Delphi Complete Works of Juvena
Page 43
illa domi natas nostraque ex arbore mensas
tempora uiderunt; hos lignum stabat ad usus,
annosam si forte nucem deiecerat eurus.
at nunc diuitibus cenandi nulla uoluptas, 120
nil rhombus, nil damma sapit, putere uidentur
unguenta atque rosae, latos nisi sustinet orbis
grande ebur et magno sublimis pardus hiatu
dentibus ex illis quos mittit porta Syenes
et Mauri celeres et Mauro obscurior Indus, 125
et quos deposuit Nabataeo belua saltu
iam nimios capitique graues. hinc surgit orexis,
hinc stomacho uires; nam pes argenteus illis,
anulus in digito quod ferreus. ergo superbum
conuiuam caueo, qui me sibi comparat et res 130
despicit exiguas. adeo nulla uncia nobis
est eboris, nec tessellae nec calculus ex hac
materia, quin ipsa manubria cultellorum
ossea. non tamen his ulla umquam obsonia fiunt
rancidula aut ideo peior gallina secatur. 135
sed nec structor erit cui cedere debeat omnis
pergula, discipulus Trypheri doctoris, apud quem
sumine cum magno lepus atque aper et pygargus
et Scythicae uolucres et phoenicopterus ingens
et Gaetulus oryx hebeti lautissima ferro 140
caeditur et tota sonat ulmea cena Subura.
nec frustum capreae subducere nec latus Afrae
nouit auis noster, tirunculus ac rudis omni
tempore et exiguae furtis inbutus ofellae.
plebeios calices et paucis assibus emptos 145
porriget incultus puer atque a frigore tutus,
non Phryx aut Lycius [non a mangone petitus
quisquam erit et magno]: cum posces, posce Latine.
idem habitus cunctis, tonsi rectique capilli
atque hodie tantum propter conuiuia pexi. 150
pastoris duri hic filius, ille bubulci.
suspirat longo non uisam tempore matrem
et casulam et notos tristis desiderat haedos
ingenui uoltus puer ingenuique pudoris,
qualis esse decet quos ardens purpura uestit, 155
nec pupillares defert in balnea raucus
testiculos, nec uellendas iam praebuit alas,
crassa nec opposito pauidus tegit inguina guto.
hic tibi uina dabit diffusa in montibus illis
a quibus ipse uenit, quorum sub uertice lusit. 160
[namque una atque eadem est uini patria atque ministri.]
[117] In those days our tables were home-grown, made of our own trees; for such use was kept some aged chestnut blown down perchance by the Southwestern blast. But nowadays a rich man takes no pleasure in his dinner — his turbot and his venison have no taste, his unguents and his roses no perfume — unless the broad slabs of his dinner-table rest upon a ramping, gaping leopard of solid ivory, made of the tusks sent to us by the swift-footed Moor from the portal of Syene, or by the still duskier Indian — or perhaps shed by the monstrous beast in the Nabataean forest when too big and too heavy for his head. These are the things that give good appetite and good digestion; for to these gentlemen a table with a leg of silver is like a finger with an iron ring. For this reason I will have none of your haughty guests to make comparisons between himself and me, and look down upon my humble state. So destitute am I of ivory that neither my dice nor counters are made of it; even my knife-handles are of bone. Yet are not the viands tainted thereby, nor does the pullet cut up any the worse on that account. Nor shall I have a carver to whom the whole carving-school must bow, a pupil of the learned Trypherus, in whose school is cut up, with blunt knives, a magnificent feast of hares and sow’s paunches, of boars and antelopes, of Scythian fowls and tall flamingoes and Gaetulian gazelles, until the whole Subura rings with the clatter of the elm-wood banquet. My raw youngster, untutored all his days, has never learnt how to filch a slice of kid or the wing of a guinea-fowl, unpractised save in the theft of scraps. Cups of common ware, bought for a few pence, will be handed round by an unpolished lad, clad so as to keep out the cold. No Phrygian or Lycian youth, none bought from a dealer at a huge price, will you find; when you want anything, ask for it in Latin. They are all dressed alike; their hair cut close and uncurled, and only combed to-day because of the company. One is the son of a hardy shepherd; another of the cattle-man: he sighs for the mother whom he has not seen for so long, and thinks wistfully of the little cottage and the kids he knew so well; a lad of open countenance and simple modesty, such as those ought to be who are clothed in glowing purple. No noisy frequenter he of baths, presenting his armpits to be cleared of hair, and with only an oil-flask to conceal his nudity. He will hand you a wine that was bottled on the hills among which he was born, and beneath whose tops he played — for wine and servant alike have one and the same fatherland.
forsitan expectes ut Gaditana canoro
incipiant prurire choro plausuque probatae
ad terram tremulo descendant clune puellae,
[spectant hoc nuptae iuxta recubante marito 165
quod pudeat narrare aliquem praesentibus ipsis.]
inritamentum ueneris languentis et acres
diuitis urticae [maior tamen ista uoluptas
alterius sexus]; magis ille extenditur, et mox
auribus atque oculis concepta urina mouetur. 170
non capit has nugas humilis domus. audiat ille
testarum crepitus cum uerbis, nudum olido stans
fornice mancipium quibus abstinet, ille fruatur
uocibus obscenis omnique libidinis arte,
qui Lacedaemonium pytismate lubricat orbem; 175
namque ibi fortunae ueniam damus. alea turpis,
turpe et adulterium mediocribus: haec eadem illi
omnia cum faciunt, hilares nitidique uocantur.
nostra dabunt alios hodie conuiuia ludos:
conditor Iliados cantabitur atque Maronis 180
altisoni dubiam facientia carmina palmam.
quid refert, tales uersus qua uoce legantur?
[162] You may look perhaps for a troop of Spanish maidens to win applause by immodest dance and song, sinking down with quivering thighs to the floor — such sights as brides behold seated beside their husbands, though it were a shame to speak of such things in their presence. . . . My humble home has no place for follies such as these. The clatter of castanets, words too foul for the strumpet that stands naked in a reeking archway, with all the arts and language of lust, may be left to him who spits wine upon floors of Lacedaemonian marble; such men we pardon because of their high station. In men of moderate position gaming and adultery are shameful; but when those others do these same things, they are called gay fellows and fine gentlemen. My feast to-day will provide other performances than these. The bard of the Iliad will be sung, and the lays of the lofty-toned Maro that contest the palm with his. What matters it with what voice strains like these are read?
sed nunc dilatis auerte negotia curis
et gratam requiem dona tibi, quando licebit
per totum cessare diem. non fenoris ulla 185
mentio nec, prima si luce egressa reuerti
nocte solet, tacito bilem tibi contrahat uxor
umida suspectis referens multicia rugis
uexatasque comas et uoltum auremque calentem.
protinus ante meum quidquid dolet exue limen, 190
pone domum et seruos et quidquid frangitur illis
aut perit, ingratos ante omnia pone sodalis.
[183] And now put away cares and cast business to the winds! Present yourself with a welcome holiday, now that you may be idle for the entire day. Let there be no talk of money, and let there be no secret wrath or suspicion in your heart because your wife is wont to go forth at dawn and to come home at night with crumpled hair and flushed face and ears. Cast off straightway before my threshold all that troubles you, all thought of house and slaves, with all that slaves break or lose
, and above all put away all thought of thankless friends.
interea Megalesiacae spectacula mappae
Idaeum sollemne colunt, similisque triumpho
praeda caballorum praetor sedet ac, mihi pace 195
inmensae nimiaeque licet si dicere plebis,
totam hodie Romam circus capit, et fragor aurem
percutit, euentum uiridis quo colligo panni.
nam si deficeret, maestam attonitamque uideres
hanc urbem ueluti Cannarum in puluere uictis 200
consulibus. spectent iuuenes, quos clamor et audax
sponsio, quos cultae decet adsedisse puellae:
nostra bibat uernum contracta cuticula solem
effugiatque togam. iam nunc in balnea salua
fronte licet uadas, quamquam solida hora supersit 205
ad sextam. facere hoc non possis quinque diebus
continuis, quia sunt talis quoque taedia uitae
magna: uoluptates commendat rarior usus.
[193] Meantime the solemn Idaean rite of the Megalesian napkin is being held; there sits the Praetor in his triumphal state, the prey of horseflesh; and (if I may say so without offence to the vast unnumbered mob) all Rome to-day is in the Circus. A roar strikes upon my ear which tells me that the Green has won; for had it lost, Rome would be as sad and dismayed as when the Consuls were vanquished in the dust of Cannae. Such sights are for the young, whom it befits to shout and make bold wagers with a smart damsel by their side: but let my shrivelled skin drink in the vernal sun, and escape the toga. You may go at once to your bath with no shame on your brow, though it wants a whole hour of mid-day. That you could not do for five days continuously, since even such a life has weariness. It is rarity that gives zest to pleasure.
Satire 12. How Catullus escaped Shipwreck
Natali, Coruine, die mihi dulcior haec lux,
qua festus promissa deis animalia caespes
expectat. niueam reginae ducimus agnam,
par uellus dabitur pugnanti Gorgone Maura;
sed procul extensum petulans quatit hostia funem 5
Tarpeio seruata Ioui frontemque coruscat,
quippe ferox uitulus templis maturus et arae
spargendusque mero, quem iam pudet ubera matris
ducere, qui uexat nascenti robora cornu.
si res ampla domi similisque adfectibus esset, 10
pinguior Hispulla traheretur taurus et ipsa
mole piger, nec finitima nutritus in herba,
laeta sed ostendens Clitumni pascua sanguis
et grandi ceruix iret ferienda ministro
ob reditum trepidantis adhuc horrendaque passi 15
nuper et incolumem sese mirantis amici.
[1] Dearer to me, Corvinus, is this day, when my festal turf is awaiting the victims vowed to the Gods, than my own birthday. To the Queen of Heaven I offer a snow-white lamb; a fleece as white to the Goddess armed with the Moorish Gorgon; hard by is the frolicsome victim destined for Tarpeian Jove, shaking the tight-stretched rope and brandishing his brow; for he is a bold young steer, ripe for temple and for altar, and fit to be sprinkled with wine; it already shames him to suck his mother’s milk, and with his budding horn he assails the oaks. Were my fortune large, and as ample as my love, I should have been hauling along a bull fatter than Hispulla, slow-footed from his very bulk; reared on no neighbouring herbage he, but showing in his blood the rich pastures of the Clitumnus, and marching along to to offer his neck to the stroke of the stalwart priest, to celebrate the return of my still trembling friend who has lately gone through such terrors, and now marvels to find himself safe and sound.
nam praeter pelagi casus et fulminis ictus
euasit. densae caelum abscondere tenebrae
nube una subitusque antemnas inpulit ignis,
cum se quisque illo percussum crederet et mox 20
attonitus nullum conferri posse putaret
naufragium uelis ardentibus. omnia fiunt
talia, tam grauiter, si quando poetica surgit
tempestas. genus ecce aliud discriminis audi
et miserere iterum, quamquam sint cetera sortis 25
eiusdem pars dira quidem sed cognita multis
et quam uotiua testantur fana tabella
plurima: pictores quis nescit ab Iside pasci?
[17] For besides the perils of the deep he escaped a lightning stroke. A mass of dense black cloud shut out the heavens, and down came a flash of fire upon the yards. Every man believed himself smitten by the bolt, and soon in his terror bethought him that no shipwreck could be so terrible as a ship on fire. All happened in the same way and as frightfully as when a storm arises in a poem, when lo! a new kind of peril came: hear it and give your pity once again, though the rest of the tale is all of one piece: a fearful lot, well known to many, and testified by many a votive tablet in our temples. Who knows not that it is Isis who feeds our painters?
accidit et nostro similis fortuna Catullo.
cum plenus fluctu medius foret alueus et iam 30
alternum puppis latus euertentibus undis
arboris incertae, nullam prudentia cani
rectoris cum ferret opem, decidere iactu
coepit cum uentis, imitatus castora, qui se
eunuchum ipse facit cupiens euadere damno 35
testiculi: adeo medicatum intellegit inguen.
‘fundite quae mea sunt’ dicebat ‘cuncta’ Catullus
praecipitare uolens etiam pulcherrima, uestem
purpuream teneris quoque Maecenatibus aptam,
atque alias quarum generosi graminis ipsum 40
infecit natura pecus, sed et egregius fons
uiribus occultis et Baeticus adiuuat aer.
ille nec argentum dubitabat mittere, lances
Parthenio factas, urnae cratera capacem
et dignum sitiente Pholo uel coniuge Fusci; 45
adde et bascaudas et mille escaria, multum
caelati, biberat quo callidus emptor Olynthi.
sed quis nunc alius, qua mundi parte quis audet
argento praeferre caput rebusque salutem?
[non propter uitam faciunt patrimonia quidam, 50
sed uitio caeci propter patrimonia uiuunt.]
[29] A fate like to these befell our friend Catullus also. For when the hold was half full of water, and the waves rocked the hull from side to side, so that the white-haired skipper, with all his skill, could bring no succour to the labouring mast, he resolved to compound with the winds like the beaver, who gives up one part of his body that he may keep the rest; so conscious is he of the drug which he carries in his groin. “Overboard with everything!” shouted Catullus, ready to cast headlong his finest wares: purple garments, such as would have befitted a soft Maecenas, with other fabrics dyed on the sheep’s back by the noble nature of the herbage — though doubtless the hidden virtues of the water and air of Baetica also lent their aid. Nor did he hesitate to throw over pieces of silver plate — charger’s wrought by Parthenius, and bowls holding three gallons, fit to slake the thirst of the Centaur Pholus or the wife of Fuscus. Besides these were baskets and dishes without number, and much chased work out of which the crafty purchaser of Olynthus had slaked his thirst. What other man is there, in what part of the world, who would dare to value his life above his plate, or his safety above his property? Some men are so blinded and depraved that, instead of making fortunes for the sake of living, they live for their fortunes’ sake.
iactatur rerum utilium pars maxima, sed nec
damna leuant. tunc aduersis urguentibus illuc
reccidit ut malum ferro summitteret, ac se
explicat angustum: discriminis ultima, quando 55
praesidia adferimus nauem factura minorem.
i nunc et uentis animam committe dolato
confisus ligno, digitis a morte remotus
quattuor aut septem, si sit latissima, taedae;
mox cum reticulis et pane et uentre lagonae 60
accipe sumendas in tempestate secures.
&nb
sp; [52] And now most of the cargo has gone overboard, but even these losses do not ease the vessel; so in his extremity the skipper had to fall back upon cutting away the mast, and so find a way out of his straits — a dire pass indeed when no remedy can be found but one that diminishes the ship! Go now, and commit your life to the winds! Go trust yourself to a hewn plank which parts you from death by four finger-breadths, or seven if it be extra thick! Only remember in future, besides your bread and your bread-basket and your pot-bellied flagon, to take with you axes also for use in time of storm.
sed postquam iacuit planum mare, tempora postquam
prospera uectoris fatumque ualentius euro
et pelago, postquam Parcae meliora benigna
pensa manu ducunt hilares et staminis albi 65
lanificae, modica nec multum fortior aura
uentus adest, inopi miserabilis arte cucurrit
uestibus extentis et, quod superauerat unum,
uelo prora suo. iam deficientibus austris
spes uitae cum sole redit. tum gratus Iulo 70
atque nouercali sedes praelata Lauino
conspicitur sublimis apex, cui candida nomen
scrofa dedit, laetis Phrygibus mirabile sumen
et numquam uisis triginta clara mamillis.
[62] But soon the sea fell flat, and our mariners came on better times. Destiny proved stronger than wind and wave; the glad Fates, with kindly hand, spun a yarn of white wool, there sprang up what was no stronger than a gentle breeze, under which the poor ship sped on by the sorry help of outstretched garments, and the single sail now left to her on her prow. Soon the winds abated, and out came the sun, bringing hope of life; and then there came into view the beetling height so dear to lulus, and preferred by him for his abode to his stepmother’s Lavinum, a height that took its name from the white sow whose wondrous womb made glad the Phrygians’ hearts, and gained fame for her thirty teats — a sight never seen before!