§6.1Credo Pudicitiam Saturno rege moratam §6.2in terris visamque diu, cum frigida parvas §6.3praeberet spelunca domos ignemque Laremque §6.4et pecus et dominos communi clauderet umbra, §6.5silvestrem montana torum cum sterneret uxor §6.6frondibus et culmo vicinarumque ferarum §6.7pellibus, haut similis tibi, Cynthia, nec tibi, cuius §6.8turbavit nitidos extinctus passer ocellos, §6.9sed potanda ferens infantibus ubera magnis §6.10et saepe horridior glandem ructante marito.
I believe that Chastity lingered on earth when Saturn was king, and was seen for a long time, when a cold cave provided small homes, and fire, and the Lar, and enclosed both flock and masters in a common shade, when the mountain wife spread her rustic bed with leaves and straw and the skins of neighboring wild beasts, not like you, Cynthia, nor you, whose bright eyes the dead sparrow troubled; but offering breasts to be drunk by her great children, and often rougher than her husband belching acorns.
§6.11quippe aliter tunc orbe novo caeloque recenti §6.12vivebant homines, qui rupto robore nati §6.13compositive luto nullos habuere parentes.
For indeed, men lived otherwise then, in the new world and under a fresh sky, who, born from a ruptured oak or fashioned from clay, had no parents.
§6.14multa Pudicitiae veteris vestigia forsan §6.15aut aliqua exstiterint et sub Iove, set Iove nondum §6.16barbato, nondum Graecis iurare paratis §6.17per caput alterius, cum furem nemo timeret §6.18caulibus et pomis, et aperto viveret horto.
Perhaps many or some traces of ancient Chastity existed even under Jupiter, but when Jupiter was not yet bearded, when Greeks were not yet prepared to swear by the head of another, when no one feared a thief for his cabbages and apples, and lived with an open garden.
§6.19paulatim deinde ad superos Astraea recessit §6.20hac comite, atque duae pariter fugere sorores.
Then, by degrees, Astraea withdrew to the gods above with this companion, and the two sisters fled together.
§6.21Anticum et vetus est alienum, Postume, lectum §6.22concutere atque sacri genium contemnere fulcri.
It is an ancient and long-standing custom, Postumus, to shake another's bed and to despise the genius of the sacred bedpost.
Soon the iron age brought forth every other crime; the silver age saw the first adulterers.
§6.25conventum tamen et pactum et sponsalia nostra §6.26tempestate paras, iamque a tonsore magistro §6.27pecteris, et digito pignus fortasse dedisti, §6.28certe sanus eras;
Yet you are preparing a treaty and agreement and betrothal in our time, and already you are being combed by a master barber, and perhaps you have given a pledge to her finger— certainly you were sane.
uxorem, Postume, ducis?
Postumus, are you taking a wife?
§6.29dic, qua Tisiphone, quibus exagitare colubris?
Tell me, by what Tisiphone, by what snakes are you driven mad?
§6.30ferre potes dominam salvis tot restibus ullam, §6.31cum pateant altae caligantesque fenestrae, §6.32cum tibi vicinum se praebeat Aemilius pons?
Can you endure any mistress when so many ropes are intact, when high and dizzying windows are open, when the Aemilian bridge offers itself near to you?
Or if out of many exits none pleases you, do you not think that this is better, that a boy-love sleeps with you?
§6.35pusio qui noctu non litigat, exigit a te §6.36nulla iacens illic munuscula nec queritur quod §6.37et lateri parcas nec quantum iussit anheles.
A boy-love who does not quarrel at night, demands from you no small gifts as he lies there, nor complains that you spare your strength or do not pant as much as he commanded.
§6.38Sed placet Vrsidio lex Iulia, tollere dulcem §6.39cogitat heredem, cariturus turture magno §6.40mullorumque iubis et captatore macello.
But Ursidius is pleased with the Julian law; he thinks to raise a sweet heir, though he will lack the great turtledove, the crests of mullets, and the legacy-hunting market.
§6.41quid fieri non posse putes, si iungitur ulla
What would you think could not happen, if any woman is joined to Ursidius?
§6.42Vrsidio? si moechorum notissimus olim §6.43stulta maritali iam porrigit ora capistro, §6.44quem totiens texit perituri cista Latini?
If he, once the most famous of adulterers, now stretches his foolish neck to the marriage halter, whom the chest of Latinus, about to perish, so often concealed?
§6.45quid quod et antiquis uxor de moribus illi
What of the fact that a wife of ancient morals is also sought by him?
§6.46quaeritur? o medici, nimiam pertundite venam,
O doctors, lance his excessive vein, what a fancy of a man!
§6.47delicias hominis! Tarpeium limen adora §6.48pronus et auratam Iunoni caede iuvencam, §6.49si tibi contigerit capitis matrona pudici.
Adore the Tarpeian threshold, prostrate, and slaughter a gilded heifer to Juno, if a matron of a chaste head falls to your lot.
§6.50paucae adeo Cereris vittas contingere dignae, §6.51quarum non timeat pater oscula: necte coronam
Few indeed are worthy to touch the ribbons of Ceres, whose kisses a father would not fear.
§6.52postibus et densos per limina tende corymbos.
Weave a crown for the doorposts and hang thick clusters of ivy over the thresholds.
§6.53unus Hiberinae vir sufficit? ocius illud
Is one husband enough for Hiberina?
§6.54extorquebis, ut haec oculo contenta sit uno.
You will more quickly extort this, that she be content with one eye.
§6.55magna tamen fama est cuiusdam rure paterno
Yet is there great fame of a certain woman living on her father's estate?
Let her live in Gabii as she lived in the country, let her live in Fidenae, and I yield to her father's little field.
§6.58quis tamen adfirmat nil actum in montibus aut in
Yet who affirms that nothing was done on the mountains or in the caves?
§6.59speluncis? adeo senuerunt Iuppiter et Mars?
Have Jupiter and Mars grown so old?
§6.60Porticibusne tibi monstratur femina voto
Is a woman worthy of your wish pointed out to you in the porticoes?
§6.61digna tuo? cuneis an habent spectacula totis §6.62quod securus ames quodque inde excerpere possis?
Or do the spectacles in all their blocks of seats hold what you can love securely and what you can select from there?
§6.63chironomon Ledam molli saltante Bathyllo §6.64Tuccia vesicae non imperat, Apula gannit §6.65sicut in amplexu subito et miserabile longum; §6.66attendit Thymele: Thymele tunc rustica discit.
When soft Bathyllus dances the pantomime of Leda, Tuccia cannot control her bladder; Apula whimpers as if in a sudden embrace, and in a piteous, long-drawn way; Thymele watches closely; then Thymele, rustic, learns.
§6.67Ast aliae, quotiens aulaea recondita cessant §6.68et vacuo clusoque sonant fora sola theatro, §6.69atque a plebeis longe Megalesia, tristes §6.70personam thyrsumque tenent et subligar Acci.
But others, whenever the stored-away curtains are idle, and the empty, closed theaters leave only the courts resounding, and the Megalesian games are far from the plebeian ones, sadly hold the mask and thyrsus and the loincloth of Accius.
Urbicus raises a laugh in the interlude of Atellan farce with the gestures of Autonoe; poor Aelia loves him.
§6.73solvitur his magno comoedi fibula, sunt quae §6.74Chrysogonum cantare vetent, Hispulla tragoedo §6.75gaudet: an expectas ut Quintilianus ametur?
For these, the clasp of a comedian is undone at a high price; there are some who forbid Chrysogonus to sing; Hispulla rejoices in a tragic actor; do you expect Quintilian to be loved?