§154_155homunculi quanti estis.
Ah, what tiny humans you are!
eiecti ut natant.
Wrecked, how they swim.
§156Vbi sunt i homines, obsecro?
Where are those people, I pray?
§157bVideo.
I see.
sequimini.
Follow me.
§158utinam is sit quém ego quaero, vir sacerrimus.
Would that it were he whom I seek, that most wicked man.
Farewell.— Even if you don't advise us, we remember it ourselves.
§160sed, o Palaemon, sancte Neptuni comes, §161qui Herculis socius esse diceris,† §162quod facinus video.
But, O Palaemon, holy companion of Neptune, who are said to be the companion of Hercules, what a sight I see!
§162bQuid vides?
What do you see?
Two young women I see, only two sitting in a boat.
§164ut adflictantur miserae.
How the poor things are tossed about!
euge euge, perbene,
Ah, excellent, very well!
The wave has turned the boat away from the rock toward the shore, and no pilot could ever have done it better.
§167non vidisse undas me maioris censeo.
I think I have never seen greater waves.
§168salvae sunt, si illos fluctus devitaverint.
They are safe, if they escape those waves.
§169nunc, nunc periclumst.
Now, now is the danger!
unda eiecit alteram.
A wave has thrown out one of them.
§170at in vadost, iam facile enabit.
But she is in the shallows; now she will easily swim out.
eugepae,
Hurrah!
§172surrexit, horsum se capessit.
She has stood up, she is making her way this way.
salva res.
She is safe.
§173desiluit haec autem altera in terram e scapha.
But this other one has jumped out of the boat onto the land.
§174ut prae timore in genua in undas concidit.
How she fell onto her knees in the waves out of fear!
§175salvast, evasit ex aqua.
She is safe, she has escaped from the water.
iam in litore est.
She is now on the shore.
§176sed dextrovorsum avorsa it in malam crucem.
But she has turned to the right and is going to the gallows.
§177hem, errabit illaec hodie.
Oh, she will wander lost today.
§177bQuid id refert tua?
What is that to you?
If she falls down from the rock towards which she is heading, she will have made a shortcut for her wandering.
§181Si tu de illarum cenaturus vesperi es, §182illis curandum censeo, Sceparnio, §183si apud me essurus, mihi darí operam volo.
If you are going to dine on them this evening, I think you should care for them, Sceparnio; but if you are going to eat at my place, I want you to work for me.
§184Bonum aequomque oras.
You ask what is good and fair.
Follow me this way then.— I follow.— The fortunes of men are spoken of as far less wretched than the bitter reality given to them in experience.
§186experiundo iis datur acerbum. §187hoc deo cómplacitumst, me hoc órnatu ornatam ín incertas §188regiónes timidam eiéctam.
It has pleased the god that I, adorned with this attire, should be cast out fearful into uncertain regions.
§189hancíne ego ad rem natam ésse me miserám memorábo?
Shall I say that I, wretched, was born for this?
§190hancíne ego partem cápio ob píetatem praecípuam?
Do I receive this portion because of my exceptional piety?
§191nam hóc mi haud labórist, labórem hunc potíri, §192si érga paréntem aut deós me impiávi; §193sed íd si paráte curávi ut cavérem, §194tum hóc mi indecóre, iníque, inmodéste §195datis, dí; nam quid habebúnt sibi signi ímpii posthac, §196si ad húnc modum est innóxiis honór apud vos?
For this would be no hardship for me, to endure this hardship, if I had behaved impiously toward a parent or the gods; but if I carefully took heed to avoid that, then, gods, you bestow this upon me unsuitably, unjustly, and immoderately; for what mark will the impious have for themselves hereafter, if honor toward the innocent is after this manner among you?
§197nam mé si sciam ín vos fecísse aut paréntis §197asceléste, minus me míserer; §198sed eríle scelus me sóllicitat, eiús me impietas mále habet.
For if I knew that I had acted criminally toward you or my parents, I would pity myself less; but my master's wickedness distresses me, his impiety plagues me.
§199ís navem atque ómnia pérdidit ín mari: §200haéc bonorum éius sunt réliquiae; étiam quae simul §201vécta mecum ín scaphast, éxcidit.
He lost the ship and everything in the sea: these are the remains of his goods; also she who was carried with me in the boat has fallen out.
égo nunc sola sum.
I am now alone.
If she at least were safe for me, this labor would be lighter for me through her help.
§204nunc quám spem aut opem aút consilí quid capéssam?
Now what hope or help or what plan shall I undertake?
§205ita híc sola sólis locis compotita sum.
Thus I am alone, having obtained lonely places.
Here are rocks, here the sea resounds, and not a single human comes to meet me.
§207hóc quod indúta sum, summae opes óppido, §208néc cibo néc loco técta quo sím scio: §209quaé mihist spés, qua me vívere velim?
This which I have on is my entire wealth indeed, nor do I know of food, nor of a place where I may be sheltered; what hope is there for me, by which I should wish to live?
§210néc loci gnára sum, néc vidi aut híc fui.
Neither am I familiar with the place, nor have I seen it or been here.
§211sáltem aliquém velim quí mihi ex hís locis §212aút viam aut sémitam mónstret, ita nunc §213hác an illác eam, incérta sum cónsili; §214néc prope usquam híc quidem cúltum agrum cónspicor.
I wish at least someone would show me from these places either a road or a path; so now I am uncertain of plan, whether to go this way or that; nor indeed do I see any cultivated field anywhere near here.
§215álgor, errór, pavor, me ómnia tenent.
Cold, wandering, fear—all things possess me.
This you do not know, my wretched parents, that I am now wretched as I am.
§217líbera ego prognáta fui máxume, nequíquam fui.
I was born extremely free, but in vain was I so.
§218nunc quí minus servio, quám si servá forem náta?
How am I now less of a slave than if I had been born a slave?
§219neque quícquam umquam illis prófuit qui mé sibi eduxérunt.
Nor did it ever benefit those who brought me up.
§220Quid míhi meliust, quid mágis in remst, quam a córpore vitam ut sécludam?
What is better for me, what is more to my advantage, than to separate life from my body?
§221ita mále vivo atque ita míhi multae in pectóre sunt curae exánimales.
I live so wretchedly, and so many deadly cares are in my breast.
§222ita rés se habent: vitae haú parco, perdidí spem qua me obléctabam.
Such are things: I do not spare my life, I have lost the hope with which I comforted myself.