§10.295accipere atque suum Rutilae dare.
to accept [the hump] and to give her own [beauty] to Rutila.
filius autem §10.296corporis egregii miseros trepidosque parentes §10.297semper habet; rara est adeo concordia formae §10.298atque pudicitiae, sanctos licet horrida mores §10.299tradiderit domus ac veteres imitata Sabinos, §10.300praeterea castum ingenium vultumque modesto §10.301sanguine ferventem tribuat natura benigna §10.302larga manu (quid enim puero conferre potest plus §10.303custode et cum natura potentior omni?),
But a son of excellent body always keeps his parents wretched and anxious; so rare is the agreement of beauty and chastity, even though a strict house has handed down pure morals and imitated the ancient Sabines, and besides, a kind nature has bestowed with a generous hand a chaste character and a face glowing with modest blood (for what more can nature, more powerful than any guardian, confer on a boy?).
§10.304non licet esse viro; nam prodiga corruptoris §10.305improbitas ipsos audet temptare parentes:
Yet he is not allowed to become a man; for the lavish wickedness of the corruptor dares to tempt the parents themselves: so great is the confidence in gifts.
§10.306tanta in muneribus fiducia, nullus ephebum §10.307deformem saeva castravit in arce tyrannus, §10.308nec praetextatum rapuit Nero loripedem nec §10.309strumosum atque utero pariter gibboque tumentem.
No tyrant in his cruel citadel has ever castrated an ugly youth, nor did Nero carry off a club-footed boy clad in the praetexta, nor one with a goiter, or swollen alike in belly and hump.
§10.310I nunc et iuvenis specie laetare tui, quem
Go now and rejoice in the beauty of your youth, whom greater dangers await.
§10.311maiora expectant discrimina, fiet adulter §10.312publicus et poenas metuet quascumque maritis §10.313lex irae debet, nec erit felicior astro §10.314Martis, ut in laqueos numquam incidat, exigit autem
He will become a public adulterer and will fear whatever punishments the law owes to the wrath of husbands, nor will he be more fortunate than the star of Mars, so as never to fall into traps.
§10.315interdum ille dolor plus quam lex ulla dolori §10.316concessit: necat hic ferro, secat ille cruentis §10.317verberibus, quosdam moechos et mugilis intrat,
But sometimes that pain demands more than any law has conceded to pain: this one kills with the sword, that one cuts with bloody whips, and the mullet enters some adulterers.
§10.318sed tuus Endymion dilectae fiet adulter §10.319matronae, mox cum dederit Servilia nummos, §10.320fiet et illius quam non amat, exuet omnem §10.321corporis ornatum: quid enim ulla negaverit udis §10.322inguinibus, sive est haec Oppia sive Catulla?
But your Endymion will become the adulterer of a beloved matron; soon, when Servilia has given money, he will become also the lover of her whom he does not love, and will strip off every ornament of his body: for what will any woman deny to wet loins, whether she be Oppia or Catulla?
§10.323deterior totos habet illic femina mores.
In that matter, the worst woman has her whole character.
§10.324sed casto quid forma nocet?
quid profuit immo §10.325Hippolyto grave propositum, quid Bellorophonti?
"But how does beauty harm the chaste?" Rather, how did his solemn resolve profit Hippolytus, or Bellerophon?
§10.326erubuit nempe haec ceu fastidita, repulsa, §10.327nec Stheneboea minus quam Cressa, excanduit, et se
To be sure, she blushed as if rejected and scorned, nor did Stheneboea rage less than the Cretan woman, and both excited themselves.
A woman is most savage when shame adds spurs to hatred.
Elige quidnam §10.330suadendum esse putes cui nubere Caesaris uxor
Choose now what you think should be advised to him whom the wife of Caesar intends to marry.
§10.331destinat? optimus hic et formosissimus idem §10.332gentis patriciae rapitur miser extinguendus §10.333Messalinae oculis; dudum sedet illa parato §10.334flammeolo Tyriusque palam genialis in hortis §10.335sternitur et ritu decies centena dabuntur §10.336antiquo, veniet cum signatoribus auspex.
This man, the best and most handsome of the patrician race, is dragged away, wretched, to be destroyed by the eyes of Messalina; she has long been sitting with her prepared bridal veil, and the Tyrian marriage bed is openly spread in the gardens, and a million sesterces will be given according to the ancient custom, and the augur will come with the signers.
§10.337haec tu secreta et paucis commissa putabas?
Did you think these things were secret and entrusted to a few?
§10.338non nisi legitime vult nubere, quid placeat dic:
She wishes to marry only lawfully.
§10.339ni parere velis, pereundum erit ante lucernas; §10.340si scelus admittas, dabitur mora parvula, dum res §10.341nota urbi et populo contingat principis aurem,
Say what pleases you: unless you wish to obey, you must perish before the lamps are lit; if you commit the crime, a tiny delay will be given, until the matter, known to the city and the people, reaches the ear of the prince.
§10.342dedecus ille domus sciet ultimus;
He will be the last to know the disgrace of his house.
interea tu §10.343obsequere imperio, si tanti vita dierum
Meanwhile, obey her command, if a life of a few days is of such value.
§10.344paucorum, quidquid levius meliusve putaris, §10.345praebenda est gladio pulchra haec et candida cervix.
Whichever you think lighter or better, this beautiful and white neck must be offered to the sword.
§10.346Nil ergo optabunt homines? si consilium vis, §10.347permittes ipsis expendere numinibus quid §10.348conveniat nobis rebusque sit utile nostris, §10.349nam pro iucundis aptissima quaeque dabunt di: §10.350carior est illis homo quam sibi.
"Shall men therefore wish for nothing?" If you want counsel, you will permit the divinities themselves to weigh what is suitable for us and useful for our affairs, for instead of pleasing things, the gods will give what is most fitting: man is dearer to them than to himself.
nos animorum §10.351inpulsu et caeca magnaque cupidine ducti §10.352coniugium petimus partumque uxoris; at illis §10.353notum qui pueri qualisque futura sit uxor.
Led by the impulse of our minds and by blind and great desire, we seek marriage and the offspring of our wife; but to them it is known what the children and what kind of wife she will be.
§10.354ut tamen et poscas aliquid voveasque sacellis §10.355exta et candiduli divina tomacula porci, §10.356orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano;
Yet, so that you may ask for something and vow in the chapels the entrails and the sacred sausages of a white piglet, you must pray that there be a sound mind in a sound body.
§10.357fortem posce animum mortis terrore carentem, §10.358qui spatium vitae extremum inter munera ponat §10.359naturae, qui ferre queat quoscumque labores, §10.360nesciat irasci, cupiat nihil et potiores §10.361Herculis aerumnas credat saevosque labores §10.362et venere et cenis et pluma Sardanapalli.
Ask for a brave mind that lacks the fear of death, which counts the extreme space of life among the gifts of nature, which can bear any labors, knows not how to be angry, desires nothing, and believes the hardships and cruel labors of Hercules are better than the lust, dinners, and down-feather bed of Sardanapallus.