§3.1Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici §3.2laudo tamen, vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis §3.3destinet atque unum civem donare Sibyllae.
Although confused by the departure of an old friend, I nevertheless praise him because he resolves to fix his abode in empty Cumae, and to present one citizen to the Sibyl.
It is the gateway to Baiae and a pleasing shore of charming retirement; I prefer even Prochyta to the Subura.
§3.6nam quid tam miserum, tam solum vidimus, ut non §3.7deterius credas horrere incendia, lapsus §3.8tectorum adsiduos ac mille pericula saevae §3.9urbis et Augusto recitantes mense poetas?
For what have we seen so miserable, so desolate, that you would not believe it worse to dread fires, the constant collapse of roofs, and the thousand dangers of the cruel city, and poets reciting in the month of August?
But while his whole household is being packed into a single carriage, he stopped at the ancient arches and the wet Capene Gate.
§3.12hic, ubi nocturnae Numa constituebat amicae, §3.13nunc sacri fontis nemus et delubra locantur §3.14Iudaeis, quorum cophinus faenumque supellex
Here, where Numa used to make appointments with his nocturnal mistress, now the grove of the sacred spring and the shrines are rented to the Jews, whose furniture is a basket and hay.
(For every tree is ordered to pay rent to the people, and the wood begs, the Camenae having been cast out).
We descend into the valley of Egeria and the caves unlike real ones.
§3.19numen aquis, viridi si margine clauderet undas §3.20herba, nec ingentium violarent marmora tofum.
How much more present would the divinity of the waters be, if grass enclosed the waves with a green margin, and marbles did not violate the natural tufa.
§3.21Hic tunc Vmbricius
quando artibus,
inquit, ‘honestis §3.22nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum, §3.23res hodie minor est here quam fuit atque eadem cras §3.24deteret exiguis aliquid, proponimus illuc §3.25ire, fatigatas ubi Daedalus exuit alas, §3.26dum nova canities, dum prima et recta senectus, §3.27dum superest Lachesi quod torqueat et pedibus me §3.28porto meis nullo dextram subeunte bacillo.
Here then Umbricius said: "Since there is no place in the city for honest arts, no rewards for labors, my wealth is less today than it was yesterday, and tomorrow the same will wear away something from the small remainder, we propose to go there where Daedalus put off his weary wings, while gray hair is fresh, while old age is in its beginning and erect, while there remains for Lachesis something to spin, and I carry myself on my own feet with no staff supporting my right hand.
§3.29cedamus patria, vivant Artorius istic
Let us depart from our native land.
§3.30et Catulus, maneant qui nigrum in candida vertunt, §3.31quis facile est aedem conducere flumina portus, §3.32siccandam eluviem, portandum ad busta cadaver, §3.33et praebere caput domina venale sub hasta,
Let Artorius and Catulus live there; let those remain who turn black into white, for whom it is easy to contract for temples, rivers, harbors, the clearing of sewers, the carrying of a corpse to the pyre, and to offer a head for sale under the mistress spear.
§3.34quondam hi cornicines et municipalis harenae §3.35perpetui comites notaeque per oppida buccae §3.36munera nunc edunt et, verso pollice vulgus §3.37cum iubet, occidunt populariter; inde reversi §3.38conducunt foricas, et cur non omnia, cum sint §3.39quales ex humili magna ad fastigia rerum §3.40extollit quotiens voluit Fortuna iocari?
Once these men were horn-players, perpetual attendants of municipal arenas, and cheeks well-known throughout the towns; now they exhibit games and, when the mob commands with turned thumb, they kill to court popularity; returning thence, they rent public latrines, and why not everything, since they are the kind of men whom Fortune raises from humble estate to the great heights of affairs whenever she wishes to joke?
§3.41Quid Romae faciam? mentiri nescio: librum,
What shall I do at Rome?
§3.42si malus est, nequeo laudare et poscere; motus §3.43astrorum ignoro; funus promittere patris §3.44nec volo nec possum; ranarum viscera numquam §3.45inspexi; ferre ad nuptam quae mittit adulter, §3.46quae mandat, norunt alii; me nemo ministro §3.47fur erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo tamquam §3.48mancus et extinctae corpus non utile dextrae,
I do not know how to lie: if a book is bad, I cannot praise it and ask for it; I am ignorant of the movements of the stars; I neither wish nor am able to promise a father's death; I have never inspected the entrails of frogs; others know how to carry what an adulterer sends, what he mandates to a bride; with me as an accomplice no one will be a thief, and therefore I go out as a companion to no one, as though I were crippled and a body useless with a withered right hand.
§3.49quis nunc diligitur nisi conscius et cui fervens §3.50aestuat occultis animus semperque tacendis?
Who is loved now except an accomplice, and one whose burning mind seethes with secrets that must always be kept silent?
§3.51nil tibi se debere putat, nil conferet umquam, §3.52participem qui te secreti fecit honesti: §3.53carus erit Verri qui Verrem tempore quo vult
He thinks he owes you nothing, he will never bestow anything upon you, who has made you a partner in an honest secret; he will be dear to Verres who can accuse Verres at whatever time he wishes.
§3.54accusare potest, tanti tibi non sit opaci §3.55omnis harena Tagi quodque in mare volvitur aurum, §3.56ut somno careas ponendaque praemia sumas §3.57tristis, et a magno semper timearis amico.
Let not all the sand of shady Tagus and all the gold that is rolled into the sea be of such great value to you, that you should lose sleep, and sadly accept rewards that must be laid down, and always be feared by your great friend.
§3.58Quae nunc divitibus gens acceptissima nostris §3.59et quos praecipue fugiam, properabo fateri, §3.60nec pudor opstabit.
What race is now most acceptable to our rich men, and whom I would especially flee, I will hasten to confess, nor shall shame obstruct me.
non possum ferre, Quirites, §3.61Graecam urbem; quamvis quota portio faecis Achaei?
I cannot bear, O Romans, a Greek city; and yet, how small a portion of the dregs are the Achaeans?
§3.62iam pridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes, §3.63et linguam et mores et cum tibicine chordas §3.64obliquas nec non gentilia tympana secum §3.65vexit et ad circum iussas prostare puellas.
Long since has the Syrian Orontes flowed into the Tiber, and brought with it its language and customs, and slanted strings with the flute-player, as well as national tambourines, and girls ordered to prostitute themselves at the Circus.
§3.66ite, quibus grata est picta lupa barbara mitra!
Go, you who like a barbarian harlot with a painted mitre!
That rustic of yours, O Quirinus, takes up Greek slippers, and wears victory medals on his anointed neck.
§3.69hic alta Sicyone, ast hic Amydone relicta, §3.70hic Andro, ille Samo, hic Trallibus aut Alabandis §3.71Esquilias dictumque petunt a vimine collem, §3.72viscera magnarum domuum dominique futuri,
One having left high Sicyon, but another Amydon, this one from Andros, that one from Samos, this one from Tralles or Alabanda; they seek the Esquiline and the hill named after the osier, to become the vitals of great houses and their future masters.
Their wit is swift, their impudence desperate, their speech prompt and more torrent-like than Isaeus. Say, what do you think he is?
§3.75esse putes? quemvis hominem secum attulit ad nos: §3.76grammaticus rhetor geometres pictor aliptes §3.77augur schoenobates medicus magus: omnia novit §3.78Graeculus esuriens; in caelum iusseris ibit.
He has brought any person you like with him to us: grammarian, rhetorician, geometer, painter, anointer, augur, tightrope-walker, physician, sorcerer: he knows everything, the hungry Greekling; order him to go to heaven, he will go.