§14.249expectare colus; morieris stamine nondum
It is a heavy thing to wait for the spindles; you will die while your thread is not yet broken.
§14.250abrupto, iam nunc obstas et vota moraris, §14.251iam torquet iuvenem longa et cervina senectus,
Even now you stand in the way and delay his wishes; already a long and stag-like old age torments the youth.
§14.252ocius Archigenen quaere atque eme quod Mithridates §14.253composuit; si vis aliam decerpere ficum §14.254atque alias tractare rosas, medicamen habendum est, §14.255sorbere ante cibum quod debeat et pater et rex. ’ §14.256Monstro voluptatem egregiam, cui nulla theatra, §14.257nulla aequare queas praetoris pulpita lauti, §14.258si spectes quanto capitis discrimine constent §14.259incrementa domus, aerata multus in arca §14.260fiscus et ad vigilem ponendi Castora nummi, §14.261ex quo Mars Vltor galeam quoque perdidit et res §14.262non potuit servare suas.
Quickly seek Archigenes and buy what Mithridates compounded; if you wish to pluck another fig and handle other roses, an antidote must be had, which both a father and a king ought to swallow before food.' I point out an extraordinary pleasure, with which you can compare no theaters, no stages of a lavish praetor, if you observe at what great risk to life the increases of a household are bought: much money in a bronze-bound chest and coins to be deposited at the temple of watchful Castor, ever since Mars the Avenger lost even his helmet and could not preserve his own property.
ergo omnia Florae §14.263et Cereris licet et Cybeles aulaea relinquas: §14.264tanto maiores humana negotia ludi.
Therefore you may leave all the curtains of Flora, Ceres, and Cybele: human affairs are by so much the greater games.
§14.265an magis oblectant animum iactata petauro §14.266corpora quique solet rectum descendere funem, §14.267quam tu, Corycia semper qui puppe moraris, §14.268atque habitas, Coro semper tollendus et Austro, §14.269perditus ac vilis sacci mercator olentis, §14.270qui gaudes pingue antiquae de litore Cretae §14.271passum et municipes Iovis advexisse lagonas?
Or do bodies tossed from a springboard, and he who is accustomed to slide down the straight rope, delight the mind more than you, who always linger on a Corycian ship, and live there, ever to be tossed by the Northwest wind and the South wind, a desperate and cheap merchant of smelly sacks, who rejoice to have brought sweet raisin wine from the shore of ancient Crete and jars that are fellow-citizens of Jove?
§14.272hic tamen ancipiti figens vestigia planta §14.273victum illa mercede parat, brumamque famemque §14.274illa reste cavet: tu propter mille talenta §14.275et centum villas temerarius, aspice portus
Yet he, planting his steps with uncertain sole, prepares his living by that reward, and fends off winter and hunger with that rope; you are reckless for the sake of a thousand talents and a hundred villas.
§14.276et plenum magnis trabibus mare: plus hominum es iam §14.277in pelago, veniet classis quocumque vocarit §14.278spes lucri, nec Carpathium Gaetulaque tantum §14.279aequora transiliet, sed longe Calpe relicta §14.280audiet Herculeo stridentem gurgite solem.
Look at the harbors and the sea full of great timbers: more of mankind is now on the deep; the fleet will come wherever the hope of gain calls, and it will not only leap across the Carpathian and Gaetulian seas, but leaving Calpe far behind, will hear the sun hissing in the Herculean gulf.
§14.281grande operae pretium est, ut tenso folle reverti §14.282inde domum possis tumidaque superbus aluta. §14.283Oceani monstra et iuvenes vidisse marinos.
It is a great reward for labor, so that you may return home from there with a stretched purse and proud of your swollen leather bag, having seen the monsters of the Ocean and the young men of the sea!
§14.284Non unus mentes agitat furor; ille sororis §14.285in manibus vultu Eumenidum ferretur et igni, §14.286hic bove percusso mugire Agamemnona credit
Not only one madness agitates minds; that man in his sister's arms is terrified by the faces and the fire of the Eumenides; this man, having struck an ox, believes that Agamemnon or the Ithacan is bellowing.
§14.287aut Ithacum: parcat tunicis licet atque lacernis, §14.288curatoris eget qui navem mercibus implet §14.289ad summum latus et tabula distinguitur unda, §14.290cum sit causa mali tanti et discriminis huius §14.291concisum argentum in titulos faciesque minutas.
Although he may spare his tunics and cloaks, he needs a guardian who fills his ship with merchandise up to the top edge and is separated from the wave by a single plank, when the cause of such great evil and of this danger is silver cut into titles and tiny faces.
§14.292occurrunt nubes et fulgura:
solvite funem §14.293frumenti dominus clamat piperisve coempti, §14.294‘nil color hic caeli, nil fascia nigra minatur; §14.295aestivum tonat. ’ infelix hac forsitan ipsa §14.296nocte cadet fractis trabibus fluctuque premetur §14.297obrutus et zonam laeva morsuque tenebit,
Clouds and lightnings meet them: 'Loose the cable!' cries the owner of the bought-up grain or pepper; 'this color of the sky threatens nothing, that black band is nothing; it is a summer thunder.' Unhappy man, perhaps on this very night he will fall with broken timbers and be pressed down, overwhelmed by the wave, and will hold his money-belt with his left hand and his bite.
§14.298sed cuius votis modo non suffecerat aurum §14.299quod Tagus et rutila volvit Pactolus harena, §14.300frigida sufficient velantes inguina panni §14.301exiguusque cibus, mersa rate naufragus assem §14.302dum rogat et picta se tempestate tuetur.
But he for whose wishes just now the gold which Tagus and Pactolus rolls with its red sand did not suffice, will be satisfied with rags covering his cold loins and a tiny bit of food, while as a shipwrecked man with a sunken vessel he begs for an as and supports himself with a painted storm.
Things acquired by such great evils are kept with greater care and fear: wretched is the custody of a great fortune.
§14.305dispositis praedives amis vigilare cohortem §14.306servorum noctu Licinus iubet, attonitus pro §14.307electro signisque suis Phrygiaque columna §14.308atque ebore et lata testudine, dolia nudi
The ultra-rich Licinus orders a cohort of slaves to keep watch at night with buckets set in order, frantic for his amber, his statues, his Phrygian column, his ivory, and broad tortoiseshell.
§14.309non ardent cynici; si fregeris, altera fiet §14.310cras domus, atque eadem plumbo commissa manebit.
The tubs of the naked Cynic do not burn; if you break it, another house will be made tomorrow, or the same will remain mended with lead.
§14.311sensit Alexander, testa cum vidit in illa §14.312magnum habitatorem, quanto felicior hic qui §14.313nil cuperet quam qui totum sibi posceret orbem §14.314passurus gestis aequanda pericula rebus, nullum
Alexander realized, when he saw in that tub its great inhabitant, how much happier was this man who desired nothing than he who demanded the whole world for himself, destined to suffer dangers equal to his achievements.
You have no divine power, Fortune, if there be wisdom: it is we, we who make you a goddess.
Mensura tamen quae §14.317sufficiat census, siquis me consulat, edam: §14.318in quantum sitis atque fames et frigora poscunt, §14.319quantum, Epicure, tibi parvis suffecit in hortis, §14.320quantum Socratici ceperunt ante penates; §14.321numquam aliud natura, aliud sapientia dicit,
Yet if anyone should consult me, I will declare what measure of wealth is sufficient: as much as thirst and hunger and cold require; as much as sufficed for you, Epicurus, in your little garden; as much as the Socratic home contained before; Nature never says one thing, and wisdom another.
§14.322acribus exemplis videor te eludere? misce
Do I seem to mock you with harsh examples?
§14.323ergo aliquid nostris de moribus, effice summam §14.324bis septem ordinibus quam lex dignatur Othonis, §14.325haec quoque si rugam trahit extenditque labellum, §14.326sume duos equites, fac tertia quadringenta
Mix, then, something from our own manners: make up the sum which the law of Otho deems worthy of the fourteen rows of seats; if this also draws a frown and makes you pout, take the wealth of two knights, make it three times four hundred thousand.
§14.327si nondum inplevi gremium, si panditur ultra, §14.328nec Croesi fortuna umquam nec Persica regna §14.329sufficient animo nec divitiae Narcissi, §14.330indulsit Caesar cui Claudius omnia, cuius §14.331paruit imperiis uxorem occidere iussus.
If I have not yet filled your lap, if it opens wider, neither the fortune of Croesus, nor the Persian kingdoms will ever suffice for your mind, nor the riches of Narcissus, to whom Caesar Claudius indulged everything, and whose commands he obeyed when ordered to kill his wife.