6 me gessi, certans semper melioribus. pauper eris." Ergo Fortem hoc animum tolerare iubebo; 20 et quondam maiora tuli. tu protinus, unde divitias aerisque ruam1 dic, augur, acervos. Dixi equidem et dico: captes astutus ubique 25 30 sperne, domi si gnatus erit fecundave coniunx. Quinte,' puta, aut Publi' (gaudent praenomine molles auriculae), tibi me virtus tua fecit amicum; ius anceps novi, causas defendere possum eripiet quivis oculos citius mihi quam te 35 contemptum cassa3 nuce pauperet; haec mea cura est, persta atque obdura, seu rubra Canicula findet 66 1 40 nonne vides," aliquis cubito stantem prope tangens eruam E. a 2 seu. 3 cassa Acr.: quassa Mss. Cf. Kрeloooo ipɩ μáxeobaι (Iliad, xxi. 486), one of the Homeric echoes in the Satire. Dama is a common slave name. So Odysseus speaks in Od. xx. 18 : τέτλαθι δὴ κραδίη· καὶ κύντερον ἄλλο ποτ ̓ ἔτλης. c Horace makes satiric use of some verses from Furius Bibaculus (cf. Sat. i. 10. 36, with note). In Bibaculus, as Not so at Troy did I bear myself, but ever was matched with my betters." TIR. Then you will be a poor man. Ere now ULY. I'll bid my valiant soul endure this. worse things have I borne. Go on, O prophet, and tell me how I am to rake up wealth and heaps of gold. TIR. Well, I have told you, and I tell you now. Fish craftily in all waters for old men's wills, and (though one or two shrewd ones escape your wiles after nibbling off the bait, do not give up hope, or drop the art, though baffled.) If some day a case, great or small, be contested in the Forum, whichever of the parties is rich and childless, villain though he be, who with wanton impudence calls the better man into court, do you become his advocate; spurn the citizen of the better name and cause, if he have a son at home or a fruitful wife. Say: "Quintus it may be, or " Publius" (sensitive ears delight in the personal name), (" your worth has made me your friend. I know the mazes of the law; I can defend a case.) I will let anyone pluck out my eyes sooner than have him scorn you or rob you of a nutshell. This is my concern, that you lose nothing, and become not a jest." Bid him go home and nurse his precious self; become yourself his counsel. Carry on, and stick at it, whether Dumb statues split," "the Dog-star red or Furius, stuffed with rich tripe, 66 "With hoary snow bespew the wintry Alps." Do you not see," says someone, nudging a neighbour we know from Quintilian, viii. 6. 17, the second citation opened with Iuppiter as subject. inquiet, ut patiens, ut amicis aptus, ut acer ?' 66 45 50 55 Qui testamentum tradet tibi cumque legendum, abnuere et tabulas a te removere memento, sic tamen, ut limis rapias, quid prima secundo cera velit versu; solus multisne coheres, veloci percurre oculo. (plerumque recoctus scriba ex quinqueviro corvum deludet hiantem, captatorque dabit risus Nasica Corano.") Num furis? an prudens ludis me obscura canendo? O Laërtiade, quidquid dicam, aut erit aut non : divinare etenim magnus mihi donat Apollo." Quid tamen ista velit sibi fabula, si licet,3 ede. Tempore, quo iuvenis Parthis horrendus, ab alto demissum genus Aenea, tellure marique a 66 1 arripe a, II. : 2 ut et] ut Goth. uti Heindorf. 3 si licet] scilicet aD. 60 Cf. Epist. i. 1. 79, “excipiantque senes quos in vivaria mittant." The cetaria were artificial preserves. The tunnies represent the rich fools who may be caught when needed, cf. captes 1. 23, and captator in 1. 57. It was an old Roman custom for fathers to take up in their arms such new-born children as they wished to rear. Sublatus, therefore, might be rendered as recognized." ci.e. as substitute heir, to be called to the inheritance in case the heir first named dies. The will, it is supposed, would be written on wax tablets and sealed. On the inside of the first tablet would appear the name of the testator, followed in the second line by the name of the heir. with his elbow," how steady he is, how helpful to his friends, how keen?" More tunnies will swim up, and your fish-ponds swell." 45 Again, if one with a fine fortune rears a sickly son whom he has taken up, then for fear lest open devotion to a childless man betray you, by your attentions worm your way to the hope that you may be named as second heir, and if some chance send the child to his grave, you may pass into his place. Seldom does this game fail. 57 Suppose someone gives you his will to read, be sure to decline and push the tablets from you; yet in such a way that with a side glance you may catch the substance of the second line on the first page.d Swiftly run your eye across to see whether you are sole heir or share with others. (Quite often a constable, new-boiled into a clerk, will dupe the gaping raven, and Nasica the fortune-hunter will make sport for Coranus.e ULY. Are you mad? or do you purposely make fun of me with your dim oracle? TIR. O son of Laertes, whatever I say will or will not be ; for prophecy is great Apollo's gift to me. ULY. But what means that story? Tell me, if you may. TIR. In the days when a youthful hero," the Parthian's dread, scion of high Aeneas's lineage, shall e In recoctus there is a reference to the legend of Medea, who restored his youth to Aeson by boiling him in a caldron. The quinqueviri were very humble police officials. Coranus had been one of these, but later had become a public clerk, like Horace himself (Sat. ii. 6. 36). In corvum hiantem, there is a reference to the fable of the raven which the fox flattered for its singing, and so caused it to drop the cheese. A burlesque on oracular utterances. i.e. the young Octavius, born 63 B.c. magnus erit, forti nubet procera Corano nil sibi legatum praeter plorare suisque.) 66 Illud ad haec iubeo: mulier si forte dolosa libertusve senem delirum temperet, illis accedas socius; laudes, lauderis ut absens ; adiuvat hoc quoque, sed vincit1 longe prius ipsum expugnare caput. scribet2 mala carmina vecors : laudato. scortator erit: cave te roget; ultro Penelopam facilis potiori trade." Putasne, perduci poterit tam frugi tamque pudica, quam nequiere3 proci recto depellere cursu ? 66 65 70 75 80 Venit enim magnum donandi parca iuventus, nec tantum Veneris quantum studiosa culinae. sic tibi Penelope frugi est; quae si semel uno de sene gustarit tecum partita lucellum, ut canis a corio numquam absterrebitur uncto. "Me sene quod dicam factum est. anus improba Thebis ex testamento sic est elata: cadaver unctum oleo largo nudis umeris tulit heres, 85 a The story, which was doubtless familiar to the readers of Horace's own day, is now obscure. Nasica probably owed money to Coranus, and gave him his daughter in marriage, hoping that the son-in-law would by will free him from his debt. This would seem to imply that the son-in-law was older than the father-in-law. |