§2.5.1‘Hoc quoque, Tiresia, praeter narrata petenti §2.5.2responde, quibus amissas reparare queam res §2.5.3artibus atque modis.
'In addition to what has been told, Tiresias, answer this also to me who ask: by what arts and methods I may be able to restore my lost fortunes.
quid rides?’ ‘iamne doloso §2.5.4non satis est Ithacam revehi patriosque penatis §2.5.5adspicere?’ ‘o nulli quicquam mentite, vides ut §2.5.6nudus inopsque domum redeam te vate, neque illic §2.5.7aut apotheca procis intacta est aut pecus: atqui
Why do you laugh?' 'Is it not already enough for a crafty man to be carried back to Ithaca, and to look upon his ancestral household gods?' 'O you who have never told a lie to anyone, you see how naked and destitute I return home, according to your prophecy; and there neither my storehouse nor my cattle is left untouched by the suitors.
§2.5.8et genus et virtus, nisi cum re, vilior alga est. ’ §2.5.9quando pauperiem missis ambagibus horres,
And yet birth and virtue, unless accompanied by wealth, are viler than seaweed.' 'Since, to speak without circumlocution, you dread poverty, hear by what means you may grow rich.
§2.5.10accipe qua ratione queas ditescere. turdus §2.5.11sive aliud privum dabitur tibi, devolet illuc, §2.5.12res ubi magna nitet domino sene; dulcia poma §2.5.13et quoscumque feret cultus tibi fundus honores §2.5.14ante Larem gustet venerabilior Lare dives.
If a thrush or any other private delicacy is given to you, let it fly away thither, where a great estate shines under an old master; let the rich man, more worthy of worship than the Lar, taste the sweet apples and whatever honors your cultivated farm brings to you, before the Lar does.
§2.5.15qui quamvis periurus erit, sine gente, cruentus §2.5.16sanguine fraterno, fugitivus, ne tamen illi §2.5.17tu comes exterior, si postulet, ire recuses. ’ §2.5.18‘utne tegam spurco Damae latus? haud ita Troiae
Though he be a perjurer, without family, stained with a brother's blood, a runaway slave, yet if he should request it, do not refuse to go as his companion on his outer side.' 'Am I to shield the flank of a filthy Dama?
§2.5.19me gessi, certans semper melioribus. ’ ‘ergo §2.5.20pauper eris. ’ ‘fortem hoc animum tolerare iubebo; §2.5.21et quondam maiora tuli.
Not so at Troy did I conduct myself, always contending with my betters.' 'Then you will remain poor.' 'I will command my brave soul to endure this; and formerly I have borne greater things.
tu protinus, unde §2.5.22divitias aerisque ruam, dic, augur, acervos. ’ §2.5.23‘dixi equidem et dico: captes astutus ubique §2.5.24testamenta senum neu, si vafer unus et alter §2.5.25insidiatorem praeroso fugerit hamo, §2.5.26aut spem deponas aut artem inlusus omittas.
Tell me at once, prophet, whence I may dig up riches and heaps of money.' 'I have indeed said, and I say it again: hunt everywhere, cunningly, for the wills of old men; and do not, if one or two crafty fellows escape the plotter, having nibbled off the bait from the hook, either lose hope or, disappointed, give up the art.
§2.5.27magna minorve foro si res certabitur olim, §2.5.28vivet uter locuples sine gnatis, inprobus, ultro §2.5.29qui meliorem audax vocet in ius, illius esto §2.5.30defensor; fama civem causaque priorem §2.5.31sperne, domi si gnatus erit fecundave coniux.
If a great or small matter is ever contested in the forum, whichever of the two lives wealthy and without children, though he be a rogue, who boldly and of his own accord summons a better man into court, be his defender; spurn the citizen who is superior in reputation and in his cause, if he has a son at home or a fertile wife.
§2.5.32“Quinte” puta aut “Publi” — gaudent praenomine molles §2.5.33auriculae — “tibi me virtus tua fecit amicum.
Address him, say, as "Quintus" or "Publius" — delicate ears rejoice in the first name — "Your virtue has made me your friend.
§2.5.34ius anceps novi, causas defendere possum; §2.5.35eripiet quivis oculos citius mihi quam te §2.5.36contemptum cassa nuce pauperet; haec mea cura est, §2.5.37nequid tu perdas neu sis iocus. ” ire domum atque §2.5.38pelliculam curare iube; fi cognitor ipse, §2.5.39persta atque obdura: seu rubra canicula findet §2.5.40infantis statuas, seu pingui tentus omaso §2.5.41Furius hibernas cana nive conspuet Alpes.
I know the ambiguous law, I can defend causes; anyone shall pluck out my eyes sooner than contemptuously deprive you of the value of an empty nut; this is my care, that you lose nothing and do not become a laughingstock." Bid him go home and take care of his skin; become his advocate yourself, persist and hold out: whether the red Dog-star splits the speechless statues, or Furius, stuffed with fat tripe, spits upon the winter Alps with hoary snow.
§2.5.42“nonne vides” aliquis cubito stantem prope tangens §2.5.43inquiet, “ut patiens, ut amicis aptus, ut acer?” §2.5.44plures adnabunt thynni et cetaria crescent.
"Do you not see," someone says, nudging his neighbor with his elbow, "how patient he is, how attentive to his friends, how active?" More tunnies will swim in, and your fish-ponds will grow.
§2.5.45sicui praeterea validus male filius in re §2.5.46praeclara sublatus aletur, ne manifestum §2.5.47caelibis obsequium nudet te, leniter in spem §2.5.48adrepe officiosus, ut et scribare secundus §2.5.49heres et, siquis casus puerum egerit Orco, §2.5.50in vacuum venias: perraro haec alea fallit.
Furthermore, if anyone has a sickly son being reared and brought up under a splendid estate, lest too open an obsequiousness to a childless man should expose you, creep gently by your attentions into the hope of being written down as the second heir, and that, if any accident should drive the boy to Orcus, you may step into the vacancy: this die very rarely fails.
§2.5.51qui testamentum tradet tibi cumque legendum, §2.5.52abnuere et tabulas a te removere memento, §2.5.53sic tamen, ut limis rapias, quid prima secundo
Whenever anyone delivers a will to you to read, remember to refuse and to push the tablets away from you, yet in such a manner that you may snatch with a side-glance what the first page, on the second line...'