When I swear that I know nothing, they marvel at me as if I were, forsooth, a person of extraordinary and profound silence.
§2.6.59perditur haec inter misero lux non sine votis: §2.6.60o rus, quando ego te adspiciam quandoque licebit
Amidst such distractions, my day is wasted, to my sorrow, not without these prayers: "O countryside, when shall I behold you?
§2.6.61nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis §2.6.62ducere sollicitae iucunda oblivia vitae?
And when shall it be permitted me, now with the books of the ancients, now with sleep and lazy hours, to drink sweet forgetfulness of an anxious life?
§2.6.63o quando faba Pythagorae cognata simulque §2.6.64uncta satis pingui ponentur holuscula lardo?
Oh, when shall the bean, sister of Pythagoras, and along with it, cabbage seasoned with rich lard, be served before me?
§2.6.65o noctes cenaeque Deum, quibus ipse meique §2.6.66ante larem proprium vescor vernasque procacis §2.6.67pasco libatis dapibus.
O nights and feasts of the gods, in which I and my dear ones eat before our own Hearth, and feed the saucy house-born slaves with the tasted delicacies!
prout cuique libido est, §2.6.68siccat inaequalis calices conviva solutus §2.6.69legibus insanis, seu quis capit acria fortis §2.6.70pocula seu modicis uvescit laetius.
According as each one's desire is, the guest drains unequal cups, freed from foolish laws, whether one strong-headed takes strong wine, or another dampens himself more joyfully with moderate draft.
ergo §2.6.71sermo oritur, non de villis domibusve alienis, §2.6.72nec male necne Lepos saltet; sed, quod magis ad nos §2.6.73pertinet et nescire malum est, agitamus, utrumne §2.6.74divitiis homines an sint virtute beati, §2.6.75quidve ad amicitias, usus rectumne, trahat nos §2.6.76et quae sit natura boni summumque quid eius.
Therefore a conversation arises, not about other men's villas or houses, nor whether Lepos dances badly or not; but, what more closely concerns us and which it is an evil not to know, we discuss: whether men are made happy by riches or by virtue, and what draws us to friendships, utility or the right, and what is the nature of the good, and what is its highest form.
Amidst these things, Cervius, our neighbor, babbles old wives' tales on fitting occasions.
siquis nam laudat Arelli §2.6.79sollicitas ignarus opes, sic incipit: ‘olim §2.6.80rusticus urbanum murem mus paupere fertur §2.6.81accepisse cavo, veterem vetus hospes amicum, §2.6.82asper et attentus quaesitis, ut tamen artum §2.6.83solveret hospitiis animum.
For if anyone, in ignorance, praises the anxious wealth of Arellius, he thus begins: "Once upon a time, a country mouse is said to have welcomed a town mouse into his poor cave, an old host receiving an old friend; a rugged fellow, and careful of his savings, yet such that he would relax his tight mind for hospitality.
quid multa? neque ille §2.6.84sepositi ciceris nec longae invidit avenae, §2.6.85aridum et ore ferens acinum semesaque lardi §2.6.86frusta dedit, cupiens varia fastidia cena §2.6.87vincere tangentis male singula dente superbo, §2.6.88cum pater ipse domus palea porrectus in horna §2.6.89esset ador loliumque, dapis meliora relinquens.
In short, he neither grudged the chickpeas he had laid up, nor the long oats, and bringing a dry raisin in his mouth and half-eaten scraps of bacon, he gave them, wishing to overcome by a varied feast the squeamishness of his guest, who scarcely touched each single thing with his proud tooth, while the master of the house himself, stretched on this year's straw, ate spelt and darnel, leaving the better parts of the feast.
§2.6.90tandem urbanus ad hunc “quid te iuvat” inquit, “amice, §2.6.91praerupti nemoris patientem vivere dorso?
At last the town mouse said to him: 'Why does it please you, friend, to live enduring hardships on the ridge of a steep forest?
§2.6.92vis tu homines urbemque feris praeponere silvis?
Would you not prefer to set men and the city before the wild woods?
§2.6.93carpe viam, mihi crede, comes, terrestria quando §2.6.94mortalis animas vivunt sortita neque ulla est §2.6.95aut magno aut parvo leti fuga: quo, bone, circa,
Start on the journey, believe me, as my companion, since earthly creatures live having received mortal souls, nor is there any escape from death for either great or small.
§2.6.96dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus, §2.6.97vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis. ” haec ubi dicta §2.6.98agrestem pepulere, domo levis exsilit; inde §2.6.99ambo propositum peragunt iter, urbis aventes §2.6.100moenia nocturni subrepere.
Therefore, my good friend, while it is permitted, live happy in pleasant things, live mindful of how brief an existence you have.' When these words moved the country mouse, he leapt lightly from his home; then both perform the proposed journey, eager to creep under the walls of the city by night.
iamque tenebat §2.6.101nox medium caeli spatium, cum ponit uterque §2.6.102in locuplete domo vestigia, rubro ubi cocco §2.6.103tincta super lectos canderet vestis eburnos §2.6.104multaque de magna superessent fercula cena, §2.6.105quae procul exstructis inerant hesterna canistris.
And now night held the middle space of heaven, when each sets his footsteps in a wealthy house, where a cloth dyed in bright scarlet glowed upon ivory couches, and many courses remained from a great feast, which lay yesterday in baskets piled up at a distance.
§2.6.106ergo ubi purpurea porrectum in veste locavit §2.6.107agrestem, veluti succinctus cursitat hospes §2.6.108continuatque dapes nec non verniliter ipsis §2.6.109fungitur officiis, praelambens omne quod adfert.
Therefore, when he had placed the country mouse stretched on a purple coverlet, the host runs to and fro like a girded waiter, and keeps up the feast, and indeed in slave-like fashion performs the duties, tasting beforehand everything that he brings.
§2.6.110ille cubans gaudet mutata sorte bonisque §2.6.111rebus agit laetum convivam, cum subito ingens §2.6.112valvarum strepitus lectis excussit utrumque.
He, reclining, rejoices in his changed lot and in his good fortune, and plays the cheerful guest, when suddenly a great clatter of the double doors shook both of them from their couches.