§7.26.1Cum decimum iam diem graviter ex intestinis laborarem neque iis qui mea opera uti volebant me probarem non valere, quia febrim non haberem, fligi in Tusculanum, cum quidem biduum ita ieiunus fuissem ut ne aquam quidem gustarem.
When I had already been suffering severely from my bowels for ten days, and could not convince those who wished to employ my services that I was unwell because I had no fever, I fled to my estate at Tusculum, having indeed been fasting for two days so completely that I did not even taste water.
itaque confectus languore et fame magis tuum officium desideravi quam a te requiri putavi meum.
And so, exhausted by weakness and hunger, I yearned for your duty of visiting more than I thought mine was expected by you.
ego autem quom omnis morbos reformido tum in quo Epicurum tuum Stoici male accipiunt, quia dicat 'straggourika\ kai\ dusenterika\ pa/qh' sibi molesta esse; quorum alterum morbum edacitatis esse putant, alterum etiam turpioris intemperantiae.
Now, while I dread all illnesses, I especially dread that one on account of which the Stoics find fault with your friend Epicurus, because he says that "pains of strangury and dysentery" are troublesome to him; of which diseases they consider the one to be the result of gluttony, the other of an even baser intemperance.
sane dusenteri/an pertimueram; sed visa est mihi vel loci mutatio vel animi etiam relaxatio vel ipsa §7.26.2fortasse iam senescentis morbi remissio profuisse.
Indeed, I had been thoroughly terrified of dysentery; but it seemed to me that either the change of scene, or the relaxation of my mind, or perhaps the very remission of the illness, which is now growing old, has been of benefit.
ac tamen ne mirere unde hoc acciderit quo modove commiserim, lex sumptuaria quae videtur lito/thta attulisse ea mihi fraudi fuit.
And yet, lest you wonder whence this happened or how I contracted it, the sumptuary law, which seems to have introduced simplicity, was my ruin.
nam dum volunt isti lauti terra nata, quae lege excepta sunt, in honorem adducere, fungos, helvellas, herbas omnis ita condiunt ut nihil possit esse suavius.
For while those luxurious gentlemen wish to bring into high fashion the products of the earth, which are exempted by the law, they season mushrooms, potherbs, and all kinds of vegetables so highly that nothing can be more delicious.
in eas cum incidissem in cena augurali apud Lentulum, tanta me dia/rroia adripuit ut hodie primum videatur coepisse consistere.
When I had fallen upon these at the augural dinner at Lentulus's house, so violent a diarrhea seized me that only today does it seem to have begun to stop.
ita ego, qui me ostreis et murenis facile abstinebam, a beta et a malva deceptus sum.
Thus I, who easily abstained from oysters and lampreys, was deceived by beet and mallow.
posthac igitur erimus cautiores.
Hereafter, therefore, I shall be more cautious.
tu tamen cum audisses ab Anicio (vidit enim me nauseantem), non modo mittendi causam iustam habuisti sed etiam visendi.
You, however, when you had heard of it from Anicius (for he saw me feeling nauseous), had a just cause not only for sending a message, but even for visiting.
ego hic cogito commorari quoad me reficiam, nam et viris et corpus amisi; sed si morbum depulero, facile, ut spero, illa revocabo.
I intend to stay here until I recruit myself, for I have lost both my strength and my weight; but if I drive away the illness, I shall easily, I hope, recover them.