§1.2.1Ambubaiarum collegia, pharmacopolae, §1.2.2mendici, mimae, balatrones, hoc genus omne §1.2.3maestum ac sollicitum est cantoris morte Tigelli.
The guilds of flute-girls from Syria, the medicine-sellers, beggars, actresses, parasites, and all this class are mournful and anxious at the death of the singer Tigellius.
§1.2.4quippe benignus erat.
For indeed he was generous.
contra hic, ne prodigus esse §1.2.5dicatur metuens, inopi dare nolit amico, §1.2.6frigus quo duramque famem propellere possit.
On the other hand, this man, fearing lest he be called a spendthrift, refuses to give to a needy friend anything with which he might keep off cold and harsh hunger.
§1.2.7hunc si perconteris, avi cur atque parentis §1.2.8praeclaram ingrata stringat malus ingluvie rem, §1.2.9omnia conductis coemens obsonia nummis, §1.2.10sordidus atque animi quod parvi nolit haberi, §1.2.11respondet.
If you ask this other man why he strips the splendid estate of his grandfather and parent with thankless gluttony, buying up all kinds of delicacies with borrowed money, he answers because he does not want to be held mean and of a small mind.
laudatur ab his, culpatur ab illis.
He is praised by these, and blamed by those.
§1.2.12Fufidius vappae famam timet ac nebulonis §1.2.13: §1.2.14quinas hic capiti mercedes exsecat atque §1.2.15quanto perditior quisque est, tanto acrius urget; §1.2.16nomina sectatur modo sumpta veste virili §1.2.17sub patribus duris tironum.
Fufidius fears the reputation of a worthless spendthrift and a scoundrel:: he deducts five times the usual interest from the principal, and the more ruined anyone is, the more fiercely he presses him; he hunts for the names of youths who have just taken the toga of manhood under strict fathers.
‘maxime’ quis non §1.2.18‘Iuppiter’ exclamat simul atque audivit? ‘at in se
Who does not cry out "Greatest Jupiter" as soon as he hears this?
§1.2.19pro quaestu sumptum facit hic?’ vix credere possis, §1.2.20quam sibi non sit amicus, ita ut pater ille, Terenti §1.2.21fabula quem miserum gnato vixisse fugato §1.2.22inducit, non se peius cruciaverit atque hic.
"But does he make expenditures on himself in proportion to his gain?" You could scarcely believe how much he is no friend to himself, so that the famous father whom Terence’s play introduces living miserably when his son was driven away, did not torment himself worse than this man.
§1.2.23siquis nunc quaerat ‘quo res haec pertinet?’ illuc: §1.2.24dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt.
If anyone should now ask, "Where does this matter lead?" To this: while fools avoid vices, they run into their opposites.
Maltinus walks with his tunics hanging down; there is one who walks with his tucked up even to his indecent groin.
The witty Rufillus smells of lozenges, Gorgonius of a goat: there is no middle ground.
sunt qui nolint tetigisse nisi illas §1.2.29quarum subsuta talos tegat instita veste, §1.2.30contra alius nullam nisi olenti in fornice stantem.
There are those who do not wish to touch any except those whose ankles the sewn-on flounce covers with her dress, on the other hand, another touches none except one standing in a smelly brothel.
§1.2.31quidam notus homo cum exiret fornice, ‘macte §1.2.32virtute esto’ inquit sententia dia Catonis; §1.2.33‘nam simul ac venas inflavit taetra libido, §1.2.34huc iuvenes aequom est descendere, non alienas §1.2.35permolere uxores. ’ ‘nolim laudarier’ inquit §1.2.36‘sic me’ mirator cunni Cupiennius albi.
When a certain well-known man was coming out of a brothel, "Be blessed in your virtue," said the divine voice of Cato; "for as soon as foul lust has swollen the veins, it is right for young men to come down here, and not to grind other men’s wives." "I should not wish to be praised in this way," says Cupiennius, an admirer of the white matronly womb.
§1.2.37audire est operae pretium, procedere recte §1.2.38qui moechis non voltis, ut omni parte laborent §1.2.39utque illis multo corrupta dolore voluptas §1.2.40atque haec rara cadat dura inter saepe pericla.
It is worth your while to hear, you who do not wish things to go well for adulterers, how they suffer in every part, and how their pleasure, corrupted by much pain, falls to them, and that rarely, amidst hard and frequent dangers.
§1.2.41hic se praecipitem tecto dedit, ille flagellis §1.2.42ad mortem caesus, fugiens hic decidit acrem §1.2.43praedonum in turbam, dedit hic pro corpore nummos, §1.2.44hunc perminxerunt calones; quin etiam illud §1.2.45accidit, ut cuidam testis caudamque salacem §1.2.46demeterent ferro.
This one has thrown himself headlong from a roof; that one was beaten with whips to death; this one, fleeing, fell into a fierce band of robbers; this one gave money for his body's safety; this one was urinated upon by stable-boys; indeed, even this happened, that they cut off a certain man's testicles and lustful tail with iron.
‘iure’ omnes: Galba negabat.
"Justly," said all; Galba denied it.
§1.2.47tutior at quanto merx est in classe secunda, §1.2.48libertinarum dico — Sallustius in quas §1.2.49non minus insanit quam qui moechatur.
But how much safer is the merchandise in the second class, I mean of the freedwomen—against whom Sallustius is no less mad than he who commits adultery.
at hic si, §1.2.50qua res, qua ratio suaderet quaque modeste §1.2.51munifico esse licet, vellet bonus atque benignus §1.2.52esse, daret quantum satis esset nec sibi damno §1.2.53dedecorique foret.
But if this man, where circumstance and reason advised, and where moderately one is allowed to be generous, wished to be good and kind, he would give as much as was enough, and it would not be a loss and disgrace to him.
verum hoc se amplectitur uno, §1.2.54hoc amat et laudat: ‘matronam nullam ego tango’, §1.2.55ut quondam Marsaeus, amator Originis ille, §1.2.56qui patrium mimae donat fundumque laremque, §1.2.57‘nil fuerit mi’ inquit ‘cum uxoribus umquam alienis. ’ §1.2.58verum est cum mimis, est cum meretricibus, unde §1.2.59fama malum gravius quam res trahit.
But in this one thing he wraps himself, this he loves and praises: "I touch no matron," just as once Marsaeus, that lover of Origo, who gave his paternal estate and home to an actress, said, "May I never have anything to do with other men's wives." But you have to do with actresses, you have to do with courtesans, whence reputation receives a heavier blow than your estate.
an tibi abunde §1.2.60personam satis est, non illud, quidquid ubique §1.2.61officit, evitare? bonam deperdere famam,
Or is it abundantly enough for you to avoid the person of a matron, and not that which everywhere damages you?
§1.2.62rem patris oblimare malum est ubicumque.
To lose a good reputation, to ruin a father’s estate is an evil anywhere.
quid inter- §1.2.63est in matrona, ancilla peccesne togata?
What difference does it make whether you sin with a matron or a maid wearing a toga?
§1.2.64Villius in Fausta, Sullae gener, hoc miser uno §1.2.65nomine deceptus, poenas dedit usque superque §1.2.66quam satis est, pugnis caesus ferroque petitus, §1.2.67exclusus fore, cum Longarenus foret intus.
Villius, the son-in-law of Sulla, in the case of Fausta, deceived by this one title, miserable man, paid penalties even and above what is enough, beaten with fists and assailed with iron, shut out of the door, while Longarenus was inside.
§1.2.68huic si muttonis verbis mala tanta videnti
To him, seeing such great evils, if in the words of his penis...