§474Edim, nisi si ille votet.
I would eat, unless he should forbid it.
§474bAt pol ego etsi votet §475edim, atque ambabus malis expletis vorem, §476et quod illi placeat praeripiam potissimum, §477neque illí concedam quicquam de vita mea.
But by Pollux, I, even if he should forbid it, would eat, and devour with both cheeks filled, and would snatch away by preference whatever pleases him, nor would I yield anything to him regarding my own life.
It befits no one to be bashful at the table, for there decision is made about things divine and human.
§480Rem fabulare.
You speak of reality.
§480bNon tibi dicam dolo: §481decedam ego illi de via, de semita, §482de honore populi; verum quod ad ventrem attinet, §483non hercle hoc longe, nisi me pugnis vicerit.
I will not speak to you with deceit: I will step aside for him from the road, from the path, from public honor; but as far as the belly is concerned, by Hercules, not this much, unless he beats me with his fists.
§484cena hac annona est sine sacris hereditas.
A dinner with this high price of corn is an inheritance without religious obligations.
§485Semper tu hoc facito, Lesbonice, cogites, §486id optumum esse, tute uti sis optumus; §487si id nequeas, saltem ut optumis sis proxumus.
Always see to this, Lesbonicus, that you reflect, that it is best that you yourself should be the best; if you cannot do that, at least that you should be nearest to the best.
§488nunc condicionem hanc, quam ego fero et quam abs te peto, §489dare atque accipere, Lesbonice, te volo.
Now this proposal, which I bring and which I ask of you, by marriage and alliance, Lesbonicus, I wish you to accept.
§490di divites sunt, deos decent opulentiae §491et factiones, verum nos homunculi, §492satillum animai qui quom extemplo emisimus, §493aequo mendicus atque ille opulentissimus §494censetur censu ad Acheruntem mortuos.
The gods are rich, wealth befits the gods and powerful connections, but we, poor little humans, who, as soon as we have breathed out our tiny bit of life, the beggar and that most wealthy man are rated at an equal assessment as dead men at the Acheron.
§495Mirum quin tu illo tecum divitias feras.
It's a wonder you don't carry your wealth with you there!
§496ubi mortuos sis, ita sis ut nomen cluet.
When you are dead, you will be just as your name implies.
§497Nunc ut scias hic factiones atque opes §498non esse neque nos tuam neglegere gratiam, §499sine dote posco tuam sororem filio.
Now, so that you may know that family connections and wealth are of no account here, and that we do not disregard your favor, I ask for your sister as a wife for my son without a dowry.
§500quae res bene vortat—habeon pactam? quid taces?
May this matter turn out well — do I have her betrothed? Why are you silent?
§501Pro di immortales, condicionem quoius modi.
O immortal gods, what a wonderful proposal!
§502Quin fabulare
di bene vortant, spondeo
?
Why don't you say, 'May the gods turn it to good, I promise'?
Alas! When there was no need for the word, 'I promise' he used to say; now here, when there is need, he cannot say it.
Since you judge me worthy of your alliance, I feel great gratitude to you, Philto.
§507sed si haec res graviter cecidit stultitia mea, §508Philto, est ager sub urbe hic nobis: eum dabo §509dotem sorori; nam is de divitiis meis §510solus superfit praeter vitam relicuos.
But, though my property has fallen heavily through my folly, Philto, we have a field here near the city: that I will give as a dowry to my sister; for that, out of my wealth, remains alone surviving, left besides my life.
§511Profecto dotem nil moror.
Indeed, I care nothing for a dowry.
§511bCertumst dare.
My mind is made up to give it.
§512Nostramne, ere, vis nutricem, quae nos educat,
Do you wish, master, to alienate our nurse, who feeds us, from us?
§513abalienare a nobis? cave sis feceris.
Please take care not to do it.
§514quid edemus nosmet postea?
What shall we ourselves eat afterwards?
§514bEtiam tu taces?
Are you still not silent?
§515tibi ego rationem reddam?
Am I to render an account to you?
We are utterly ruined, unless I devise something.
Philto, te volo.
Philto, I want you.
§517Si quid vis, Stasime.
If you want anything, Stasimus.
§517bHuc cóncede aliquantum.
Step aside here a little.
§517cLicet.
Very well.
I tell you this in secret, so that he may not know from you, nor anyone else.
§519bCrede audacter quidlubet.
Trust me boldly with whatever you please.
I tell you by gods and men, do not ever allow that field to become yours, nor your son's.
§522ei rei argumenta dicam.
I will tell you the reasons for this.
§522bAudire edepol lubet.
By Pollux, I would like to hear.
First of all, once when the land is ploughed, in every fifth furrow the oxen die.
§525Apage, Acheruntis ostium in vostrost agro.
Away with it! The mouth of Acheron is in your field.
§526Tum vinum prius quam coctumst pendet putidum.
Then the wine, before it is ripe, hangs rotten.
§527Consuadet homini, credo.
He is trying to persuade me, I believe.
etsi scelestus est, §528at mi infidelis non est.
Even if he is a rascal, yet to me he is not unfaithful.
§528bAudi cetera.
Hear the rest.
§529post id, frumenti quom alibi messis maximast, §530tribus tántis illi minus redit quam opseveris.
After that, when elsewhere there is a huge harvest of wheat, there it returns three times less than what you have sown.
Aha, there bad habits ought to be sown, if they could be destroyed in the sowing.
§533Neque umquam quisquamst, quoius ille ager fuit, §534quin pessume ei res vorterit: quoium fuit, §535alii exulatum abierunt, alii emortui, §536alii se suspendere.
And there is never anyone who owned that field, but that his affairs turned out worst: of those who owned it, some went into exile, others died, others hanged themselves.
em nunc hic quoius est, §537ut ad incitas redactust.
Look, now he who owns it, how he is reduced to a standstill.
§537bApage a me istum agrum.
Away from me with that field!
§538Magis apage dicas, si omnia ex me audiveris.
You would say 'away' all the more, if you heard everything from me.
§539nam fulguritae sunt alternae árbores; §540sues moriuntur angina acerrume; §541oves scabrae sunt, tam glabrae, em, quam haec est manus.
For every other tree is struck by lightning; the pigs die of quinsy most violently; the sheep are scabby, as bald, look, as this hand.
§542tum autem Surorum, genus quod patientissumumst §543hominum, nemo extat qui ibi sex menses vixerit: §544ita cuncti solstitiali morbo decidunt.
And furthermore, of the Syrians, which is the most enduring race of men, there is no one surviving who has lived there for six months; so utterly do they all fall victim to summer sickness.
§545Credo ego istuc, Stasime, ita esse; sed Campans genus
I believe, Stasimus, that it is so; but the Campanian race...