May it be granted to you to touch the goal of life without stumbling, you who read this work of ours not as an enemy.
And would that my prayers could have power for you, which, on my own behalf, did not touch the harsh gods!
As long as you are prosperous, you will count many friends: if the times become cloudy, you will be alone.
You see how the doves come to white roofs, while a dirty tower receives no birds.
Ants never make their way to empty granaries: no friend will go to lost wealth.
§1.9.11utque comes radios per solis euntibus umbra est, §1.9.12cum latet hic pressus nubibus, illa fugit, §1.9.13mobile sic sequitur Fortunae lumina vulgus: §1.9.14quae simul inducta nocte teguntur, abit.
And as a shadow is a companion to those who walk through the rays of the sun, but flees when the sun lies hidden, pressed by clouds, so the fickle crowd follows the lights of Fortune: which, as soon as they are covered by the onset of night, they depart.
I pray that these things may always be able to seem false to you; yet they must be confessed to be true by my own fate.
§1.9.17dum stetimus, turbae quantum satis esset, habebat §1.9.18nota quidem, sed non ambitiosa domus, §1.9.19at simul impulsa est, omnes timuere ruinam, §1.9.20cautaque communi terga dedere fugae.
While I stood firm, my house had as much of a crowd as was sufficient, a house well-known indeed, but not ostentatious; but as soon as it was shaken, everyone feared its ruin, and in cautious, common flight turned their backs.
§1.9.21saeva neque admiror metuunt si fulmina, quorum §1.9.22ignibus adflari proxima quaeque solent, §1.9.23sed tamen in duris remanentem rebus amicum §1.9.24quamlibet inviso Caesar in hoste probat,
Nor am I surprised if they fear the savage thunderbolts, by whose fires all the nearest things are wont to be blasted; but yet, a friend who remains in hard times Caesar approves, even in an enemy however hated.
§1.9.25nec solet irasci—neque enim moderatior alter— §1.9.26cum quis in adversis, siquid amavit, amat.
Nor is he wont to be angry—for there is no other more moderate than he— when someone, in adversity, loves what he once loved.
After he learned of the companion of Argive Orestes, Thoas himself is said to have approved of Pylades.
The faith which the son of Actor always had toward great Achilles was wont to be praised by the mouth of Hector.
Because faithful Theseus went to the shades below as a companion to his friend, they say the Tartarean god felt pain.
When the faith of Euryalus and Nisus was reported to you, Phrygius, it is believable that your cheeks grew wet with tears.
§1.9.35est etiam miseris pietas, et in hoste probatur, §1.9.36ei mihi, quam paucos haec mea dicta movent!
There is loyalty even for the wretched, and it is approved in an enemy; alas for me, how few these words of mine move!
§1.9.37is status, haec rerum nunc est fortuna mearum, §1.9.38debeat ut lacrimis nullus adesse modus, §1.9.39at mea sunt, proprio quamvis maestissima casu, §1.9.40pectora processu facta serena tuo.
This is the state, this is now the fortune of my affairs, that no limit ought to be present to my tears; but my heart, though most sorrowful because of its own misfortune, has been made serene by your success.
§1.9.41hoc eventurum iam tum, carissime, vidi, §1.9.42ferret adhuc istam cum minus aura ratem, §1.9.43sive aliquod morum seu vitae labe carentis §1.9.44est pretium, nemo pluris emendus erat: §1.9.45sive per ingenuas aliquis caput extulit artes— §1.9.46quaelibet eloquio fit bona causa tuo.
I saw that this would happen even then, dearest friend, when the breeze was still carrying that ship of yours less; Whether there is any value in character, or in a life free from stain, no one was to be valued more highly; or if anyone has raised his head through noble arts— any cause whatever becomes good through your eloquence.
§1.9.47his ego commotus dixi tibi protinus ipsi §1.9.48scaena manet dotes grandis, amice, tuas. §1.9.49haec mihi non ovium fibrae tonitrusve sinistri, §1.9.50linguave servatae pennave dixit avis: §1.9.51augurium ratio est et coniectura futuri: §1.9.52hac divinavi notitiamque tuli.
Moved by these things, I said straightway to you yourself: "A grand stage awaits your talents, my friend." These things to me neither the fibers of sheep nor thunder on the left, nor the tongue or wing of an observed bird told; my augury is reason and the conjecture of the future: by this I divined and brought back knowledge.
And since this is true, with all my heart to you and to myself I offer congratulations, that your talent has not lain hidden.
§1.9.55at nostrum tenebris utinam latuisset in imis!
But would that ours had lain hidden in the deepest darkness!
§1.9.56expediit studio lumen abesse meo.
It was expedient for light to be absent from my pursuit.
And just as severe arts profit you, eloquent one, so arts unlike those have harmed me.
§1.9.59vita tamen tibi nota mea est.
Yet my life is known to you.
scis artibus illis §1.9.60auctoris mores abstinuisse sui.
You know that from those arts the character of its author kept itself apart.
§1.9.61scis vetus hoc iuveni lusum mihi carmen, et istos §1.9.62ut non laudandos, sic tamen esse iocos.
You know that this old song was played by me in my youth, and that those jests, though not to be praised, are yet but jests.
Therefore, just as I think my crimes can be defended by no false coloring, so I think they can be excused.