§1.1.1Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena, §1.1.2spectatum satis et donatum iam rude quaeris, §1.1.3Maecenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo.
Sung by my earliest, to be sung by my latest Muse, after being tested enough and already presented with the wooden sword, you seek, Maecenas, to shut me up again in the old school.
§1.1.4non eadem est aetas, non mens.
My age is not the same, nor is my mind.
Veianius armis §1.1.5Herculis ad postem fixis latet abditus agro, §1.1.6ne populum extrema totiens exoret harena,
Veianius, his arms fixed to the doorpost of Hercules, lies hidden in the country, that he may not so often plead with the crowd from the edge of the arena.
§1.1.7est mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem: §1.1.8“solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne §1.1.9peccet ad extremum ridendus et ilia ducat. ” §1.1.10Nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono; §1.1.11quid verum atque decens curo et rogo et omnis in hoc sum; §1.1.12condo et compono quae mox depromere possim.
I have one who constantly rings into my well-cleared ear: "Release the aging horse in time, while you are wise, lest he stumble at the end to be laughed at, and pant with broken wind." Now therefore I lay aside both verses and all other playthings; what is true and fitting is my care and quest, and in this I am wholly absorbed; I store and arrange what I may soon be able to bring forth.
§1.1.13ac ne forte roges, quo me duce, quo lare tuter: §1.1.14nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, §1.1.15quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.
And lest by chance you ask under what leader, under what hearth I protect myself: bound to swear allegiance to the words of no master, wherever the tempest drags me, I am carried as a guest.
§1.1.16nunc agilis fio et mersor civilibus undis, §1.1.17virtutis verae custos rigidusque satelles; §1.1.18nunc in Aristippi furtim praecepta relabor §1.1.19et mihi res, non me rebus, subiungere conor.
Now I become active and plunge into the civic waves, the rigid guardian and attendant of true virtue; now I slip back stealthily into the precepts of Aristippus, and try to subject things to myself, not myself to things.
§1.1.20Ut nox longa quibus mentitur amica, diesque §1.1.21longa videtur opus debentibus, ut piger annus §1.1.22pupillis, quos dura premit custodia matrum; §1.1.23sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae spem §1.1.24consiliumque morantur agendi naviter id quod §1.1.25aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque, §1.1.26aeque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit,
As the night is long to those whose mistress cheats them, and as the day seems long to those who owe their labor, as the year is slow to wards whom the harsh guardianship of mothers oppresses; so slowly and unpleasantly flow the times for me, which delay my hope and design of actively doing that which is equally profitable to the poor and to the rich, and which, if neglected, will equally harm boys and old men.
§1.1.27restat ut his ego me ipse regam solerque elementis,
It remains for me to guide and solace myself with these elementary principles.
§1.1.28non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus, §1.1.29non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungui; §1.1.30nec quia desperes invicti membra Glyconis, §1.1.31nodosa corpus nolis prohibere cheragra.
Though you cannot see as far with your eyes as Lynceus, you would not therefore, when blear-eyed, disdain to be anointed; nor, because you despair of the limbs of the unconquered Glycon, would you refuse to protect your body from the knotty gout.
§1.1.32est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra.
It is possible to advance up to a certain point, even if it is not given to go further.
§1.1.33Fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus:
Does your breast burn with avarice and wretched desire?
§1.1.34sunt verba et voces, quibus hunc lenire dolorem §1.1.35possis et magnam morbi deponere partem.
There are words and spells with which you can soothe this pain and cast off a great part of the disease.
§1.1.36laudis amore tumes;
Are you swollen with the love of praise?
sunt certa piacula, quae te §1.1.37ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello.
There are certain remedies which can restore you, if the book is purely read three times.
§1.1.38invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator, §1.1.39nemo adeo ferus est, ut non mitescere possit, §1.1.40si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem.
Envious, wrathful, slothful, drunken, amorous, no one is so wild that he cannot become gentle, if only he lends a patient ear to cultivation.
§1.1.41Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima §1.1.42stultitia caruisse, vides, quae maxima credis
Virtue is to flee vice, and the primary wisdom is to have been free of folly.
§1.1.43esse mala, exiguum censum turpemque repulsam, §1.1.44quanto devites animi capitisque labore; §1.1.45impiger extremos curris mercator ad Indos, §1.1.46per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignis: §1.1.47ne cures-ea, quae stulte miraris et optas, §1.1.48discere et audire et meliori credere non vis?
You see with how much labor of mind and body you avoid what you believe to be the greatest evils, a small fortune and a shameful defeat; an active merchant, you run to the farthest Indies, fleeing poverty through the sea, through rocks, through fires: that you may not care for those things which you foolishly admire and wish for, do you not wish to learn and hear and trust a better man?
§1.1.49quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax §1.1.50magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cui spes, §1.1.51cui sit condicio dulcis sine pulvere palmae?
What pugilist who fights around villages and crossroads would despise being crowned at the great Olympia, if he had the hope and the sweet prospect of winning the palm without dust?
§1.1.52Vilius argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum.
Silver is cheaper than gold, gold than virtues.