is written on chosen citrean tablets?

calidum scis ponere sumen,
scis comitem horridulum trita donare lacerna,
et 'uerum' inquis 'amo, uerum mihi dicite de me.'

you know how to put on a warm cloak,
you know how to give a shaggy little companion a cloak worn thin by rubbing,
and you say, "truly, I love; truly tell me about myself."

qui pote? uis dicam? nugaris, cum tibi, calue,
pinguis aqualiculus propenso sesquipede extet.

Who can? wilt thou have me say it? Thou jestest; for thee, bald one,
a fat little waterskin, leaning forward, juts out one-and-a-half feet.

o Iane, a tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit
nec manus auriculas imitari mobilis albas
nec linguae quantum sitiat canis Apula tantae.

o Janus, on whose rear no stork has pecked
nor does a nimble white hand imitate little ears
nor does an Apulian dog so greatly thirst for such a tongue.

uos, o patricius sanguis, quos uiuere fas est
occipiti caeco, posticae occurrite sannae.
'quis populi sermo est? quis enim nisi carmina molli
nunc demum numero fluere, ut per leue seueros
effundat iunctura unguis? scit tendere uersum

you, O patrician blood, whom it is lawful to live for a blind brow,
run to meet the hinder scab of the occiput.
"What is the people's talk? For who, if not songs, now at last
know to flow in a soft measure, so that by a light joint the harshness
may be poured forth from the nail? He knows how to stretch a verse

non secus ac si oculo rubricam derigat uno.
siue opus in mores, in luxum, in prandia regum
dicere, res grandes nostro dat Musa poetae.'
ecce modo heroas sensus adferre docemus
nugari solitos Graece, nec ponere lucum

no different than if with a single eye he were to redden the sight.
whether the task is to speak of morals, of luxury, of the banquets of kings,
the Muse gives great matters to our poet.'
behold now we teach the senses to bring forth heroes,
accustomed to jest in Greek, nor to lay aside the grove

artifices nec rus saturum laudare, ubi corbes
et focus et porci et fumosa Palilia feno,
unde Remus sulcoque terens dentalia, Quinti,
cum trepida ante boues dictatorem induit uxor
et tua aratra domum lictor tulit—euge poeta!

nor to praise artisans nor the countryside sated, where baskets
and hearth and swine and the Palilia smoky with hay lie,
whence Remus, rubbing his teeth on the furrow, of Quintus,
when, trembling before the oxen, his wife invested him as dictator
and the lictor carried your ploughs home—bravo, poet!

'est nunc Brisaei quem uenosus liber Acci,
sunt quos Pacuuiusque et uerrucosa moretur
Antiopa aerumnis cor luctificabile fulta?'
hos pueris monitus patres infundere lippos
cum uideas, quaerisne unde haec sartago loquendi

'there is now Brisaeus whom the venomous book of Accius,
are there some whom Pacuvius and wrinkled Antiopa detain
with miseries, a heart pitiably propped by grief?'
those, warned, fathers pour kisses upon the boys—when you see this, do you ask whence this skillet of speaking

uenerit in linguas, unde istud dedecus in quo
trossulus exultat tibi per subsellia leuis?
nilne pudet capiti non posse pericula cano
pellere quin tepidum hoc optes audire 'decenter'?
'fur es' ait Pedio. Pedius quid?

has it come into tongues, whence that disgrace in which
a little trossulus exults lightly for you across the benches?
does it not shame the head that it cannot, by song, drive off dangers
but that you desire to hear this tepid "decenter"?
"you are a thief," he says to Pedius. Pedius—what?

crimina rasis

with the crimes erased

librat in antithetis, doctas posuisse figuras
laudatur: 'bellum hoc.' hoc bellum? an, Romule, ceues?
men moueat?

he poises in antitheses, is praised for having set down learned figures
he is lauded: "this war." This war? Or, Romulus, citizens?
does it move the mind?

quippe, et, cantet si naufragus, assem
protulerim? cantas, cum fracta te in trabe pictum
ex umero portes? uerum nec nocte paratum

indeed — and will he sing, if shipwrecked, that I held out a penny?
do you sing, when, with you pictured on a broken beam, you bear it from your shoulder?
but truly not even by night prepared

plorabit qui me uolet incuruasse querella.
'sed numeris decor est et iunctura addita crudis.
cludere sic uersum didicit "Berecyntius Attis"
et "qui caeruleum dirimebat Nerea delphin,"
sic "costam longo subduximus Appennino."

he will weep who wishes that I was bent, with complaint.
'but there is grace in the measures and a join added to the crude.
thus he learned to close a verse "Berecyntian Attis"
and "Nereus the dolphin who cleaved the blue,"
thus "we hauled up the rib on the long Apennine."

"Arma uirum", nonne hoc spumosum et cortice pingui
ut ramale uetus uegrandi subere coctum?'
quidnam igitur tenerum et laxa ceruice legendum?
'torua Mimalloneis inplerunt cornua bombis,
et raptum uitulo caput ablatura superbo

"'Arma uirum', is this not foaming and with a fatty bark,
like old branch‑wood cooked beneath a generous cork?'
what then is there to be read tender and with a lax neck?
'their grim horns filled the Mimallonean bombs,
and the head seized from the calf by proud ablatura

100

Bassaris et lyncem Maenas flexura corymbis
euhion ingeminat, reparabilis adsonat echo.'
haec fierent si testiculi uena ulla paterni
uiueret in nobis? summa delumbe saliua
hoc natat in labris et in udo est Maenas et Attis

Bassarid and lynx, the Maenads' bending corymbs
redouble "euhion," the recoverable echo sounds again.'
Would these things happen if any vein of a paternal testicle
lived in us? the utmost, swollen saliva
this swims on the lips, and in the wet are the Maenads and Attis

105

nec pluteum caedit nec demorsos sapit unguis.
'sed quid opus teneras mordaci radere uero
auriculas? uide sis ne maiorum tibi forte
limina frigescant: sonat hic de nare canina
littera.' per me equidem sint omnia protinus alba;

nor does he cut the board nor does his bitten-off nail gnaw.
'but what need is there to scrape with a mordant truth the tender little ears? see that perhaps the thresholds of your ancestors do not grow cold for you: here the canine letter sounds from the nostril.' by me indeed may all things straightway be white;

110

nil moror. euge omnes, omnes bene, mirae eritis res.
hoc iuuat?

I delay nothing. Well done — all of you, all is well; you will be a marvelous thing.
Does this help?

'hic' inquis 'ueto quisquam faxit oletum.'
pinge duos anguis: 'pueri, sacer est locus, extra
meiite.' discedo. secuit Lucilius urbem,
te Lupe, te Muci, et genuinum fregit in illis.

'This,' you say, 'I forbid anyone to make a stink.'
Paint two serpents: "boys, this place is sacred, go away from me." I depart. Lucilius cut the city off,
you, Lupe, you, Mucus, and he smashed his knee against them.

115

omne uafer uitium ridenti Flaccus amico
tangit et admissus circum praecordia ludit,
callidus excusso populum suspendere naso.
me muttire nefas? nec clam?

wily Flaccus touches every fault in a friend who is laughing
and, once admitted, toys around his very heart,
clever to set the populace dangling by a shaken nose.
Is it sacrilege for me to mutter? nor even in secret?

nec cum scrobe? nusquam?
hic tamen infodiam.

nor with a ditch? nowhere?
here, however, I will bury him.

uidi, uidi ipse, libelle:

I saw, I myself saw, the little book:

120

auriculas asini quis non habet? hoc ego opertum,
hoc ridere meum, tam nil, nulla tibi uendo
Iliade. audaci quicumque adflate Cratino
iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene palles,
aspice et haec, si forte aliquid decoctius audis.

who does not have the little ears of a donkey? this I keep hidden,
this laughter of mine, so worthless, I sell you no Iliad. whoever, bold,
does puff against Cratinus enraged, Eupolis, when with the overly great old man you grow pale,
see also these things, if perchance you hear anything more distilled.

125

inde uaporata lector mihi ferueat aure,
non hic qui in crepidas Graiorum ludere gestit
sordidus et lusco qui possit dicere 'lusce,'
sese aliquem credens Italo quod honore supinus
fregerit heminas Arreti aedilis iniquas,

therefore let the reader blaze for me with a vaporous ear,
not him who longs to play at the Greeks' crepidae
— a filthy, one‑eyed fellow who can say "lusce," —
thinking himself somebody because, supine in Italian honour,
he has broken the unjust heminae of Aretium's aedile,

130

nec qui abaco numeros et secto in puluere metas
scit risisse uafer, multum gaudere paratus
si cynico barbam petulans nonaria uellat.
his mane edictum, post prandia Callirhoen do.

nor he who on the abacus counts the numbers and, with a stylus, traces marks in sifted dust
knows how to have laughed, slyly, ready to take much pleasure
if, petulant, he plucks the cynic’s beard ninefold. With these things, in the morning an edict; after the noontide meal I bestow Callirhoe.

SATVRA II

SATIRE 2

Hunc, Macrine, diem numera meliore lapillo,
qui tibi labentis apponet candidus annos.
funde merum genio. non tu prece poscis emaci
quae nisi seductis nequeas committere diuis;
at bona pars procerum tacita libabit acerra.

Count this day, Macrine, with a better pebble,
which a fair one will set beside your slipping years.
pour pure wine to the genius. Do not by prayer beg meagre things
which, unless withdrawn, you could not entrust to the gods;
but the good portion of the nobles will silently pour from the incense-box.

haut cuiuis promptum est murmurque humilisque susurros
tollere de templis et aperto uiuere uoto.
'mens bona, fama, fides', haec clare et ut audiat hospes;
illa sibi introrsum et sub lingua murmurat: 'o si
ebulliat patruus, praeclarum funus!' et 'o si

not everyone is ready to lift murmurs and low susurrations
from temples and to live with an open vow.
"'a good mind, fame, faith',\" these things clearly and so that the guest may hear;
she to herself inwardly and beneath her tongue murmurs: "oh that
my uncle may boil over, a glorious funeral!" and "oh if

sub rastro crepet argenti mihi seria dextro
Hercule! pupillumue utinam, quem proximus heres
inpello, expungam; nam et est scabiosus et acri
bile tumet. Nerio iam tertia conditur uxor.'
haec sancte ut poscas, Tiberino in gurgite mergis

under the rake the ranks of silver creak at my right
By Hercules! would that I might expel the orphan whom I set forward as nearest heir,
I would expunge him; for he is scabby and swells with bitter bile.
Now a third wife is laid up in Nerio.'
as you piously ask these things, you plunge them into the Tiber's whirlpool

mane caput bis terque et noctem flumine purgas.
heus age, responde (minimum est quod scire laboro)
de Ioue quid sentis? estne ut praeponere cures
hunc—cuinam?

wash your head twice or thrice in the morning and purge the night in the river.
come now, answer (it is the least that I labor to know)
what do you think about Jove? is it that you intend to prefer
this—unto whom?

cuinam? uis Staio? an—scilicet haeres?

To whom? Do you want Staio? or—of course, an heir?

quis potior iudex puerisue quis aptior orbis?

which judge is better, or which world more fitting for boys?

hoc igitur quo tu Iouis aurem inpellere temptas
dic agedum Staio. 'pro Iuppiter, o bone' clamet
'Iuppiter!' at sese non clamet Iuppiter ipse?
ignouisse putas quia, cum tonat, ocius ilex
sulpure discutitur sacro quam tuque domusque?

this, then, by which you attempt to strike Jupiter's ear,
say now, Staio. 'By Jupiter, O good man,' one will cry
'Jupiter!' — but will Jupiter himself not cry out?
do you suppose the oak to have been ignorant because, when it thunders, the oak is more quickly shattered by sacred sulphur than you and your house?

an quia non fibris ouium Ergennaque iubente
triste iaces lucis euitandumque bidental,
idcirco stolidam praebet tibi uellere barbam
Iuppiter? aut quidnam est qua tu mercede deorum
emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis?

or because by the entrails of sheep and Ergenna commanding
you lie sorrowful, to be avoided by daylight and the bidental,
is that why Jupiter grants you a foolish beard by shearing?
or what is the fee with which you purchase the gods’ little ears?
with lung and with anointed milks?

ecce auia aut metuens diuum matertera cunis
exemit puerum frontemque atque uda labella
infami digito et lustralibus ante saliuis
expiat, urentis oculos inhibere perita;
tunc manibus quatit et spem macram supplice uoto

behold the grandmother—or the maternal aunt, fearing the gods—from the cradle takes the boy
and touches his brow and his moist little lips
with an ill-omened finger and with lustral spittle beforehand
that she may make expiation, skilled to curb the burning eyes;
then with her hands she shakes him and, with a supplicatory vow, plucks at the thin hope

nunc Licini in campos, nunc Crassi mittit in aedis:
'hunc optet generum rex et regina, puellae
hunc rapiant; quidquid calcauerit hic, rosa fiat.'
ast ego nutrici non mando uota. negato,
Iuppiter, haec illi, quamuis te albata rogarit.

now to Licinius' fields, now to Crassus' houses she sends him:
'let the king and queen desire this man as son-in-law, let them seize him for the girl;
whatever this one shall have trodden, let it become a rose.'
but I do not entrust my vows to the nurse. Deny these things,
Jupiter, to him, although she, clad in white, may have entreated you.

poscis opem neruis corpusque fidele senectae.
esto age. sed grandes patinae tuccetaque crassa
adnuere his superos uetuere Iouemque morantur.
rem struere exoptas caeso boue Mercuriumque

you beg aid of sinews and a body faithful to old age.
very well, come then. but great platters and thick fat-cakes
to assent to these things the gods forbade, and even check Jupiter.
you long to contrive the matter with the ox slain and Mercury

arcessis fibra: 'da fortunare Penatis,
da pecus et gregibus fetum.' quo, pessime, pacto,
tot tibi cum in flamma iunicum omenta liquescant?
et tamen hic extis et opimo uincere ferto
intendit: 'iam crescit ager, iam crescit ouile,

you summon the entrails: 'grant to prosper the Penates,
grant offspring to cattle and to flocks.' By what, most wicked, pact
do so many of your fat entrails melt away in the flame?
and yet this man with entrails and rich offering aims to prevail:
he proclaims, 'now the field grows, now the sheepfold grows,'

iam dabitur, iam iam';donec deceptus et exspes
nequiquam fundo suspiret nummus in imo.
si tibi creterras argenti incusaque pingui
auro dona feram, sudes et pectore laeuo
excutiat guttas laetari praetrepidum cor.

now it will be given, now—now; until, deceived and despairing,
in vain a coin sighs from the depths at the very bottom.
if to you I bring earthen vessels of silver and gifts stamped with rich gold,
you will sweat and, with your left breast,
shake off the drops, the heart trembling to be glad.

hinc illud subiit, auro sacras quod ouato
perducis facies. 'nam fratres inter aenos,
somnia pituita qui purgatissima mittunt,
praecipui sunto sitque illis aurea barba.'
aurum uasa Numae Saturniaque inpulit aera

hence that thought occurred, that with exulting face you gild the sacred images with gold
'for among the brazen brothers, who send forth dreams most pure from pituita,
let them be foremost, and let a golden beard be theirs.'
gold has driven into the vessels of Numa and Saturnine bronze

Vestalisque urnas et Tuscum fictile mutat.
o curuae in terris animae et caelestium inanis,
quid iuuat hoc, templis nostros inmittere mores
et bona dis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa?
haec sibi corrupto casiam dissoluit oliuo,

And the Vestal changes the urns and Tuscan pottery.
O crooked souls on earth and void of heavenly things,
what good is it to introduce our unseemly customs into temples
and to draw the gods’ goods from this wicked pulp?
She dissolves cassia in corrupt olive for herself,

haec Calabrum coxit uitiato murice uellus,
haec bacam conchae rasisse et stringere uenas
feruentis massae crudo de puluere iussit.
peccat et haec, peccat, uitio tamen utitur. at uos
dicite, pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum?

This fleece the Calabrian purple cooked with corrupt murex,
this one ordered the shell’s berry to be scraped and to press out the veins
into the seething mass with raw dust.
She too sins, she sins, yet she makes use of vice. But you,
say, pontiffs, what does gold do in the sanctuary?

nempe hoc quod Veneri donatae a uirgine pupae.
quin damus id superis, de magna quod dare lance
non possit magni Messalae lippa propago?
conpositum ius fasque animo sanctosque recessus
mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto.

indeed that which is bestowed on Venus by a maiden’s doll.
nay, shall we give it to the gods above — that which the petty progeny of great Messala cannot give from a great dish?
the established ius and fas in the soul, the holy recesses
of the mind, and the uncocted breast of noble honesty.

haec cedo ut admoueam templis et farre litabo.

I yield these things so that I may bring them to the temples and offer a libation with spelt.

SATVRA III

SATURA 3

Nempe haec adsidue. iam clarum mane fenestras
intrat et angustas extendit lumine rimas.
stertimus, indomitum quod despumare Falernum
sufficiat, quinta dum linea tangitur umbra.

Indeed these things continually. Now bright morning enters the windows
and with light stretches the narrow fissures.
We snore, because untamed Falernum is sufficient to make one foam,
while the fifth line is touched by shadow.

'en quid agis? siccas insana canicula messes

lo, what do you do? the mad Dog-star parches the dry harvests

iam dudum coquit et patula pecus omne sub ulmo est'
unus ait comitum. uerumne? itan?

long since the dog-star sears and every pecus lies under the spreading elm'
one of the companions says. true? is it so?

ocius adsit
huc aliquis. nemon? turgescit uitrea bilis:
findor, ut Arcadiae pecuaria rudere credas.

Let someone come here more quickly.
Nemon? the glassy bile swells:
I am split, so that you would believe the Arcadian herds to bellow.

iam liber et positis bicolor membrana capillis

now free, and with the two-colored membrane having been placed on the hair

inque manus chartae nodosaque uenit harundo.
tum querimur crassus calamo quod pendeat umor.
nigra sed infusa uanescit sepia lympha,
dilutas querimur geminet quod fistula guttas.
o miser inque dies ultra miser, hucine rerum

and into the hands of the sheet comes the knotted reed.
then we complain that thick moisture hangs upon the pen.
but black, when infused, the sepia-like water vanishes,
we lament that the pen doubles the diluted drops.
O wretched — and day by day more wretched — to such a state of things?

uenimus? a, cur non potius teneroque columbo
et similis regum pueris pappare minutum
poscis et iratus mammae lallare recusas?
an tali studeam calamo?

Have we come? Ah, why not rather demand that the tender dove
and one like the kings’ boys feed the little one with pap,
and, angry at the breast, refuse to babble?
Or should I apply myself to such a reed?

cui uerba? quid istas
succinis ambages? tibi luditur.

words to whom? what are those ambered ambiguities?
you are being made sport of.

effluis amens,

you flow away, madman,

contemnere. sonat uitium percussa, maligne
respondet uiridi non cocta fidelia limo.
udum et molle lutum es, nunc nunc properandus et acri
fingendus sine fine rota. sed rure paterno
est tibi far modicum, purum et sine labe salinum

to despise. Vice rings when struck, wickedly
the unfired loyalties answer with greenish mud.
You are wet and soft clay, now, now to be hurried and to be shaped by a keen
wheel without end. But from the paternal farm
there is for you a little measure of far, pure and without stain, saline

(quid metuas?) cultrixque foci secura patella.
hoc satis? an deceat pulmonem rumpere uentis
stemmate quod Tusco ramum millesime ducis
censoremue tuum uel quod trabeate salutas?

(what do you fear?) and the pan, guardian of the hearth, secure.
is that enough? or is it proper to burst your pulmonem with winds
because by a Tuscan stemmate you lead a branch millesime
or your censorem, or because you salute in trabeate?

ad populum phaleras! ego te intus et in cute noui.

Display your phaleras to the people! I know you inwardly and in your skin.

non pudet ad morem discincti uiuere Nattae.
sed stupet hic uitio et fibris increuit opimum
pingue, caret culpa, nescit quid perdat, et alto
demersus summa rursus non bullit in unda.
magne pater diuum, saeuos punire tyrannos

It does not shame Natta to live unbelted according to custom.
but this man is stunned by the vice and in his fibres has grown rich and fat;
he lacks blame, he does not know what he loses, and plunged to the deep
he no longer bubbles again at the surface of the wave.
great father of the gods, to punish savage tyrants

haut alia ratione uelis, cum dira libido
mouerit ingenium feruenti tincta ueneno:
uirtutem uideant intabescantque relicta.
anne magis Siculi gemuerunt aera iuuenci
et magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis

by no other reasoning do you will, when dire libido
has stirred the genius, tinged with a boiling venome:
that they see virtue and, abandoned, waste away.
or did the Sicilian young-bulls groan the brazen more
and more the sword, hanging from gilded rafters

purpureas subter ceruices terruit, 'imus,
imus praecipites' quam si sibi dicat et intus
palleat infelix quod proxima nesciat uxor?
saepe oculos, memini, tangebam paruus oliuo,
grandia si nollem morituri uerba Catonis

he frightened the purple throats beneath, "we go, we go, headlong,"—as if he should say to himself, and inwardly the unhappy man grow pale because his nearest wife does not know?
often, I remember, as a little boy I used to touch my eyes with a tiny olive-branch, lest, about to die, I should fail to heed the lofty words of Cato.

discere non sano multum laudanda magistro,
quae pater adductis sudans audiret amicis.
iure; etenim id summum, quid dexter senio ferret,
scire erat in uoto, damnosa canicula quantum
raderet, angustae collo non fallier orcae,

to learn much from an unsound master is much to be praised,
which the father, sweating, heard with friends gathered.
rightly; for that supreme thing — what Dexter would carry into old age —
to know was in his vow: how much the baleful little Dog-star would
scorch away, nor would the narrow-necked urn be deceived of its neck,

neu quis callidior buxum torquere flagello.
haut tibi inexpertum curuos deprendere mores
quaeque docet sapiens bracatis inlita Medis
porticus, insomnis quibus et detonsa iuuentus
inuigilat siliquis et grandi pasta polenta;

lest any craftier man twist the boxwood with a whip.
it is not new to you to detect crooked manners
and the portico where the sage, Median‑breeched, instructs,
by which the sleepless shorn youth keeps vigil over pods and porridge of coarse meal;

et tibi quae Samios diduxit littera ramos
surgentem dextro monstrauit limite callem.
stertis adhuc laxumque caput conpage soluta
oscitat hesternum dissutis undique malis.
est aliquid quo tendis et in quod derigis arcum?

and the letter which spread Samian boughs for you pointed out the rising road on the right-hand limit.
you still snore, your head loose and its fastening undone,
yawning of yesterday with the seams torn everywhere.
is there anything to which you aim, and toward which you direct your bow?

an passim sequeris coruos testaque lutoque,
securus quo pes ferat, atque ex tempore uiuis?
elleborum frustra, cum iam cutis aegra tumebit,
poscentis uideas; uenienti occurrite morbo,
et quid opus Cratero magnos promittere montis?

Or do you follow everywhere crows and potsherds and mire,
careless whither your foot will carry you, and live from the moment?
of hellebores in vain, when already the sick skin will swell,
you may see the supplicant; run to meet the disease that comes,
and what need that Crater promise great mountains?

discite et, o miseri, causas cognoscite rerum:
quid sumus et quidnam uicturi gignimur, ordo
quis datus, aut metae qua mollis flexus et unde,
quis modus argento, quid fas optare, quid asper
utile nummus habet, patriae carisque propinquis

Learn also, O wretched ones, and know the causes of things:
what we are and what sort we are born to be about to live, what order is given, and what goal, by what soft bend and from where,
what modus for silver, what is lawful to desire, what harsh usefulness money has for the patria and beloved kinsmen

quantum elargiri deceat, quem te deus esse
iussit et humana qua parte locatus es in re.
disce nec inuideas quod multa fidelia putet
in locuplete penu, defensis pinguibus Vmbris,
et piper et pernae, Marsi monumenta clientis,

how much it is fitting to bestow, whom a god bade you be
and in what share of human affairs you are placed.
Learn, nor begrudge that he reckons many faithful gifts
in the wealthy store, defended by fat Umbrians,
and pepper and hams, the memorial gifts of a Marsian client,

maenaque quod prima nondum defecerit orca.
hic aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum
dicat: 'quod sapio satis est mihi. non ego curo
esse quod Arcesilas aerumnosique Solones
obstipo capite et figentes lumine terram,

and that the first hold's maw has not yet failed.
here someone of the goatish stock of centurions
may say: 'that I know is enough for me. I do not care
to be what Arcesilas and the sorrowful Solons
make—stunned in head and fixing the earth with their eyes,'

murmura cum secum et rabiosa silentia rodunt
atque exporrecto trutinantur uerba labello,
aegroti ueteris meditantes somnia, gigni
de nihilo nihilum, in nihilum nil posse reuerti.
hoc est quod palles? cur quis non prandeat hoc est?'

murmurs gnaw to themselves and rabid silences gnaw
and words are weighed upon the outstretched lip,
the old sick man pondering dreams, that from nothing nothing is born,
that into nothing nothing can be turned back.
is this why you grow pale? why does no one take a meal — is that it?

his populus ridet, multumque torosa iuuentus
ingeminat tremulos naso crispante cachinnos.
'inspice, nescio quid trepidat mihi pectus et aegris
faucibus exsuperat grauis halitus, inspice sodes'
qui dicit medico, iussus requiescere, postquam

at these the people laugh, and the brawny youth
repeats trembling cachinnas with his nose crisping.
'look, I know not what trembles in my pectus and a heavy breath
overflows my sick faucial passages, look, I pray you,'
he who says this to the medic, ordered to rest, after

tertia conpositas uidit nox currere uenas,
de maiore domo modice sitiente lagoena
lenia loturo sibi Surrentina rogabit.
'heus bone, tu palles.' 'nihil est.' 'uideas tamen istuc,
quidquid id est. surgit tacite tibi lutea pellis.'

the third night saw the composed veins run,
from the larger house a flask, mildly thirsty,
the Surrentine will ask to wash herself with gentle things.
'hey good man, you grow pale.' 'it is nothing.' 'look at least there,
whatever it is. silently your sallow skin rises.'

'at tu deterius palles, ne sis mihi tutor.
iam pridem hunc sepeli; tu restas.' 'perge, tacebo.'
turgidus hic epulis atque albo uentre lauatur,
gutture sulpureas lente exhalante mefites.
sed tremor inter uina subit calidumque trientem

'but you grow paler more grievously, do not be my guardian.
bury him long since; you remain.' 'go on, I will be silent.'
this one, swollen with feasts and bathed in a white belly,
slowly exhaling sulfurous mephites from his throat.
but a shivering seizes him among the wines and a warm trient

100

excutit e manibus, dentes crepuere retecti,
uncta cadunt laxis tunc pulmentaria labris.
hinc tuba, candelae, tandemque beatulus alto
conpositus lecto crassisque lutatus amomis
in portam rigidas calces extendit. at illum

he shakes them from his hands, his uncovered teeth clicked,
anointed sauces then fall from his slackening lips.
thence the trumpet, the candles, and at last the little blessed one,
laid on the high bed and smeared with thick amomum-spices,
stretches his rigid heels out into the gateway. but him

105

hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites.
'tange, miser, uenas et pone in pectore dextram;
nil calet hic. summosque pedes attinge manusque;
non frigent.' uisa est si forte pecunia, siue
candida uicini subrisit molle puella,

the Quirites entered, their yesterday's head-dress put on.
'Touch, wretch, the veins and lay your right hand upon your breast;
here is nothing warm. And touch the tops of the feet and the hands;
they do not grow cold.' It seemed, if by chance money was seen, or if
the fair soft girl next door smiled,

110

cor tibi rite salit? positum est algente catino
durum holus et populi cribro decussa farina:
temptemus fauces; tenero latet ulcus in ore
putre quod haut deceat plebeia radere beta.
alges, cum excussit membris timor albus aristas;

Does your heart duly leap? in a cold basin is set a hard vegetable and flour sifted through a common sieve:
let us assay the throat; in the tender mouth lies a rotten ulcer
which it scarcely befits to scrape away with plebeian chard.
You will feel cold, when pale fear shakes the awns from your limbs;

115

nunc face supposita feruescit sanguis et ira
scintillant oculi, dicisque facisque quod ipse
non sani esse hominis non sanus iuret Orestes.

now with a torch applied beneath the blood and anger boil
the eyes flash, and you say and do what he himself—Orestes—declares,
that the man is not of sound mind, not sane.

SATVRA IV

SATIRE 4

'Rem populi tractas?' (barbatum haec crede magistrum
dicere, sorbitio tollit quem dira cicutae)
'quo fretus? dic hoc, magni pupille Pericli.
scilicet ingenium et rerum prudentia uelox
ante pilos uenit, dicenda tacendaue calles.

'Do you handle the affairs of the people?' (believe that the bearded magistrate
says this — whom dire cicuta removes by potation)
'On what reliance? say that, pupil of great Pericles.
certainly ingenium and a swift prudence in matters
came before the hairs; you are versed in what is to be said and what to be silent about.

ergo ubi commota feruet plebecula bile,
fert animus calidae fecisse silentia turbae
maiestate manus. quid deinde loquere? "Quirites,
hoc puta non iustum est, illud male, rectius illud."
scis etenim iustum gemina suspendere lance

therefore when the little mob, stirred, seethes with bile,
the spirit urges the hands to have made the heated crowd silent by majesty.
What then do you say? "Quirites,
suppose this is not just, that is wrong, that other is more right."
for you know, indeed, that it is just to weigh with a two‑pan balance

ancipitis librae, rectum discernis ubi inter
curua subit uel cum fallit pede regula uaro,
et potis es nigrum uitio praefigere theta.
quin tu igitur summa nequiquam pelle decorus
ante diem blando caudam iactare popello

of the two-edged balance, you discern the right where between
the curve steps in, or when the rule slips with a warped foot,
and you are able to affix the black theta to a fault.
Why then, fair by superficial skin in vain,
do you, before your day, toss a tail to the flattering populace

desinis, Anticyras melior sorbere meracas?
quae tibi summa boni est? uncta uixisse patella
semper et adsiduo curata cuticula sole?

Will you cease, O one superior to Anticyra in gulping down potions?
What is the highest good for you? To have lived with a greased little dish always,
and with your skin tended by the incessant sun?

expecta, haut aliud respondeat haec anus. i nunc,
"Dinomaches ego sum" suffla, "sum candidus." esto,

wait, let this old woman answer nothing otherwise. Go now,
" I am Dinomaches," breathe, "I am candid." so be it,

dum ne deterius sapiat pannucia Baucis,
cum bene discincto cantauerit ocima uernae.'
ut nemo in sese temptat descendere, nemo,
sed praecedenti spectatur mantica tergo!
quaesieris 'nostin Vettidi praedia?' 'cuius?'

while lest the little rag Baucis taste anything worse,
when, with his girdle well loosened, he shall have sung the ocima of spring.'
so that no one attempts to descend into himself, no one,
but the wallet is watched upon the back of the man who goes before! you will ask "do you know Vettidi's estates?" "whose?"

'diues arat Curibus quantum non miluus errat.'
'hunc ais, hunc dis iratis genioque sinistro,
qui, quandoque iugum pertusa ad compita figit,
seriolae ueterem metuens deradere limum
ingemit "hoc bene sit" tunicatum cum sale mordens

'The rich man ploughs at Curibus as much as the kite does not stray.'
'You call this one, this one to the wrathful gods and to an ill-omened genius,
who, at times, fixes a pierced yoke at the crossroads,
fearing to rasp away the old little strap's edge,
he groans "hoc bene sit," biting his tunic with salt

cepe et farratam pueris plaudentibus ollam
pannosam faecem morientis sorbet aceti?'
at si unctus cesses et figas in cute solem,
est prope te ignotus cubito qui tangat et acre
despuat: 'hi mores! penemque arcanaque lumbi

Does he suck up onions and a barley-cake from a ragged pot, the foul dregs of dying vinegar, with boys applauding?
But if, oiled, you hang back and drive your elbow into the skin, there is near you some unknown who will touch with his cubit and spit out sharply: 'these manners! and the penis and the secret things of the loins

runcantem populo marcentis pandere uuluas.
tum, cum maxillis balanatum gausape pectas,
inguinibus quare detonsus gurgulio extat?
quinque palaestritae licet haec plantaria uellant
elixasque nates labefactent forcipe adunca,

scraping, to spread before the people the withering vulvas.
then, when with your jaws you comb the glans with a shaggy cloth,
why, shaved at the groins, does it jut forth from the gullet?
let five palaestrites—even if they will—pluck off these plantar soles
and, with hooked tongs, make the boiled buttocks quake,

non tamen ista filix ullo mansuescit aratro.'
caedimus inque uicem praebemus crura sagittis.
uiuitur hoc pacto, sic nouimus. ilia subter
caecum uulnus habes, sed lato balteus auro
praetegit.

notwithstanding, that fern is not tamed by any plough.'
we are cut and in turn we offer our legs to arrows.
one lives in this manner, thus we knew. she beneath
has a hidden wound, but a broad belt of gold
conceals it.

ut mauis, da uerba et decipe neruos,

as you prefer, give the words and sever the nerves,

si potes. 'egregium cum me uicinia dicat,
non credam?' uiso si palles, inprobe, nummo,
si facis in penem quidquid tibi uenit, amarum
si puteal multa cautus uibice flagellas,
nequiquam populo bibulas donaueris aures.

if you can. "when the vicinity calls me distinguished,
shall I not believe?" if, knave, you grow pale at the sight of a coin,
if you make whatever comes to your penis bitter,
if, cautious, you lash many whips at the well with a thong,
in vain will you have given to the populace gullible ears.

respue quod non es; tollat sua munera cerdo.
tecum habita: noris quam sit tibi curta supellex.

spurn what you are not; let the peddler take away his goods.
live with yourself: you will know how curta (how meagre) your furniture is.

SATVRA V

SATIRE 5

Vatibus hic mos est, centum sibi poscere uoces,
centum ora et linguas optare in carmina centum,
fabula seu maesto ponatur hianda tragoedo,
uolnera seu Parthi ducentis ab inguine ferrum.
'quorsum haec? aut quantas robusti carminis offas

Among poets here is the custom to demand a hundred voices for themselves,
to choose a hundred mouths and tongues for a hundred songs,
whether a play be set or a tragedy left gaping for a sorrowful tragedian,
or wounds which a Parthian’s iron draws from the groin two hundredfold.
'to what end are these? or how many morsels of robust song

ingeris, ut par sit centeno gutture niti?
grande locuturi nebulas Helicone legunto,
si quibus aut Procnes aut si quibus olla Thyestae
feruebit saepe insulso cenanda Glyconi.
tu neque anhelanti, coquitur dum massa camino,

do you thrust yourself on, that you should strive to match with a hundred throats?
about to speak great things, pluck the mists of Helicon,
if for whom either Procne or for whom the cauldron of Thyestes
will boil, often to be celebrated with insipid Glycon.
and you neither—while the lump is baked, panting at the hearth—are cooked,

folle premis uentos nec clauso murmure raucus
nescio quid tecum graue cornicaris inepte
nec scloppo tumidas intendis rumpere buccas.
uerba togae sequeris iunctura callidus acri,
ore teres modico, pallentis radere mores

you press winds on the bellows and, hoarse with a shut murmur,
I know not what with you you gravely caw like a crow, foolishly;
nor do you with a popgun strive to burst swollen cheeks.
you follow the phrases of the toga, crafty in a keen joining,
smooth‑of‑mouth in a modest way, to shave away the morals of the pale

doctus et ingenuo culpam defigere ludo.
hinc trahe quae dicis mensasque relinque Mycenis
cum capite et pedibus plebeiaque prandia noris.'
non equidem hoc studeo, pullatis ut mihi nugis
pagina turgescat dare pondus idonea fumo.

learned, and by ingenuous play to fasten blame.
hence take away what you say, and leave the tables to Mycenae;
with head and feet you would know plebeian breakfasts.'
not for my part do I pursue that my page, swollen with varnished trifles,
should give weight fit for rotten smoke.

secrete loquimur. tibi nunc hortante Camena
excutienda damus praecordia, quantaque nostrae
pars tua sit, Cornute, animae, tibi, dulcis amice,
ostendisse iuuat. pulsa, dinoscere cautus
quid solidum crepet et pictae tectoria linguae.

we speak secretly. with the Camena now urging you
we give our praecordia to be shaken out, and how great a part
of our soul is yours, Cornute, it delights us to have shown you, to you, sweet friend.
once shaken, be cautious to discern what is solid and creaks
and what are the painted coverings of the tongue.

hic ego centenas ausim deposcere fauces,
ut quantum mihi te sinuoso in pectore fixi
uoce traham pura, totumque hoc uerba resignent
quod latet arcana non enarrabile fibra.
cum primum pauido custos mihi purpura cessit

here I would dare to demand a hundred throats,
that as much as I have fixed you in my sinuose breast
I might draw forth with a pure voice, and let words unseal
this whole thing which lies hidden in a secret, inenarrable fibre.
when first the purple, a guardian fearful for me, yielded

bullaque subcinctis Laribus donata pependit,
cum blandi comites totaque inpune Subura
permisit sparsisse oculos iam candidus umbo,
cumque iter ambiguum est et uitae nescius error
diducit trepidas ramosa in compita mentes,

and the bulla, bestowed on the girded Lares, hung suspended,
when the flattering companions and the whole Subura unpunished
allowed the now gleaming umbo to cast about its eyes,
and when the way is ambiguous and error, unknowing of life,
divides anxious minds into the branching crossroads

me tibi supposui. teneros tu suscipis annos
Socratico, Cornute, sinu. tum fallere sollers
adposita intortos extendit regula mores
et premitur ratione animus uincique laborat
artificemque tuo ducit sub pollice uoltum.

I placed myself beneath you. You receive my tender years
in your Socratic, Cornute, bosom. Then, clever in deceiving,
a rule, set beside, stretches out to straighten twisted mores
and the mind is pressed by reason and labors to be conquered,
and like an artisan it leads the face beneath your thumb.

tecum etenim longos memini consumere soles
et tecum primas epulis decerpere noctes.
unum opus et requiem pariter disponimus ambo
atque uerecunda laxamus seria mensa.
non equidem hoc dubites, amborum foedere certo

for with you, indeed, I remember being wont to consume long days
and with you to glean the first nights with feasts.
One task and one rest we both arrange alike,
and from the modest table we loosen stern things.
Do not, indeed, doubt this, by the sure covenant of us both

consentire dies et ab uno sidere duci.
nostra uel aequali suspendit tempora Libra
Parca tenax ueri, seu nata fidelibus hora
diuidit in Geminos concordia fata duorum
Saturnumque grauem nostro Ioue frangimus una,

the days agree and are led from one star.
our Libra suspends the times with equal balance
the Parca, tenacious of truth, or the hour born for the faithful
in concord divides the fates of two into twin parts
and together with our Jove we break the weighty Saturn,

nescio quod certe est quod me tibi temperat astrum.
mille hominum species et rerum discolor usus;
uelle suum cuique est nec uoto uiuitur uno.
mercibus hic Italis mutat sub sole recenti
rugosum piper et pallentis grana cumini,

I know not what it is, certainly some star that tempers me toward you.
a thousand kinds of men and the variegated use of things;
each man has his own will, nor is life governed by a single wish.
here, beneath the fresh Italian sun, he barters goods —
wrinkled pepper and the pale grains of cumin,

hic satur inriguo mauult turgescere somno,
hic campo indulget, hunc alea decoquit, ille
in uenerem putris; sed cum lapidosa cheragra
fregerit articulos ueteris ramalia fagi,
tunc crassos transisse dies lucemque palustrem

here one, sated with watering, prefers to swell with sleep,
here revels in the field, this one gambling consumes, that one
rots away in love; but when stony cheragra
shall have broken the joints of the old beech’s branches,
then the fat days shall have gone by and the marshy light

et sibi iam seri uitam ingemuere relictam.
at te nocturnis iuuat inpallescere chartis;
cultor enim iuuenum purgatas inseris aures
fruge Cleanthea. petite hinc, puerique senesque,
finem animo certum miserisque uiatica canis.

and for himself already late they bewailed a life left behind.
but it pleases you to grow pale over nocturnal sheets;
for, Cleanthea, cultivator of youths, you graft purified ears with fruit.
seek hence, both boys and old men, a sure end in spirit, and carry for the miserable travel-provisions.

'cras hoc fiet.' idem cras fiat. 'quid? quasi magnum
nempe diem donas!' sed cum lux altera uenit,
iam cras hesternum consumpsimus; ecce aliud cras
egerit hos annos et semper paulum erit ultra.

'Tomorrow this will be done.' 'Let the same tomorrow be.' 'What? As if indeed you grant a great day!'
but when another light arrives,
already we have consumed yesterday's tomorrow; behold another tomorrow
will exact these years and there will always be a little beyond.

nam quamuis prope te, quamuis temone sub uno

for though almost beside you, though beneath the same shaft

uertentem sese frustra sectabere canthum,
cum rota posterior curras et in axe secundo.
libertate opus est. non hac, ut quisque Velina
Publius emeruit, scabiosum tesserula far
possidet. heu steriles ueri, quibus una Quiritem

you will in vain pursue the turning rim,
while you run on the hind wheel and on the second axle.
liberty is needed. Not that liberty which, as any Publius of Velina has deserved, the scabby grain-token possesses.
posseses. alas, barren men, for whom one Quirite

uertigo facit! hic Dama est non tresis agaso,
uappa lippus et in tenui farragine mendax.
uerterit hunc dominus, momento turbinis exit
Marcus Dama.

vertigo does it! here is Dama, not a threefold knave agaso,
a sot and lisping, and a liar in thin chaff.
verterit hunc dominus, momento turbinis exit
Marcus Dama.

papae! Marco spondente recusas
credere tu nummos? Marco sub iudice palles?

father! with Marcus pledging, do you refuse
to believe the coins? do you turn pale beneath Marcus the judge?

Marcus dixit, ita est. adsigna, Marce, tabellas.
haec mera libertas, hoc nobis pillea donant.

Marcus said, "So it is. Assign, Marcus, the tablets."
this mere liberty, these caps (pillea) grant this to us.

'an quisquam est alius liber, nisi ducere uitam
cui licet ut libuit? licet ut uolo uiuere, non sum
liberior Bruto?' 'mendose colligis' inquit

'Is there any other free man, unless to lead a life which it is permitted to him as he pleased?
Is it permitted that I live as I will — am I not more free than Brutus?' 'You infer wrongly,' he said

Stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus aceto,
'hoc relicum accipio, "licet" illud et "ut uolo" tolle.'
'uindicta postquam meus a praetore recessi,
cur mihi non liceat, iussit quodcumque uoluntas,
excepto siquid Masuri rubrica uetabit?'

This Stoic, having washed his ear with biting vinegar,
'I accept this remainder; take away that "licet" and "ut volō (as I will).'
'since my vindicta withdrew from the praetor after I retired,
why should it not be lawful for me? he ordered whatever my will [wishes],
unless some rubric of Masurius will forbid anything?'

disce, sed ira cadat naso rugosaque sanna,
dum ueteres auias tibi de pulmone reuello.
non praetoris erat stultis dare tenuia rerum
officia atque usum rapidae permittere uitae;
sambucam citius caloni aptaueris alto.

learn, but let anger fall from your nose and wrinkled phlegm,
while I rend up for you the ancient grandmothers from the lung.
it was not the praetor’s to give to fools the thin offices of affairs
and to entrust the use of a hurried life;
you would more quickly have fitted a sambuca to a deep-voiced camp-follower.

stat contra ratio et secretam garrit in aurem,
ne liceat facere id quod quis uitiabit agendo.
publica lex hominum naturaque continet hoc fas,
ut teneat uetitos inscitia debilis actus.
diluis elleborum, certo conpescere puncto

Reason stands opposed and whispers a secret in the ear,
that it be not permitted to do what one would shun by acting.
The public law of men and nature holds this as right,
that weak ignorance should hold back forbidden deeds.
You wash away hellebore, restrain it with a certain point

100

nescius examen? uetat hoc natura medendi.
nauem si poscat sibi peronatus arator
luciferi rudis, exclamet Melicerta perisse
frontem de rebus. tibi recto uiuere talo
ars dedit et ueris speciem dinoscere calles,

Ignorant of the examination? the nature of healing forbids this.
If a harnessed ploughman should demand a ship for himself,
a raw novice at the helm of morning, Melicerta would cry that the prow has perished from affairs.
Art has given you to live by a straight cast of the knucklebone,
and you are skilled to discern the true semblance of things,

105

ne qua subaerato mendosum tinniat auro?
quaeque sequenda forent quaeque euitanda uicissim,
illa prius creta, mox haec carbone notasti?
es modicus uoti, presso lare, dulcis amicis?
iam nunc adstringas, iam nunc granaria laxes,

lest anything, gilt beneath, sound faulty with subascribed gold?
and which things should be pursued and which avoided in turn,
did you first mark those with chalk, then these with charcoal?
are you moderate in vow, with hearth constrained, sweet to friends?
now do you bind, now do you loosen the granaries,

110

inque luto fixum possis transcendere nummum
nec gluttu sorbere saliuam Mercurialem?
'haec mea sunt, teneo' cum uere dixeris, esto
liberque ac sapiens praetoribus ac Ioue dextro.
sin tu, cum fueris nostrae paulo ante farinae.

and can you, fixed in the mire, step over a coin
nor with your gullet swallow Mercurial saliva?
"'these are mine, I hold them'—when you have truly said it, so be it:
and free and wise before the praetors and before Jupiter on the right hand.
but if you, when you were a little short of our flour

115

pelliculam ueterem retines et fronte politus
astutam uapido seruas in pectore uolpem,
quae dederam supra relego funemque reduco.
nil tibi concessit ratio; digitum exere, peccas,
et quid tam paruum est? sed nullo ture litabis,

you retain an old pellicle and, polished at the brow,
you keep an astute fox in a vapid breast,
which I had given above I recall and lead back the rope.
reason granted you nothing; put forth a finger, you sin,
and what is so small? but with no incense will you propitiate,

120

haereat in stultis breuis ut semuncia recti.
haec miscere nefas nec, cum sis cetera fossor,
tris tantum ad numeros Satyrum moueare Bathylli.
'liber ego.' unde datum hoc sumis, tot subdite rebus?

let a short half-ounce of right cling in fools.
Nor is it lawful to mix these things; nor, since you are in other respects a digger,
should you be moved to only three measures to the rhythms of Bathyllus' Satyrs.
"Free am I." From what source do you take this grant, being subjected to so many affairs?

an dominum ignoras nisi quem uindicta relaxat?

Do you not know any master except him whom vindicta frees?

125

'i, puer, et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer'
si increpuit, 'cessas nugator?', seruitium acre
te nihil inpellit nec quicquam extrinsecus intrat
quod neruos agitet; sed si intus et in iecore aegro
nascuntur domini, qui tu inpunitior exis

'Go, boy, and carry Crispinus' strigils to the baths,'
if he has scolded, 'do you linger, you trifler?', harsh servitude
nothing impels you nor does anything extrinsic enter
that might agitate your nerves; but if within and in a sick liver
masters are born, by whom you emerge the more unpunished

130

atque hic quem ad strigilis scutica et metus egit erilis?
mane piger stertis. 'surge' inquit Auaritia, 'eia
surge.' negas.

and this fellow whom the master drove to the strigils, the scourge, and fear?
stay, lazy one, you snore. 'Rise,' says Avarice, 'come on
rise.' you refuse.

instat. 'surge' inquit. 'non queo.' 'surge.'
'et quid agam?' 'rogat!

He presses. "Get up," he says. "I cannot." "Get up."
"And what shall I do?" he asks!

en saperdas aduehe Ponto,
castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus, lubrica Coa.

bring saperdas to Pontus,
castoreum, tow, ebony, incense, slippery Coan ointments.

135

tolle recens primus piper et sitiente camelo.
uerte aliquid; iura.' 'sed Iuppiter audiet.' 'eheu,
baro, regustatum digito terebrare salinum
contentus perages, si uiuere cum Ioue tendis.'
iam pueris pellem succinctus et oenophorum aptas.

Take up fresh pepper first, and for the thirsty camel.
Turn something; swear.' 'But Jupiter will hear.' 'Alas,
knave, content to bore the re-tasted salt-cellar with your finger,
thus you will fare on, if you strive to live with Jupiter.'
Now, girded with a hide and wine-skins fit for the boys.

140

ocius ad nauem! nihil obstat quin trabe uasta
Aegaeum rapias, ni sollers Luxuria ante
seductum moneat: 'quo deinde, insane, ruis, quo?
quid tibi uis?

quick to the ship! nothing prevents you from seizing the Aegean with a mighty prow
unless crafty Luxury beforehand warns that you have been seduced:
'whither next, madman, do you rush, whither?
what do you desire?'

calido sub pectore mascula bilis
intumuit quam non extinxerit urna cicutae?

under the warm breast a masculine bile has swollen
which not even the urn of hemlock would have quenched?

145

tu mare transilias? tibi torta cannabe fulto
cena sit in transtro Veiientanumque rubellum
exhalet uapida laesum pice sessilis obba?
quid petis?

do you leap across the sea? let your supper be on a couch propped with twisted hemp
and let a vapid Veientine red wine exhale from a sessile obba bruised with pitch?
what do you seek?

ut nummi, quos hic quincunce modesto
nutrieras, pergant auidos sudare deunces?

that the coins, which here you had nourished into a modest quincunce,
should go on to sweat eager deunces?

150

indulge genio, carpamus dulcia, nostrum est
quod uiuis, cinis et manes et fabula fies,
uiue memor leti, fugit hora, hoc quod loquor inde est.'
en quid agis? duplici in diuersum scinderis hamo.
huncine an hunc sequeris?

indulge the genius, let us seize the sweet things, it is ours
what you live by; you will become ash and manes and a tale,
live mindful of death, the hour flees, that is why I speak thus.'
behold, what do you do? you are split by a double hook into opposite courses.
do you follow this one or that one?

subeas alternus oportet

you must undergo alternately

155

ancipiti obsequio dominos, alternus oberres.
nec tu, cum obstiteris semel instantique negaris
parere imperio, 'rupi iam uincula' dicas;
nam et luctata canis nodum abripit, et tamen illi,
cum fugit, a collo trahitur pars longa catenae.

With twofold obedience you would serve masters, attending them alternately.
Nor, when you have once stood firm and are denied to obey the pressing command, should you say, 'I have now broken my chains';
for even a struggling dog snaps the knot, and yet a long length of the chain is dragged from his neck when he runs away.

160

'Daue, cito, hoc credas iubeo, finire dolores
praeteritos meditor' (crudum Chaerestratus unguem
adrodens ait haec). 'an siccis dedecus obstem
cognatis? an rem patriam rumore sinistro
limen ad obscenum frangam, dum Chrysidis udas

'Daue, quickly, I command that you believe this, I purpose to end past pains'
(Chaerestratus, biting into his raw nail, utters these things). 'Or with dry ones shall I obstruct the dishonor to my kinsmen?
Or shall I, by a sinister rumor, break the threshold of the fatherland toward the obscene,
while Chrysis's wet...

165

ebrius ante fores extincta cum face canto?'
'euge, puer, sapias, dis depellentibus agnam
percute.' 'sed censen plorabit, Daue, relicta?'
'nugaris. solea, puer, obiurgabere rubra,
ne trepidare uelis atque artos rodere casses.

Shall I, drunk before the doors, sing with the torch extinguished?
"Good, boy, be wise; with the gods driving them off, strike the lamb."
"But do you think she will weep, Dave, when left behind?"
"You're trifling. The red sandal, boy, will scold you,
lest you wish to quake and gnaw the hard crusts."

170

nunc ferus et uiolens; at, si uocet, haut mora dicas
"quidnam igitur faciam? nec nunc, cum arcessat et ultro
supplicet, accedam?" si totus et integer illinc
exieras, nec nunc.' hic hic quod quaerimus, hic est,
non in festuca, lictor quam iactat ineptus.

now fierce and violent; but, if he calls, you would say "not a moment"
"what then shall I do? nor now, when he summons and of his own accord
pleads, shall I approach?" if you had gone forth wholly and intact from thence
you would say, not even now.' here—here is that which we seek, here it is,
not in a straw, the lictor which the inept one brandishes.

175

ius habet ille sui, palpo quem ducit hiantem
cretata Ambitio? uigila et cicer ingere large
rixanti populo, nostra ut Floralia possint
aprici meminisse senes. quid pulchrius? at cum
Herodis uenere dies unctaque fenestra

He has a right to himself — whom powdered Ambition leads, gaping, shall I touch?
Keep vigil and lavishly cast chickpeas to the brawling people,
that our Floralia the sun-loving old men may be able to remember.
What could be more fair? But when the days came to Herod, and the anointed window

180

dispositae pinguem nebulam uomuere lucernae
portantes uiolas rubrumque amplexa catinum
cauda natat thynni, tumet alba fidelia uino,
labra moues tacitus recutitaque sabbata palles.
tum nigri lemures ouoque pericula rupto,

the arranged lamps vomited a thick fog
carrying violets and embracing a red basin
the tail of a tuna swims, the white fidelia swells with wine,
you move your lips silently, and, shaken, you grow pale at the struck sabbaths.
then black lemures and, with the egg broken, dangers,

185

tum grandes galli et cum sistro lusca sacerdos
incussere deos inflantis corpora, si non
praedictum ter mane caput gustaueris ali.
dixeris haec inter uaricosos centuriones,
continuo crassum ridet Pulfenius ingens

then great cocks and the one‑eyed priest with a sistrum
struck the gods, inflating their bodies, unless
you shall have tasted the aforesaid head three times at morning otherwise.
you will have said these things among the varicose centurions,
immediately the huge Pulfenius laughs with a thick chuckle

190

et centum Graecos curto centusse licetur.

and it will be permitted to reckon a hundred Greeks by the shortened “centusse.”

SATVRA VI

SATIRE 6

Admouit iam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino?
iamne lyra et tetrico uiuunt tibi pectine chordae?
mire opifex numeris ueterum primordia uocum
atque marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae,
mox iuuenes agitare iocos et pollice honesto

Has winter already set you, Bassus, at the Sabine hearth?
Do the lyre and its stern plectrum and strings live for you now?
a wondrous opifex, with measures, to have strained the primordia of ancient voices
and the manly clangor of the faithful Latin strings to have tuned,
and next to stir up youthful jests and to move young men with an honest thumb

egregius lusisse senex. mihi nunc Ligus ora
intepet hibernatque meum mare, qua latus ingens
dant scopuli et multa litus se ualle receptat.
'Lunai portum, est operae, cognoscite, ciues.'
cor iubet hoc Enni, postquam destertuit esse

an outstanding old man was said to have played. now the Ligurian warms my shores
and my sea winters, where mighty cliffs give a flank
and the shore in many a vale receives itself.
"'Lunai harbour, it is worth the trouble; learn it, citizens.'"
my heart bids this to Ennius, after he declared himself to be

Maeonides Quintus pauone ex Pythagoreo.
hic ego securus uolgi et quid praeparet auster
infelix pecori, securus et angulus ille
uicini nostro quia pinguior, etsi adeo omnes
ditescant orti peioribus, usque recusem

Maeonides Quintus, with a Pythagorean peacock.
here I, secure from the crowd, and what the unlucky South Wind readies for the flock,
secure likewise that corner of our neighbor because it is fatter, and although thus all
who have risen may grow rich by worse means, I will continually refuse

curuus ob id minui senio aut cenare sine uncto
et signum in uapida naso tetigisse lagoena.
discrepet his alius. geminos, horoscope, uaro
producis genio: solis natalibus est qui
tinguat holus siccum muria uafer in calice empta,

to be bowed for that, lessened by senility, or to dine without oil
and to have touched the sign upon a vapid flask with the nose.
another may disagree with these. “Twins, horoscope, to a warped
genius you bring forth: he is he who on the sun’s natal day
may dye a dry vegetable, crafty in brine, bought in a little cup,”

ipse sacrum inrorans patinae piper; hic bona dente
grandia magnanimus peragit puer. utar ego, utar,
nec rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus
nec tenuis sollers turdarum nosse saliuas.
messe tenus propria uiue et granaria (fas est)

he himself sprinkling sacred pepper on the patina; this boy, magnanimous with a good tooth,
devours great morsels. I will use it, I will use it,
nor am I therefore so lautus as to set turbots before the liberti
nor a tenuis connoisseur to know the salivas of thrushes.
to live on one’s own harvest and granaries as far as the harvest — (it is right)

emole. quid metuas? occa et seges altera in herba est.
at uocat officium, trabe rupta Bruttia saxa
prendit amicus inops remque omnem surdaque uota
condidit Ionio, iacet ipse in litore et una
ingentes de puppe dei iamque obuia mergis

Grind. What do you fear? an occa and another crop are in the grass.
But duty calls; with the beam broken he takes Bruttian rocks,
the friend, poor, seizes them and buries the whole affair and deaf vows
in the Ionian, he himself lies on the shore and together
with the mighty ones from the ship’s stern and now meets the submerged things

costa ratis lacerae; nunc et de caespite uiuo
frange aliquid, largire inopi, ne pictus oberret
caerulea in tabula. sed cenam funeris heres
negleget iratus quod rem curtaueris; urnae
ossa inodora dabit, seu spirent cinnama surdum

the ribs of the ship are torn away; now break off something from the living turf
bestow it on the needy, lest the pictured one stray upon the blue tablet. But the angry heir
will neglect the funeral supper because you have curtailed the provision; he will place unscented bones
in the urns, whether the cinnamons breathe forth mute

seu ceraso peccent casiae nescire paratus.
'tune bona incolumis minuas?' et Bestius urguet
doctores Graios: 'ita fit; postquam sapere urbi
cum pipere et palmis uenit nostrum hoc maris expers,
fenisecae crasso uitiarunt unguine pultes.'

or whether they sin through cherry or, prepared, are ignorant of cassia.
"'Then will you lessen the goods while they remain unharmed?' and Bestius presses
the Greek doctors: 'So it happens; after wisdom comes to the city
with pepper and palms, this our man, inexperienced in the sea,
the fenisecae porridges have been spoiled by thick grease of unguent.'

haec cinere ulterior metuas? at tu, meus heres
quisquis eris, paulum a turba seductior audi.
o bone, num ignoras? missa est a Caesare laurus
insignem ob cladem Germanae pubis et aris
frigidus excutitur cinis ac iam postibus arma,

Do you fear these things further because of ash? But you, my heir,
whoever you will be, a little withdrawn from the crowd, listen.
O good man, do you not know? A laurel has been sent by Caesar
distinguished for the slaughter of the German youth and of the altars;
cold ash is shaken off and already arms upon the doorposts,

iam chlamydas regum, iam lutea gausapa captis
essedaque ingentesque locat Caesonia Rhenos.
dis igitur genioque ducis centum paria ob res
egregie gestas induco. quis uetat?

now the chlamydas of kings, now the seized yellow gausapa
and Caesonia sets chariots and mighty wagons upon the Rhine.
therefore to the gods and to the genius of the duke I dedicate a hundred pairs for the excellently performed deeds
— who forbids?

aude.
uae, nisi coniues. oleum artocreasque popello

dare.
woe, unless you close your eyes. oil and loaves to the poplar

largior. an prohibes? dic clare.

I give more generously. Or will you forbid? Speak plainly.

'non adeo' inquis
'exossatus ager iuxta est.' age, si mihi nulla
iam reliqua ex amitis, patruelis nulla, proneptis
nulla manet patrui, sterilis matertera uixit
deque auia nihilum superest, accedo Bouillas

'not so,' you say
'an exossate field is nearby.' Come then, if to me no remnant from my amitae remains, no patruelis, no proneptis of my patrui remains, a sterile matertera scarcely lived
and of my auia nothing survives, I betake myself to Bouillas

cliuumque ad Virbi, praesto est mihi Manius heres.
'progenies terrae?' quaere ex me quis mihi quartus
sit pater: haut prompte, dicam tamen; adde etiam unum,
unum etiam: terrae est iam filius et mihi ritu
Manius hic generis prope maior auunculus exit.

and to the slope of Virbi, Manius is present to me as heir.
"'offspring of the earth?' let someone ask me who is the fourth father to me: not readily will I answer, yet I will say; add also one, one more: he is already a son of the earth and to me by rite Manius here issues forth almost as the elder auunculus of the gens.

qui prior es, cur me in decursu lampada poscis?
sum tibi Mercurius; uenio deus huc ego ut ille
pingitur. an renuis?

you who are first, why do you demand of me the lamp in the course?
I am Mercury to you; I come, a god hither as he is pictured.
or do you refuse?

uis tu gaudere relictis?
'dest aliquid summae.' minui mihi, sed tibi totum est
quidquid id est. ubi sit, fuge quaerere, quod mihi quondam

Do you wish to take pleasure in what is left behind?
'There is something of the highest.' It lessened for me, but for you it is the whole
whatever it is. Where it is, shun seeking it, which once to me

legarat Tadius, neu dicta, 'pone paterna,
fenoris accedat merces, hinc exime sumptus,
quid relicum est?' relicum? nunc nunc inpensius ungue,
ungue, puer, caules. mihi festa luce coquatur
urtica et fissa fumosum sinciput aure,

Tadius had spoken, and without further words, 'set aside the paternal goods,
let the merchandise of usury come; from here take away expenses,
what remains?' 'remains?' now — now more eagerly with the nail,
nail, boy, the kales. For me, at festival light let the nettle be boiled
and the split, smoky brow with ear,

ut tuus iste nepos olim satur anseris extis,
cum morosa uago singultiet inguine uena,
patriciae inmeiat uoluae? mihi trama figurae
sit reliqua, ast illi tremat omento popa uenter?
uende animam lucro, mercare atque excute sollers

that your grandson there, once sated on the goose's entrails,
when a morose vein in his wandering groin hiccups,
shall soil the patrician's roll? let the web of my figure remain,
but let his innkeeper-belly tremble with omentum?
sell your soul for profit, trade and deftly shake out, clever one

omne latus mundi, ne sit praestantior alter
Cappadocas rigida pinguis plausisse catasta,
rem duplica. 'feci; iam triplex, iam mihi quarto,
iam decies redit in rugam. depunge ubi sistam,
inuentus, Chrysippe, tui finitor acerui.'

every side of the world, lest one be more excellent than another
you Cappadocians, rigid, fat, having struck your piles with applause,
'double the matter.' 'I have done it; now thrice, now for me a fourth,
now ten times it returns into a fold. Mark where I shall stop,
found, Chrysippus, you ender of your heap.'