§1.8.1In caput alta suum labentur ab aequore retro §1.8.2flumina, conversis Solque recurret equis: §1.8.3terra feret stellas, caelum findetur aratro, §1.8.4unda dabit flammas, et dabit ignis aquas, §1.8.5omnia naturae praepostera legibus ibunt, §1.8.6parsque suum mundi nulla tenebit iter, §1.8.7omnia iam fient, fieri quae posse negabam, §1.8.8et nihil est, de quo non sit habenda fides.
High rivers will glide backward from the sea to their source, and the Sun will run back with his horses turned around: earth will bear stars, the sky will be cleft by the plow, water will give flames, and fire will give water, all things will go contrary to the laws of nature, and no part of the universe will keep its own path, all things will now happen which I used to deny could happen, and there is nothing about which trust must not be held.
I prophesy these things because I have been deceived by him whom I thought would bring help to wretched me.
§1.8.11tantane te, fallax, cepere oblivia nostri, §1.8.12afflictumque fuit tantus adire timor, §1.8.13ut neque respiceres nec solarere iacentem, §1.8.14dure, nec exequias prosequerere meas?
Has such great forgetfulness of us seized you, deceiver, and was there such great fear to approach the afflicted one, that you neither looked back at nor consoled him as he lay prostrate, cruel man, nor followed my funeral rites?
Does that sacred and venerable name of friendship lie in reality as a cheap thing under your feet?
§1.8.17quid fuit, ingenti prostratum mole sodalem §1.8.18visere et adloquiis parte levare tuis, §1.8.19inque meos si non lacrimam demittere casus, §1.8.20pauca tamen ficto verba dolore pati, §1.8.21idque, quod ignoti faciunt, vel dicere saltem, §1.8.22et vocem populi publicaque ora sequi,— §1.8.23denique lugubres vultus numquamque videndos §1.8.24cernere supremo dum licuitque die, §1.8.25dicendumque semel toto non amplius aevo §1.8.26accipere, et parili reddere voce
vale
?
What did it cost to visit a companion prostrated by a huge mass and to lighten him in part with your consolations, and if not to drop a tear upon my misfortunes, yet to suffer a few words of feigned grief, and at least to say that which strangers do, and to follow the voice of the people and the public expression,— finally, to look upon the mournful countenance, never to be seen again, while it was permitted on the final day, and to receive and, with an equal voice, to return "farewell," to be said once and no more in a whole lifetime?
But others did this, joined to me by no bond, and gave tears as signs of their mind.
What, if I had not been joined to you by daily companionship, by powerful reasons, and by the love of a long time?
What, if you did not know so many of my plays and so many of my serious matters, and I myself did not know so many of your plays and serious matters?
What, if you had been known to me only at Rome, you who were so often admitted into every kind of place?
§1.8.35cunctane in aequoreos abierunt irrita ventos?
Have all things gone in vain into the sea winds?
§1.8.36cunctane Lethaeis mersa feruntur aquis?
Are all things carried away merged in the waters of Lethe?
§1.8.37non ego te genitum placida reor §1.8.38urbe Quirini, urbe meo quae iam non adeunda pede est, haec habet ora sinistri, §1.8.39sed scopulis, Ponti quos haec habet §1.8.40inque feris Scythiae Sarmaticisque iugis: §1.8.41et tua sunt silicis circum praecordia venae, §1.8.42et rigidum ferri semina pectus habet, §1.8.43quaeque tibi quondam tenero ducenda palato §1.8.44plena dedit nutrix ubera, tigris erat: §1.8.45aut mala nostra minus quam nunc aliena putares, §1.8.46duritiaeque mihi non agerere reus.
I do not think that you were born in the peaceful city of Quirinus, a city not to be approached now by my foot, but on the rocks which this coast of the left Pontus has, and on the wild ridges of Scythia and Sarmatia: and there are veins of flint around your chest, and your stiff breast has the seeds of iron, and the nurse who once gave you full breasts to be sucked by your tender palate was a tiger: otherwise you would think our ills less foreign than now, and you would not be accused by me of cruelty.
§1.8.47sed quoniam accedit fatalibus hoc quoque damnis, §1.8.48ut careant numeris tempora prima suis, §1.8.49effice, peccati ne sim memor huius, et illo §1.8.50officium laudem, quo queror, ore tuum.
But since this also is added to our fatal losses, that our first times lack their proper numbers, bring it about that I may not be mindful of this sin, and with that mouth with which I complain, let me praise your kindness.