Humanitext Reader

Ovid · The Loves §1.11.1-1.11.28

Instructions to the Maid Nape to Deliver a Love Letter

Passage 13 of 53 · Latin

Summary

The poet addresses Corinna's maid Nape, asking her to deliver a love letter written on wax tablets promptly and instructing her to watch Corinna's reaction and request a full reply.

§1.11.1Colligere incertos et in ordine ponere crines §1.11.2Docta neque ancillas inter habenda Nape, §1.11.3Inque ministeriis furtivae cognita noctis §1.11.4Utilis et dandis ingeniosa notis §1.11.5Saepe venire ad me dubitantem hortata Corinnam, §1.11.6Saepe laboranti fida reperta mihi — §1.11.7Accipe et ad dominam peraratas mane tabellas §1.11.8Perfer et obstantes sedula pelle moras!
To gather straying hair and arrange it in order skilled, and not to be numbered among ordinary maidservants, Nape, and known in the service of the secret night as useful, and clever in giving signals, who often urged Corinna to come to me when she was hesitating, and who was often found faithful to me in my trouble — receive this morning the inscribed tablets and to your mistress carry them, and diligently banish all standing delays!
§1.11.9Nec silicum venae nec durum in pectore ferrum, §1.11.10Nec tibi simplicitas ordine maior adest.
You have no veins of flint nor hard iron in your breast, nor do you possess a simplicity greater than your class.
§1.11.11Credibile est et te sensisse Cupidinis arcus — §1.11.12In me militiae signa tuere tuae!
It is believable that you too have felt Cupid's bows — defend the standards of your own warfare in my cause!
§1.11.13Si quaeret quid agam, spe noctis vivere dices; §1.11.14Cetera fert blanda cera notata manu.
If she asks how I am doing, you will say that I live on the hope of the night; the rest is carried by the wax marked by my coaxing hand.
§1.11.15Dum loquor, hora fugit.
While I speak, the hour flies.
vacuae bene redde tabellas, §1.11.16Verum continuo fac tamen illa legat.
Deliver the tablets safely when she is at leisure, but make sure that she reads them immediately.
§1.11.17Adspicias oculos mando frontemque legentis; §1.11.18Et tacito vultu scire futura licet.
I command you to watch her eyes and her brow as she reads; even from a silent face one may know the future.
§1.11.19Nec mora, perlectis rescribat multa, iubeto; §1.11.20Odi, cum late splendida cera vacat.
And without delay, bid her write back much when she has read it through; I hate it when the bright wax is widely empty.
§1.11.21Conprimat ordinibus versus, oculosque moretur §1.11.22Margine in extremo littera rasa meos.
Let her compress the lines close together, and let the letters traced at the very margin delay my eyes.
§1.11.23Quid digitos opus est graphio lassare tenendo?
What need is there to tire her fingers by holding the stylus?
§1.11.24Hoc habeat scriptum tota tabella 'veni!' §1.11.25Non ego victrices lauro redimire tabellas §1.11.26Nec Veneris media ponere in aede morer.
Let the whole tablet have just this written: 'Come!' I would not hesitate to crown the victorious tablets with laurel, nor to place them in the midst of Venus's temple.
§1.11.27Subscribam: 'Veneri fidas sibi Naso ministras §1.11.28Dedicat, at nuper vile fuistis acer. '
I will write beneath: 'To Venus, Naso dedicates these handmaids faithful to him, though recently you were but cheap maple wood.'

Notes

  1. 1.11.2habenda — Gerundive (future passive participle) in the nominative feminine singular, agreeing with Nape (addressed in the second person). Together with neque... inter habenda, it means 'not to be counted among ordinary maidservants,' highlighting her exceptional capability.
  2. 1.11.4dandis ... notis — Dative or ablative of the gerundive construction, depending on the adjective ingeniosa ('clever, skilled at/in'). Here, notae refers to secret signals or messages.
  3. 1.11.10ordine maior — The noun ordine is an ablative of comparison (or specification) modifying the comparative maior ('greater'). The phrase ordine maior means 'greater than ordinary measure' or 'extraordinary,' qualifying the subject simplicitas ('simplicity, ignorance'). It implies a complimentary double negative: 'you are not simple-minded.'
  4. 1.11.12tuere — Present imperative second-person singular of the deponent verb tueor, tueri (the form ending in -re instead of -ris). It has an active meaning: 'defend, watch over.' Combined with in me... tuae, it means 'in my interest, defend the standards of your own warfare.'
  5. 1.11.28vile fuistis acer — The main verb fuistis is second-person plural, referring to the plural tablets (tabellas, in apposition with ministras in line 27). However, its complement vile acer ('cheap maple') is in the singular. This shift in number occurs because the multiple tablets are conceived collectively as originating from a single piece of maple wood.

Cite this passage

Ovid, The Loves §1.11.1-1.11.28. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.11.1-1.11.28

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