- Source
- Ovid. P. Ovidius Naso, Volume 1: Amores, Epistulae, Medicamina faciei femineae, Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris. Ehwald, Rudolf; Merkel, Rudolph; editors. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1907.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.8.57-1.8.114
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Dipsas mocks the poverty of poets and instructs the young woman in various cunning strategies to extract wealth from her lovers. The poet, overhearing this, is exposed by his shadow and curses her in anger.
Ecce, quid iste tuus praeter nova carmina vates
Behold, what does that poet of yours, besides his new poems,
Donat? amatoris milia multa leges.1
give you? You will read many thousands of sesterces from a wealthy lover.
Ipse deus vatum palla spectabilis aurea
Even the god of poets himself, conspicuous in his golden cloak,
Tractat inauratae consona fila lyrae.
strikes the harmonious strings of his gilded lyre.
Qui dabit, ille tibi magno sit maior Homero;
Let him who will give be greater to you than the great Homer;
Crede mihi, res est ingeniosa dare.
believe me, to give is an ingenious thing.
Nec tu, siquis erit capitis mercede redemptus,
Nor should you, if anyone has been ransomed by the price of his head,
Despice; gypsati crimen inane pedis.2
despise him; that is an empty reproach of a chalked foot.
Nec te decipiant veteres circum atria cerae.
Nor let the old wax masks around the atrium deceive you.
Tolle tuos tecum, pauper amator, avos!
Take your ancestors with you, poor lover!
Qui, quia pulcher erit, poscet sine munere noctem,
He who, because he is handsome, demands a night without a gift,
Quod det, amatorem flagitet ante suum!3
let him first beg his own lover for something to give!
Parcius exigito pretium, dum retia tendis,
Demand your price more sparingly while you are stretching your nets,
Ne fugiant; captos legibus ure tuis!
lest they flee; once they are caught, burn them with your laws!
Nec nocuit simulatus amor; sine, credat amari,
Nor does simulated love do harm; let him believe he is loved,
Et cave ne gratis hic tibi constet amor!
and take care lest this love cost you nothing!
Saepe nega noctes. capitis modo finge dolorem,
Often deny nights. At one time feign a headache,
Et modo, quae causas praebeat, Isis erit.
and at another time, Isis will be the one to provide the reasons.
Mox recipe, ut nullum patiendi colligat usum,
Soon receive him back, lest he gather any habit of enduring,
Neve relentescat saepe repulsus amor.
and lest love, often repulsed, grow cold.
Surda sit oranti tua ianua, laxa ferenti;
Let your door be deaf to the one who entreats, but loose to the one who brings;
Audiat exclusi verba receptus amans;
let the admitted lover hear the words of the excluded one;
Et, quasi laesa prior, nonnumquam irascere laeso —
and, as if you were the injured party first, sometimes get angry at the injured one —
Vanescit culpa culpa repensa tua.
your own guilt vanishes when repaid by your false accusation.
Sed numquam dederis spatiosum tempus in iram:
But never give a spacious time for anger;
Saepe simultates ira morata facit.
prolonged anger often breeds serious enmities.
Quin etiam discant oculi lacrimare coacti,
Nay, let your eyes even learn to weep by force,
Et faciant udas illa vel ille genas;
and let her or he make their cheeks wet;
Nec, siquem falles, tu periurare timeto —
nor, if you deceive anyone, should you fear to perjure yourself —
Commodat in lusus numina surda Venus.
Venus lends deaf divinities to these lovers’ games.
Servus et ad partes sollers ancilla parentur,
Let a clever slave and an adroit maid be prepared for your role,
Qui doceant, apte quid tibi possit emi;
who may instruct him what can be bought suitably for you;
Et sibi pauca rogent — multos si pauca rogabunt,
and let them ask a few things for themselves — if they ask a few things from many,
Postmodo de stipula grandis acervus erit.
afterwards there will be a huge heap from chaff.
Et soror et mater, nutrix quoque carpat amantem;
Let both sister and mother, and the nurse also, pluck the lover;
Fit cito per multas praeda petita manus.
a prey sought by many hands is quickly gathered.
Cum te deficient poscendi munera causae,
When reasons for asking for gifts fail you,
Natalem libo testificare tuum!
testify to your birthday with a sacrificial cake!
Ne securus amet nullo rivale, caveto;
Take care lest he love securely with no rival;
Non bene, si tollas proelia, durat amor.
love does not last well if you take away the battles.
Ille viri videat toto vestigia lecto
Let him see the traces of a man all over the bed,
Factaque lascivis livida colla notis.
and your neck made black and blue with passionate marks.
Munera praecipue videat, quae miserit alter.
Let him especially see the gifts which another has sent.
Si dederit nemo, Sacra roganda Via est.
If no one has given any, the Sacred Way must be asked for a false one.
Cum multa abstuleris, ut non tamen omnia donet,
When you have taken many things, so that he still does not give everything,
Quod numquam reddas, commodet, ipsa roga!
ask him yourself to lend what you may never return!
Lingua iuvet mentemque tegat — blandire noceque;
Let your tongue assist and cover your mind — flatter and do harm;
Inpia sub dulci melle venena latent.
wicked poisons lie hidden beneath sweet honey.
Haec si praestiteris usu mihi cognita longo,
If you perform these things, known to me by long experience,
Nec tulerint voces ventus et aura meas,
and the wind and breeze do not carry away my words,
Saepe mihi dices vivae bene, saepe rogabis,
you will often speak well of me while I live, and often pray
Ut mea defunctae molliter ossa cubent.'
that my bones may rest softly when I am dead.’
Vox erat in cursu, cum me mea prodidit umbra,
Her voice was still in progress when my shadow betrayed me,
At nostrae vix se continuere manus,
and my hands scarcely restrained themselves
Quin4 albam raramque comam lacrimosaque vino
from tearing her sparse white hair, her eyes tearful with wine,
Lumina rugosas distraherentque genas.
and her wrinkled cheeks.
Di tibi dent nullosque Lares inopemque senectam,
May the gods give you no household gods and a destitute old age,
Et longas hiemes perpetuamque sitim!
and long winters and perpetual thirst!
- 1.8.58milia multa leges
leges is the future tense of lego ("gather", "collect", or "read"). milia multa refers to many thousands of sesterces. It plays on the double meaning of reading poetry vs. gathering coins from a wealthy lover.
- 1.8.64gypsati crimen inane pedis
gypsati pedis (of a chalked foot) refers to the Roman custom of whitening the feet of imported slaves offered for sale in the market. crimen inane (empty charge/reproach) suggests that social prejudice against slave origin is negligible if the lover is wealthy.
- 1.8.68Quod det, amatorem flagitet ante suum!
Quod det is a subjunctive clause of purpose ("something that he may give"). amatorem suum refers to the young man's own male lover or patron, satirizing that a handsome youth who wants free nights must first beg his own patron for money to pay the woman.
- 1.8.110vix se continuere manus, quin...
continuere is the perfect tense third-person plural continuerunt, agreeing with manus. The construction vix... quin ("scarcely refrained from...") introduces the subjunctive distraherent in a clause of preventing.