§9.20.1dupliciter delectatus sum tuis litteris, et quod ipse risi et quod te intellexi iam posse ridere; me autem a te ut scurram velitem malis oneratum esse non moleste tuli; illud doleo, in ista loca venire me, ut constitueram, non potuisse; habuisses enim non hospitem sed contubernalem.
I was doubly delighted by your letter, both because I laughed myself and because I understood that you can now laugh; however, I did not take it ill that I was loaded with abuse (or apples) by you like a skirmisher droll; I am sorry for this, that I was not able to come to those parts of yours as I had determined; for you would have had not a guest but a messmate.
at quem virum! non eum, quem tu es solitus promulside conficere; integram famem ad ovum adfero, itaque usque ad assum vitulinum opera perducitur.
And what a man! Not him whom you are accustomed to finish off with the hors d’oeuvre; I bring a whole appetite to the egg, and so the work is carried on all the way to the roast veal.
illa mea, quae solebas antea laudare, 'O hominem facilem! O hospitem non gravem!' abierunt; nam omnem nostram de re p. curam, cogitationem de dicenda in senatu sententia, commentationem causarum abiecimus, in Epicuri nos, adversari nostri, castra coniecimus, nec tamen ad hanc insolentiam, sed ad illam tuam lautitiam, veterem dico, cum in sumptum habebas; etsi numquam plura praedia habuisti.
Those sayings of mine, which you used to praise before, 'O easy-going man! O guest of no trouble!' are gone; for we have cast away all our care for the republic, our thought of expressing our opinion in the senate, our preparation of cases, and we have thrown ourselves into the camp of Epicurus, our adversary, yet not to this modern self-indulgence, but to that luxury of yours—I mean your old luxury, when you had the means for expense; although you never had more estates.
§9.20.2proinde te para; cum homine et edaci tibi res est et qui iam aliquid intellegat (o)yimaqei=s autem homines scis quam insolentes sint); dediscendae tibi sunt sportellae et artologam tui.
Therefore prepare yourself; you have to do with a man who is both an eater and one who already understands something (moreover, you know how insolent late-learners are); you must unlearn your little baskets and tarts.
nos iam †ex artis tantum habemus, ut Verrium tuum et Camillum (qua munditia homines, qua elegantia!) vocare saepius audeamus.
We have now so much skill that we dare to invite your Verrius and Camillus (what neatness, what elegance they possess!) more often.
sed vide audaciam; etiam Hirtio cenam dedi, sine pavone tamen.
But see my audacity; I even gave a dinner to Hirtius, though without a peacock.
in ea cena cocus meus praeter ius fervens nihil non potuit imitari.
At that dinner my cook was able to imitate anything except a hot sauce (or a boiling law).
§9.20.3haec igitur est nunc vita nostra: mane salutamus domi et bonos viros multos, sed tristis, et hos laetos victores, qui me quidem perofficiose et peramanter observant.
This, then, is now my life: in the morning I receive at home many good men, but sad, and these joyful victors, who indeed attend upon me very dutifully and affectionately.
Ubi salutatio defluxit, litteris me involvo, aut scribo aut lego; veniunt etiam qui me audiunt quasi doctum hominem, quia paulo sum quam ipsi doctior.
When the crowd of visitors has flowed away, I wrap myself in literature, either writing or reading; there come also those who listen to me as a learned man, because I am a little more learned than they themselves.
Inde corpori omne tempus datur.
Then all my time is given to my body.
patriam eluxi iam et gravius et diutius quam ulla mater unicum filium.
I have already mourned my country more heavily and longer than any mother her only son.
sed cura, si me amas, ut valeas, ne ego te iacente bona tua comedim; statui enim tibi ne aegroto quidem parcere.
But take care, if you love me, to keep well, lest I devour your goods while you are lying ill; for I have resolved not to spare you even when you are sick.