§4.1Ecce iterum Crispinus, et est mihi saepe vocandus §4.2ad partes, monstrum nulla virtute redemptum §4.3a vitiis, aegrae solaque libidine fortes §4.4deliciae; viduas tantum aspernatus.
Behold Crispinus again, and I must often call him to his part, a monster redeemed from vices by no virtue, a diseased dandy, strong only in lust; scorning only unmarried women.
adulter, §4.5quid refert igitur, quantis iumenta fatiget §4.6porticibus, quanta nemorum vectetur in umbra, §4.7iugera quot vicina foro, quas emerit aedes?
An adulterer, what matter is it then, in how great porticoes he tires his horses, in how great shade of groves he is carried, how many acres near the Forum, what houses he has bought?
Incestuous man, with whom lately lay the filleted priestess, doomed to enter the earth with her blood still warm.
§4.11Sed nunc de factis levioribus, et tamen alter §4.12si fecisset idem, caderet sub iudice morum; §4.13nam quod turpe bonis Titio Seioque, decebat
But now of lighter deeds; and yet, if another had done the same, he would have fallen under the judge of morals; for what was shameful to good men, to Titius and Seius, was becoming to Crispinus.
§4.14Crispinum: quid agas, cum dira et foedior omni
What are you to do, when the person itself is dreadful and uglier than any charge?
§4.15crimine persona est? mullum sex milibus emit, §4.16aequantem sane paribus sestertia libris, §4.17ut perhibent qui de magnis maiora loquuntur,
He bought a mullet for six thousand sesterces, equaling indeed sesterces by equal pounds, as they relate who speak larger of large things.
§4.18consilium laudo artificis, si munere tanto §4.19praecipuam in tabulis ceram senis abstulit orbi; §4.20est ratio ulterior, magnae si misit amicae, §4.21quae vehitur clauso latis specularibus antro,
I praise the plan of the craftsman, if by so great a gift he carried off the chief will-tablet of some childless old man; there is a further reason, if he sent it to a great lady friend, who is carried in a closed cavern with wide glass windows.
§4.22nil tale expectes: emit sibi.
Expect nothing of the sort: he bought it for himself.
multa videmus §4.23quae miser et frugi non fecit Apicius;
We see many things which the wretched and frugal Apicius did not do.
hoc tu, §4.24succinctus patria quondam, Crispine, papyro?
Did you do this, Crispinus, once girt in your native papyrus?
§4.25hoc pretio squamas? potuit fortasse minoris
At this price, scales?
Perhaps the fisherman could have been bought for less than the fish; the province sells lands for so much, but Apulia sells larger ones.
§4.28qualis tunc epulas ipsum gluttisse putamus §4.29induperatorem, cum tot sestertia, partem §4.30exiguam et modicae sumptam de margine cenae, §4.31purpureus magni ructarit scurra Palati, §4.32iam princeps equitum, magna qui voce solebat §4.33vendere municipes fracta de merce siluros?
What kind of feasts do we think the Emperor himself then gorged, when so many sesterces, a tiny part and taken from the margin of a moderate dinner, the purple buffoon of the great Palace belched, now a chief of the knights, who used to sell his fellow-countrymen siluri from damaged wares?
§4.34incipe, Calliope, licet et considere, non est §4.35cantandum, res vera agitur, narrate, puellae
Begin, Calliope! You may even sit; this is not to be sung, a true story is being dealt with.
§4.36Pierides; prosit mihi vos dixisse puellas.
Narrate, Pierian maidens; may it profit me to have called you maidens.
§4.37Cum iam semianimum laceraret Flavius orbem §4.38ultimus et calvo serviret Roma Neroni, §4.39incidit Hadriaci spatium admirabile rhombi §4.40ante domum Veneris, quam Dorica sustinet Ancon, §4.41implevitque sinus; nec enim minor haeserat illis §4.42quos operit glacies Maeotica ruptaque tandem §4.43solibus effundit torrentis ad ostia Ponti §4.44desidia tardos et longo frigore pingues,
When now the last Flavius was lacerating the half-dead world, and Rome was slaving for a bald Nero, there fell an admirable size of an Adriatic turbot before the house of Venus, which Doric Ancon supports, and filled the net; for no smaller had it stuck than those which the Maeotic ice covers, and, finally broken by the suns, pours out to the mouths of the rushing Pontus, slow through laziness and fat from long cold.
§4.45destinat hoc monstrum cumbae Unique magister §4.46pontifici summo, quis enim proponere talem §4.47aut emere auderet, cum plena et litora multo
The master of the boat and net destines this monster for the Chief Pontiff; for who would dare to offer such a thing or buy it, since even the shores were full of many an informer?
§4.48delatore forent? dispersi protinus algae §4.49inquisitores agerent cum remige nudo §4.50non dubitaturi fugitivum dicere piscem §4.51depastumque diu vivaria Caesaris, inde §4.52elapsum veterem ad dominum debere reverti,
Straightway the scattered inspectors of seaweed would deal with the naked oarsman, not hesitating to call the fish a runaway, and having fed long in Caesar's preserves, thence escaped, it ought to return to its old master.
§4.53si quid Palfurio, si credimus Armillato, §4.54quidquid conspicuum pulchrumque est aequore toto,
If we believe Palfurius, if we believe Armillatus, whatever is conspicuous and beautiful in the whole sea is a matter of the treasury, wherever it swims.
It shall be presented therefore, lest it perish.
Iam letifero cedente pruinis §4.57autumno, iam quartanam sperantibus aegris §4.58stridebat deformis hiems praedamque recentem §4.59servabat, tamen hic properat, velut urgueat Auster,
Now deadly autumn yielding to hoar-frosts, now sick people hoping for quartan ague, unsightly winter screeched and preserved the fresh prey; yet he hurries as if the South wind urged him.
§4.60utque lacus suberant, ubi quamquam diruta servat §4.61ignem Troianum et Vestam colit Alba minorem, §4.62obstitit intranti miratrix turba parumper,
And as the lakes lay below, where, though demolished, Alba preserves the Trojan fire and worships a lesser Vesta, the wondering crowd blocked him entering for a short while.
As it gave way, the folding-doors opened on an easy hinge; the excluded senators watch the admitted victuals.
§4.65itur ad Atriden.
They go to Atrides.
tum Picens
accipe,
dixit, §4.66‘privatis maiora focis, genialis agatur §4.67iste dies, propera stomachum laxare sagina, §4.68et tua servatum consume in saecula rhombum. §4.69ipse capi voluit. ’ quid apertius? et tamen illi
Then the Picenian said, "Accept" "things too great for private hearths; let this genius-day be spent," "haste to release your stomach with stuffing," "and consume the turbot preserved for your age." "It wished itself to be caught." What could be more obvious?
§4.70surgebant cristae; nihil est quod credere de se §4.71non possit cum laudatur dis aequa potestas.
And yet his crests rose; there is nothing which a power equal to gods cannot believe of itself when it is praised.
§4.72sed derat pisci patinae mensura, vocantur §4.73ergo in consilium proceres, quos oderat ille, §4.74in quorum facie miserae magnaeque sedebat §4.75pallor amicitiae, primus clamante Liburno
But a measure of a dish was wanting for the fish; therefore the chiefs are summoned to council, whom he hated, on whose faces sat the paleness of that wretched and great friendship.