§1.1.55prodocet, haec recinunt iuvenes dictata senesque, §1.1.56laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto.
teaches, and young and old repeat these dictations, with a satchel and writing tablet slung over their left arm.
§1.1.57est animus tibi, sunt mores, est lingua fidesque, §1.1.58sed quadringentis sex septem milia desunt; §1.1.59plebs eris.
You have mind, you have character, you have tongue and loyalty, but six or seven thousand sesterces are lacking to the four hundred thousand; you will be a plebeian.
at pueri ludentes,
rex eris,
aiunt, §1.1.60si recte facies. hic murus aeneus esto, §1.1.61nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.
Yet children at play say: 'You shall be king,' 'if you act rightly.' Let this be a bronze wall: to be conscious of no guilt, to turn pale at no crime.
§1.1.62Roscia, dic sodes, melior lex an puerorum est §1.1.63nenia, quae regnum recte facientibus offert, §1.1.64et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis?
Tell me, please, is the Roscian law better, or the children's ditty, which offers the kingdom to those who act rightly, sung of old by manly Curius and Camillus?
§1.1.65isne tibi melius suadet, qui “rem facias, rem, §1.1.66si possis, recte, si non, quocumque modo, rem,” §1.1.67ut propius spectes lacrimosa poemata Pupi, §1.1.68an qui Fortunae te responsare superbae §1.1.69liberum et erectum praesens hortatur et aptat?
Does he advise you better who says: 'Make money, money, if you can, honestly; if not, in any way you can, money,' that you may view the tearful plays of Pupius from a closer seat, or he who, present by your side, exhorts and equips you to stand up free and erect against proud Fortune?
§1.1.70Quod si me populus Romanus forte roget, cur §1.1.71non ut porticibus sic iudiciis fruar isdem, §1.1.72nec sequar aut fugiam quae diligit ipse vel odit, §1.1.73olim quod volpes aegroto cauta leoni §1.1.74respondit, referam: “quia me vestigia terrent, §1.1.75omnia te adversum spectantia, nulla retrorsum. ” §1.1.76belua multorum es capitum, nam quid sequar aut quem?
But if the Roman people should perchance ask me why I do not enjoy the same judgments as I do the same porticoes, nor follow or flee what they themselves love or hate, I shall reply as the cautious fox once replied to the sick lion: 'Because the footsteps terrify me, all looking toward you, and none looking back.' You are a beast of many heads! For what or whom should I follow?
§1.1.77pars hominum gestit conducere publica; sunt qui §1.1.78frustis et pomis viduas venentur avaras §1.1.79excipiantque senes, quos in vivaria mittant; §1.1.80multis occulto crescit res faenore.
One part of men longs to farm the public revenues; some there are who hunt covetous widows with morsels and fruits, and catch old men to send into their preserves; with many, wealth grows by hidden usury.
Verum §1.1.81esto aliis alios rebus studiisque teneri: §1.1.82idem eadem possunt horam durare probantes?
But grant that different people are held by different pursuits and studies: can the same persons persist for an hour in approving the same things?
§1.1.83nullus in orbe sinus Bais praelucet amoenis, §1.1.84si dixit dives, lacus et mare sentit amorem §1.1.85festinantis eri; cui si vitiosa libido §1.1.86fecerit auspicium, “cras ferramenta Teanum §1.1.87tolletis, fabri!” lectus genialis in aula est:
'No bay in the world outshines lovely Baiae,' if the rich man has said, the lake and the sea feel the passion of the hurrying master; to whom if a morbid whim gives the omen, 'Tomorrow, builders, you will carry your tools to Teanum!' Is the genial bed in his hall?
§1.1.88nil ait esse prius, melius nil caelibe vita; §1.1.89si non est, iurat bene solis esse maritis.
he says nothing is prior, nothing better than a single life; if it is not, he swears that only husbands are well off.
§1.1.90quo teneant voltus mutantem Protea nodo?
With what knot can I hold this Proteus who changes his face?
§1.1.91quid pauper? ride: mutat cenacula, lectos, §1.1.92balnea, tonsores, conducto navigio aeque §1.1.93nauseat ac locuples, quem ducit priva triremis.
What of the poor man? Laugh! He changes his attics, his beds, baths, barbers; in a hired boat he is just as seasick as the rich man who sails in his private trireme.
§1.1.94Si curatus inaequali tonsore capillos §1.1.95occurri, rides; si forte subucula pexae §1.1.96trita subest tunicae, vel si toga dissidet impar,
If I meet you with my hair cut by an uneven barber, you laugh; if perchance a worn undergarment is under a nap-worn tunic, or if my toga sits unevenly and askew, you laugh.
§1.1.97rides: quid, mea cum pugnat sententia secum, §1.1.98quod petiit spernit, repetit quod nuper omisit, §1.1.99aestuat et vitae disconvenit ordine toto, §1.1.100diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis?
What when my judgment fights with itself, scorns what it sought, seeks again what it lately let go, fluctuates and is out of joint with the whole order of life, tears down, builds up, changes square things for round?
§1.1.101insanire putas sollemnia me neque rides, §1.1.102nec medici credis nec curatoris egere §1.1.103a praetore dati, rerum tutela mearum §1.1.104cum sis et prave sectum stomacheris ob unguem §1.1.105de te pendentis, te respicientis amici.
You think my madness is of the usual sort, and you do not laugh, nor do you believe I need a doctor or a guardian appointed by the praetor, though you are the protector of my affairs and get angry over an ill-pared nail of a friend who depends on you and looks up to you.
§1.1.106Ad summam: sapiens uno minor est Iove, dives, §1.1.107liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex denique regum, §1.1.108praecipue sanus, nisi cum pituita molesta est.
To sum up: the wise man is lesser than Jove alone, rich, free, honored, handsome, and lastly, king of kings, above all sound, except when a troublesome cold vexes him.