§1.1.59at qui tantuli eget quanto est opus, is neque limo §1.1.60turbatam haurit aquam neque vitam amittit in undis.
But he who desires only as much as is needed, neither draws water turbid with mud, nor loses his life in the waves.
§1.1.61at bona pars hominum decepta cupidine falso §1.1.62‘nil satis est’, inquit, ‘quia tanti quantum habeas sis’: §1.1.63quid facias illi? iubeas miserum esse, libenter
But a great part of mankind, deceived by false desire, says, "Nothing is enough, because you are worth as much as you possess." What can you do for such a man?
§1.1.64quatenus id facit: ut quidam memoratur Athenis §1.1.65sordidus ac dives, populi contemnere voces §1.1.66sic solitus: ‘populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo §1.1.67ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca. ’ §1.1.68Tantalus a labris sitiens fugientia captat §1.1.69flumina — quid rides? mutato nomine de te
Bid him be miserable, since he willingly does so; just as a certain man is remembered in Athens, sordid and rich, who was accustomed to despise the voices of the people in this way: "The people hiss at me, but I applaud myself at home, as soon as I contemplate the coins in my chest." Tantalus, thirsty, catches at the waters that flee from his lips— why do you laugh?
§1.1.70fabula narratur: congestis undique saccis §1.1.71indormis inhians et tamquam parcere sacris §1.1.72cogeris aut pictis tamquam gaudere tabellis.
With the name changed, the story is told about you: yawning, you sleep on bags heaped up from all sides, and you are compelled to spare them as if they were sacred, or to delight in them as if they were painted tablets.
§1.1.73nescis, quo valeat nummus, quem praebeat usum?
Do you not know what money is worth, what use it provides?
Let bread be bought, vegetables, a sextarius of wine; add those things which, if denied to it, human nature would grieve.
§1.1.76an vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque §1.1.77formidare malos fures, incendia, servos, §1.1.78ne te conpilent fugientes, hoc iuvat? horum
Or does it please you to keep watch, half-dead with fear, and night and day to dread wicked thieves, fires, slaves, lest they plunder you and flee?
§1.1.79semper ego optarim pauperrimus esse bonorum.
Of these goods, I should always wish to be the poorest.
§1.1.80at si condoluit temptatum frigore corpus §1.1.81aut alius casus lecto te adflixit, habes qui §1.1.82adsideat, fomenta paret, medicum roget, ut te §1.1.83suscitet ac reddat gnatis carisque propinquis? §1.1.84non uxor salvum te volt, non filius; omnes §1.1.85vicini oderunt, noti, pueri atque puellae.
"But if your body has felt pain, assailed by cold, or some other chance has pinned you to your bed, you have someone to sit by you, prepare poultices, entreat the doctor, so that he may raise you up and restore you to your children and dear relatives." No, neither your wife nor your son wishes you safe; all your neighbors hate you, acquaintances, boys and girls.
§1.1.86miraris, cum tu argento post omnia ponas, §1.1.87si nemo praestet, quem non merearis, amorem?
Do you wonder, since you put money before everything, if no one offers you the love that you do not deserve?
§1.1.88at si cognatos nullo natura labore §1.1.89quos tibi dat, retinere velis, servareque amicos, §1.1.90infelix operam perdas, ut siquis asellum §1.1.91in campo doceat parentem currere frenis.
But if you should wish to retain the relatives whom nature gives you with no labor of your own, and to preserve them as friends, unhappy man, you would lose your labor, just as if someone should teach a little donkey to run in the field, obedient to the reins.
§1.1.92denique sit finis quaerendi, cumque habeas plus, §1.1.93pauperiem metuas minus et finire laborem §1.1.94incipias, parto quod avebas, ne facias quod §1.1.95Umidius quidam; non longa est fabula: dives §1.1.96ut metiretur nummos, ita sordidus, ut se §1.1.97non umquam servo melius vestiret, ad usque §1.1.98supremum tempus, ne se penuria victus §1.1.99opprimeret, metuebat.
In short, let there be an end to seeking; and as you have more, fear poverty less, and begin to end your labor, since you have obtained what you desired, lest you do what a certain Umidius did; it is not a long story: so rich that he measured his money, yet so sordid that he never dressed himself better than a slave, and up to his last moment he feared lest lack of food should overwhelm him.
at hunc liberta securi §1.1.100divisit medium, fortissima Tyndaridarum.
But a freedwoman divided him in two with an axe, the bravest of the daughters of Tyndareus.
§1.1.101‘quid mi igitur suades? ut vivam Naevius aut sic
"What then do you advise me?
§1.1.102ut Nomentanus?’ pergis pugnantia secum §1.1.103frontibus adversis conponere: non ego avarum §1.1.104cum veto te, fieri vappam iubeo ac nebulonem:
To live like Naevius, or like Nomentanus?" You proceed to match opposites head-to-head: when I forbid you to be a miser, I do not order you to become a worthless spendthrift or a scoundrel.
§1.1.105est inter Tanain quiddam socerumque Viselli:
There is something between Tanais and the father-in-law of Visellius.
§1.1.106est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines, §1.1.107quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum.
There is a measure in things; there are, in short, certain boundaries, beyond and short of which the right path cannot consist.
§1.1.108illuc, unde abii, redeo, qui nemo, ut avarus, §1.1.109se probet ac potius laudet diversa sequentis, §1.1.110quodque aliena capella gerat distentius uber, §1.1.111tabescat neque se maiori pauperiorum §1.1.112turbae conparet, hunc atque hunc superare laboret.
I return to where I departed: how no one, like a miser, approves of himself, but rather praises those following different paths, and pines because another's she-goat carries a more distended udder, and does not compare himself to the larger crowd of those who are poorer, but strives to surpass this one and that one.
§1.1.113sic festinanti semper locupletior obstat, §1.1.114ut, cum carceribus missos rapit ungula currus, §1.1.115instat equis auriga suos vincentibus, illum §1.1.116praeteritum temnens extremos inter euntem.
To one thus hastening, a richer man always stands in the way; just as when the hoof whirls away the chariots sent from the starting gates, the charioteer presses upon the horses that are surpassing his own, despising the one he has passed, who goes among the last.
§1.1.117inde fit, ut raro, qui se vixisse beatum §1.1.118dicat et exacto contentus tempore vita §1.1.119cedat uti conviva satur, reperire queamus.
Hence it happens that we can rarely find one who says he has lived happy, and who, content with his completed time, departs from life like a satisfied guest.
§1.1.120iam satis est.
Now it is enough.
ne me Crispini scrinia lippi §1.1.121conpilasse putes, verbum non amplius addam.
Lest you think I have plundered the book-boxes of blear-eyed Crispinus, I will not add a single word more.