lost in darkness the good poet will unearth for the people's use and bring into the light-picturesque terms which, though once spoken by a Cato and a Cethegus of old,a now lie low through unseemly neglect and dreary age. New ones he will adopt which Use has fathered and brought forth. Strong and clear, and truly like a crystal river, he will pour forth wealth and bless Latium with richness of speech; he will prune down rankness of growth, smooth with wholesome refinement what is rough, sweep away what lacks force-wear the look of being at play, and yet be on the rack, like a dancer who plays now a Satyr, and now a clownish Cyclops. 126 I should prefer to be thought a foolish and clumsy scribbler, if only my failings please, or at least escape me, rather than be wise and unhappy.d Once at Argos there was a man of some rank, who used to fancy that he was listening to wonderful tragic actors, while he sat happy and applauded in the empty theatre-a man who would correctly perform all other duties of life, a most worthy neighbour, an amiable host, kind to his wife, one that could excuse his slaves, and not get frantic if the seal of a flask were broken, one that could avoid a precipice or an open well. This man was cured by his kinsmen's help and care, but when with strong hellebore he had driven out the malady and its bile, and had come to himself again, he cried: Egad! you have killed me, my friends, not saved me; for thus you have robbed me of a pleasure and taken away perforce the dearest illusion of my heart." 66 dog," and is used here of the unhappy, self-critical poet who is never content with what he produces, in contrast with the contented, self-complacent writer. Nimirum sapere est abiectis utile nugis, et tempestivum pueris concedere ludum, ac non verba sequi fidibus modulanda Latinis, sed verae numerosque modosque ediscere vitae. quocirca mecum loquor haec tacitusque recordor: 145 Si tibi nulla sitim finiret copia lymphae, narrares medicis: quod, quanto plura parasti, tanto plura cupis, nulline faterier audes ? si volnus tibi monštrata radice vel herba non fieret levius, fugeres radice vel herba proficiente nihil curarier: audieras, cui rem di donarent, illi decedere pravam stultitiam ; et cum sis nihilo sapientior ex quo plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus isdem ? At si divitiae prudentem reddere possent, si cupidum timidumque minus te, nempe ruberes, viveret in terris te si quis avarior uno. 150 155 160 si proprium est, quod quis libra mercatus1 et aere est,1 1 mercatus, I, π: mercatur, II: est omitted, II. 165 • A reference to the common mode of conveying ownership in property, viz. by a symbolic sale, in which a balance, held by a third party, was struck by the purchaser with a copper coin. Usucapio, legal possession, uninterrupted and continued for a certain time, resulted in ownership (dominium). But perhaps Horace jocularly refers to matrimony, where in 141 In truth it is profitable to cast aside toys and to learn wisdom; to leave to lads the sport that fits their age, and not to search out words that will fit the music of the Latin lyre, but to master the rhythms and measures of a genuine life. Therefore I talk thus to myself and silently recall these precepts: If no amount of water could quench your thirst, you would tell your story to the doctor: seeing that the more you get, the more you want, do you not dare to make confession to any man? If your wound were not relieved by the root or herb prescribed, you would give up being treated with the root or herb that did you no good: you had perhaps been told that perverse folly flees from him to whom the gods had given wealth; but though you are no wiser since you became richer, do you still follow the same counsellors ? a b 155 But surely if wealth could make you wise, if less wedded to desires and fears, you would blush if there lived upon earth a greater miser than you. If that is a man's own which he buys with bronze and balance, there are some things, if you trust the lawyers, which use conveys; the farm which gives you food is yours, and the bailiff of Orbius, when he harrows the corn-land which is shortly to give you grain, feels you to be his master. You give your coin; you receive grapes, poultry, eggs, a jar of wine: in that way, mark you! you are buying bit by bit the farm once purchased for three hundred thousand sesterces, or even more. What does it matter, whether you live on what was paid out lately or certain cases manus might result from usus. So Polluck, C.R. xxxi. (1917). emptor Aricini quondam1 Veientis et arvi emptum cenat holus, quamvis aliter putat ; emptis sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat aënum ; sed vocat usque suum, qua2 populus adsita certis 170 limitibus vicina refugit3 iurgia; tamquam sit proprium quicquam, puncto quod mobilis horae nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc morte suprema permutet dominos et cedat in altera iura. sic1 quia perpetuus nulli datur usus, et heres heredem alterius5 velut unda supervenit undam, quid vici prosunt aut horrea? quidve Calabris saltibus adiecti Lucani, si metit Orcus grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro? 175 Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena sigilla, tabellas, argentum, vestes Gaetulo murice tinctas sunt qui non habeant, est qui non curat habere. 1 quondam 2: quoniam V, most мss. 4 sic E2 M2: si мss., Porph. 181 185 190 3 refigit. 5 alternis Bentley. a Ownership may be transferred by donation in response to an appeal (prece), and by confiscation (vi), as well as by purchase and inheritance. some time ago ? The man who once bought a farm at Aricia or Veii bought the greens for his dinner, though he thinks otherwise; he bought the logs with which he boils the kettle in the chill of nightfall. Yet he calls it all his own, up to where the poplars, planted beside fixed boundaries, prevent the wrangling of neighbours: just as though anything were one's own, which in a moment of flitting time, now by prayer," now by purchase, now by force, now-at the last-by death, changes owners and passes under the power of another. Thus since to none is granted lasting use, and heir follows another's heir as wave follows wave, what avail estates or granaries—what avail Lucanian forests joined to Calabrian, if Death reaps great and small-Death who never can be won over with gold? b 180 Gems, marble, ivory, Tuscan vases, paintings, plate, robes dyed in Gaetulian purple-there are those who have not; there is one who cares not to have. Of two brothers one prefers, above Herod's rich palm-groves, idling and playing and the anointing of himself; the other, wealthy and untiring, from dawn to shady eve subdues his woodland farm with flames and iron plough. Why so, the Genius alone knows that companion who rules our star of birth, the god of human nature, though mortal for each single life, and changing in countenance, white or black. I shall use and from my modest heap take what need requires, nor shall I fear what my heir will think of me, because he does not find more than I have given him. And yet, withal, I shall wish to know how much the frank and cheerful giver is distinct from the spendthrift, how much the frugal Herod the Great had famous groves of date-palms near Cf. Epist. ii. 1. 144. Jericho. с |