§14.166curta fides patriae;
A meager fidelity to the country!
saturabat glaebula talis §14.167patrem ipsum turbamque casae, qua feta iacebat §14.168uxor et infantes ludebant quattuor, unus §14.169vernula, tres domini; sed magnis fratribus horum §14.170a scrobe vel sulco redeuntibus altera cena §14.171amplior et grandes fumabant pultibus ollae: §14.172nunc modus hic agri nostro non sufficit horto. §14.173Inde fere scelerum causae, nec plura venena §14.174miscuit aut ferro grassatur saepius ullum §14.175humanae mentis vitium quam saeva cupido §14.176inmodici census, nam dives qui fieri vult, §14.177et cito vult fieri;
Yet such a little clod of earth used to satisfy the father himself and the crowd of the cottage, where the pregnant wife lay, and four infants were playing, one a little slave, three were masters; but for the big brothers of these, returning from the ditch or furrow, another dinner, more bountiful, and huge pots were smoking with porridge; now this measure of land does not suffice for our garden. From there come almost all causes of crimes; nor has any other vice of the human mind mixed more poisons or attacked more often with the sword than the fierce desire for an immoderate fortune; for he who wishes to become rich, also wishes to become so quickly.
sed quae reverentia legum, §14.178quis metus aut pudor est umquam properantis avari? §14.179‘vivite contenti casulis et collibus istis, §14.180o pueri,’ Marsus dicebat et Hernicus olim §14.181Vestinusque senex; ‘panem quaeramus aratro, §14.182qui satis est mensis;
But what reverence for the laws, what fear or shame is there ever for an avaricious man in a hurry? 'Live content with those little cottages and hills, o boys,' the Marsian and the Hernician used to say of old, and the old Vestinian; 'let us seek bread with the plow, which is sufficient for our tables.
laudant hoc numina ruris, §14.183quorum ope et auxilio gratae post munus aristae §14.184contingunt homini veteris fastidia quercus. §14.185nil vetitum fecisse volet quem non pudet alto §14.186per glaciem perone tegi, qui summovet Euros §14.187pellibus inversis: peregrina ignotaque nobis §14.188ad scelus atque nefas, quaecumque est, purpura ducit. ’ §14.189Haec illi veteres praecepta minoribus, at nunc §14.190post finem autumni media de nocte supinum §14.191clamosus iuvenem pater excitat: ‘accipe ceras, §14.192scribe, puer, vigila, causas age, perlege rubras §14.193maiorum leges, aut vitem posce libello, §14.194sed caput intactum buxo naresque pilosas §14.195adnotet et grandes miretur Laelius alas, §14.196dirue Maurorum attegias, castella Brigantum, §14.197ut locupletem aquilam tibi sexagesimus annus §14.198adferat, aut longos castrorum ferre labores §14.199si piget et trepidum solvunt tibi cornua ventrem §14.200cum lituis audita, pares quod vendere possis §14.201pluris dimidio, nec te fastidia mercis §14.202ullius subeant ablegandae Tiberim ultra, §14.203neu credas ponendum aliquid discriminis inter §14.204unguenta et corium; lucri bonus est odor ex re §14.205qualibet, illa tuo sententia semper in ore §14.206versetur dis atque ipso Iove digna poeta: §14.207"unde habeas quaerit nemo, sed oportet habere. " §14.208hoc monstrant vetulae pueris repentibus assae, §14.209hoc discunt omnes ante alpha et beta puellae. ’ §14.210Talibus instantem monitis quemcumque parentem §14.211sic possem adfari: ‘dic, o vanissime, quis te §14.212festinare iubet? meliorem praesto magistro §14.213discipulum, securus abi: vincens ut Aiax §14.214praeteriit Telamonem, ut Pelea vicit Achilles, §14.215parcendum est teneris, nondum implevere medullas
The divinities of the countryside praise this, by whose help and aid, after the gift of the welcome ear of grain, loathing of the ancient oak comes to man. He will wish to have done nothing forbidden who is not ashamed to be covered against the cold ice with a high boot, who keeps off the East winds with reversed skins: a foreign purple, unknown to us, leads to crime and wickedness, whatever it may be.' These were the precepts those ancients gave to their descendants; but now, after the end of autumn, from the middle of the night, a clamorous father awakens his sleeping son: 'Take the wax tablets, write, boy, watch, plead causes, read through the red laws of our ancestors, or ask for the vine-staff by a petition; but let Laelius take note of your head untouched by boxwood and hairy nostrils, and let him admire your broad shoulders; destroy the huts of the Moors, the castles of the Brigantes, so that your sixtieth year may bring you the wealthy eagle; or, if you shrink from bearing the long labors of the camp, and the horns heard along with the trumpets loosen your trembling belly, prepare what you can sell for more than half again as much; nor let loathing of any merchandise creep over you that has to be banished beyond the Tiber, nor believe that any distinction is to be made between perfumes and hide; the smell of gain is good from any source whatsoever; let that maxim be always in your mouth, worthy of the gods and of Jove himself, from the poet: "No one asks where you get it from, but you must have it." This is what the dry nurses show to crawling boys, this is what all girls learn before their alpha and beta.' To any parent pressing such admonitions, I could speak thus: 'Say, o most foolish man, who commands you to hasten? I guarantee a disciple better than his master; depart secure: just as Ajax, surpassing, excelled Telamon, as Achilles conquered Peleus. One must spare the tender ones; mature evils of wickedness have not yet filled their marrow.
§14.216maturae mala nequitiae, cum pectere barbam §14.217coeperit et longae mucronem admittere cultri, §14.218falsus erit testis, vendet periuria summa §14.219exigua et Cereris tangens aramque pedemque,
When he begins to comb his beard and to admit the edge of a long razor, he will be a false witness, he will sell perjury for a very small sum, touching both the altar and the foot of Ceres.
§14.220elatam iam crede nurum, si limina vestra §14.221mortifera cum dote subit, quibus illa premetur §14.222per somnum digitis! nam quae terraque marique
If your daughter-in-law enters your threshold with a deadly dowry, believe her already carried out for burial, by whose fingers she will be strangled in her sleep!
For that which you think, by land and sea, is to be acquired, a shorter way will bring to him; for there is no labor in a great crime.
“haec ego numquam §14.225mandavi,” dices olim,
"nec talia suasi. " §14.226mentis causa malae tamen est et origo penes te. §14.227nam quisquis magni census praecepit amorem §14.228et laevo monitu pueros producit avaros §14.230dat libertatem et totas effundit habenas §14.231curriculo, quem si revoces, subsistere nescit §14.232et te contempto rapitur metisque relictis. §14.233nemo satis credit tantum delinquere quantum §14.234permittas: adeo indulgent sibi latius ipsi. §14.235Cum dicis iuveni stultum qui donet amico, §14.236qui paupertatem levet attollatque propinqui, §14.237et spoliare doces et circumscribere et omni §14.238crimine divitias adquirere; quarum amor in te §14.239quantus erat patriae Deciorum in pectore, quantum §14.240dilexit Thebas, si Graecia vera, Menoeceus, §14.241in quorum sulcis legiones dentibus anguis §14.242cum clipeis nascuntur et horrida bella capessunt §14.243continuo, tamquam et tubicen surrexerit una. §14.244ergo ignem, cuius scintillas ipse dedisti, §14.245flagrantem late et rapientem cuncta videbis. §14.246nec tibi parcetur misero, trepidumque magistrum §14.247in cavea magno fremitu leo tollet alumnus, §14.248nota mathematicis genesis tua, sed grave tardas
'I never commanded these things,' you will say one day, 'nor did I persuade such things.' Yet the cause and origin of the evil mind is in your hands. For whoever teaches the love of a great fortune and trains avaricious boys with sinister admonition, "[lacuna]" gives freedom and releases all the reins to the chariot, which, if you recall it, does not know how to stop, and, despising you, is swept away, leaving the goals behind. No one thinks it enough to transgress only as much as you permit; so much more widely do they indulge themselves. When you say to the youth that he is foolish who gives to a friend, who lightens and raises up the poverty of a relative, you are teaching him both to plunder and to cheat, and by every crime to acquire riches; the love of which in you is as great as was the love of country in the heart of the Decii, as much as Menoeceus loved Thebes, if Greece is true, in whose furrows legions with shields are born from the serpent's teeth and engage in horrific wars immediately, just as if a trumpeter had also risen up along with them. Therefore, the fire whose sparks you yourself gave, you will see blazing widely and sweeping away everything. Nor will you be spared, miserable man; and the trembling master the lion disciple with a great roar will destroy in his cage, your horoscope is known to the astrologers, but it is a heavy thing to wait for slow...