The following five verse pieces, depicting aspects of "Country Life" and "Town Life", are taken from the "Cambridge Latin Anthology", Cambridge University Press, 1996. Both the Latin texts and Sabidius' translations into English are shown.
1. The city, hour by hour (Martial: Epigrams, Book IV. 8).
prima salutantes atque altera conterit hora;
exercet raucos tertia causidicos;
in quintam varios extendit Roma labores;
sexta quies lassis, septima finis erit;
sufficit in nonam nitidis octava palaestris;
imperat exstructos frangere nona toros:
hora libellorum decima est, Eupheme, meorum,
temperat ambrosias cum tua cura dapes,
et bonus aetherio laxatur nectare Caesar,
ingentique tenet pocula parca manu.
tunc admitte iocos: gressu timet ire licenti
ad matutinum nostra Thalia Iovem.
The first hour and the second exhaust callers; the third (hour) keeps hoarse pleaders busy; Rome extends her various labours to the end of the fifth (hour); the sixth (hour) will be a siesta for weary (men), the seventh (will be) the end (of work); the eighth (hour) to the end of the ninth (hour) gives time enough for the glistening exercise grounds; the ninth (hour) bids (men) to rumple the couches piled high (with cushions): the tenth, Euphemus, is the hour of my little books, when your care rules the ambrosial feasts, and good Caesar is relaxed by heavenly nectar and he holds the small cups in his mighty hand. Then admit my pleasantries: my Thalia with her cheeky walk is afraid to approach Jupiter in the morning.
2. The sights, sounds and seasons of the countryside (Ovid: Remedia Amoris, lines 175-184, 187-190).
aspice curvatos pomorum pondere ramos
ut sua, quod peperit, vix ferat arbor onus.
aspice labentes iucundo murmure ruros:
aspice tondentes fertile gramen oves.
ecce petunt rupes praeruptaque saxa capellae:
iam referant haedis ubera plena suis.
pastor inaequali modulatur harundine carmen,
nec desunt comites, sedula turba, canes.
parte sonant alia sivae mugitionibus altae,
et queritur vitulum mater abesse suum.
poma dat autumnus: formosa est messibus aestas;
ver praebet flores; igne levatur hiems.
temporibus certis maturam rusticus uvam
deligit, et nudo sub pede musta fluunt.
Look at the branches bent by the weight of their apples, so that each tree can scarcely bear the burden which it has produced. Look at the streams gliding by with pleasant murmuring: look at the sheep grazing in the lush grass. Behold the she-goats seek the crags and the steep rocks: now they carry back full udders to their kids. The shepherd plays a tune (on a pipe) with reeds of unequal length, and his companions, the dogs, a bustling crowd, are not lacking. In another place the deep woods resound with lowing, and a mother complains that her calf is missing. Autumn brings apples: the summer is beautiful with harvests; spring provides flowers; winter is relieved by fires. At fixed times, the countryman gathers the ripe grape, and under his bare feet the new wine flows.
3. Thoughts of home (Ovid: Ex Ponto, Book I. 8. lines 29-38).hea
nec tu credideris urbanae commoda vitae
quaerere Nasonem, quaerit et illa tamen.
nam modo vos animo, dulces, reminiscor, amici,
nunc mihi cum cara coniuge nata subit;
aque doem rursus pulchrae loca vertor ad Urbis,
cunctaque mens oculis pervidet usa suis.
nunc fora, nunc aedes, nunc marmore tecta theatra,
nunc subit aequata porticus omnis humo.
gramina nunc Campi pulchros spectantis in hortos,
stagnaque et euripi Virgineusque liquor.
You should not believe that Ovid misses the benefits of urban life, and yet he does miss them. For, at one time, I recall to my mind you, my sweet friends, at another time my daughter, together with my dear wife, comes to mind for me; and I turn once more from my home to the places of the beautiful City, and my mind, using its own eyes, surveys everything. Now the fora, now the temples, now the theatres roofed with marble, now each colonnade with its levelled ground, comes to mind. Now (there comes to mind) the grasses of the Field (of Mars) facing towards beautiful gardens, and the pools, and the canals, and the waters of the Aqua Virgo.
4. A country spring (Horace: Odes, Book III, carmen 13).
O fons Bandusiae, splendidior vitro,
dulci digne mero non sine floribus,
cras donaberis haedo,
cui frons tugida cornibus
primis et venerem et proelia destinat.
frustra: nam gelidos inficiet tibi
rubro sanguine rivos
lascivi suboles gregis.
te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculae
nescit tangere, tu frigus amabile
fessis vomere tauris
praebes et pecori vago.
fies nobilium tu quoque fontium,
me dicente cavis impositam ilicem
saxis, unde loquaces
lymphae desiliunt tuae.
O spring of Bandusia, more brilliant than glass, worthy of sweet wine, not without flowers (too), tomorrow you will be presented with a kid, whose forehead, swollen with newly-grown horns, presages both love and battles. In vain: for the offspring of the playful flock will stain your cold streams with red blood. The cruel hour of the blazing Dog Star does not know how to touch you, (and) you provide welcome coolness for the oxen, weary from the ploughshare, and for the wandering flock. You too will become (one) of the famous springs, (with) me describing the holm-oak overhanging the hollowed-out rocks, from where your chattering waters tumble down.
5. The town mouse and the country mouse (Horace: Satires, Book II, 6, lines 79-117).
olim
rusticus urbanum murem mus paupere fertur
accepisse cavo, veterem vetus hospes amaicum,
asper et attentus quaesitis, ut tamen artum
solveret hospitis animum. quid multa? neque ille
sepositi ciceris nec longae invidit avenae,
aridum et ore ferens acinum semesque lardi
frustra dedit, cupiens varia fastidia cena
vincere tangentis male singula dente superbo,
cum pater ipse domus palea porrectus in horna
esset ador loliumque, dapis meliora relinquens.
tandem urbanus ad hunc "quid te iuvat" inquit "amice,
praerupti nemoris patientiem vivere dorso?
vis tu homines, urbemque feris praeponere silvis?
carpe viam, mihi crede, comes; terrestria quando
mortales animas vivunt sortita, neque ulla est
aut magno aut parvo leti fuga: quo, bone, circa,
dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus;
vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis." haec ubi dicta
agrestem pepulere, domo levis exsilit; inde
ambo propositum peragunt iter, urbis aventes
moenia nocturni subrepere. iamque tenebat
nox medium caeli spatium, cum ponit uterque
in locuplete domo vestigia, rubro ubi cocco
tincta super lectos canderet vestis eburnos,
multaque de magna superesset fercula cena,
quae procul exstructis inerant hesterna canistris.
ergo ubi purpurea porrectum in veste locavit
agrestem, veluti succinctus cursitat hospes
continuatque dapes nec non verniliter ipsis
fungitur officiis, praelambens omne quod affert.
ille cubans gaudet mutata sorte bonisque
rebus agit laetum convivam, cum subito ingens
valvarum strepitus lectis excussit utrumque.
currere per totum pavidi conclave, magisque.
exanimes trepidare, simul domus alta Molossis
personuit canibus. tum rusticus "haud mihi vita
est opus hac" ait et "valeas: me silva cavusque
tutusque ab insidiis tenui solabitur ervo."
Once upon a time, a country mouse is said to have received a town mouse into his humble mouse-hole, an old host to have received an old friend, a rough type and careful with his gains, even if however he relaxed his thrifty soul with acts of hospitality. What more (can I say)? He begrudged neither his stored-up chickpeas nor his long oats, and, carrying in his mouth a dry grape and half-eaten scraps of bacon, he offered (them) up, wanting to overcome with his varied dinner the fastidiousness (of one) barely touching the individual items with his haughty teeth, while the master of the house himself, stretched out in this year's chaff, ate grain and grass, leaving the better parts of the feast. Finally, the town mouse said to him, "Why does it please you, my friend, to live uncomplaining on the steep summit of a wood? Would you (not) wish to put men and the town before the wild woods? Take to the road (as) my companion, believe me; since earthly creatures live, having been allotted with mortal souls, there is not any escape from death either for the great or for the small: for this reason, my good (fellow), while it is permitted, live happily , in pleasant circumstances; live remembering how short-lived you are." When these words (had) impressed the country mouse, he jumped nimbly out of the house; they both undertook the proposed journey, eager to creep under the walls of the city by night. And now night was holding the middle space of the sky, when each of them set their footprints in a wealthy house, where a covering dyed with bright scarlet gleamed over the ivory couches, and many dishes (of food) were left over from a great dinner, which from yesterday were in heaped baskets (not too) far off. Therefore, when he placed the country (mouse), stretched out on a purple coverlet, the host runs about girt-up and keeps supplying the feast, and also like a house-slave he performs every single duty, tasting in advance everything which he brings. He (i.e. the country mouse), reclining, rejoices in his changed luck and in the good things, (and) he acted (as) the happy guest, when suddenly a great noise from the doors shook each of them off the couches. Terrified, they ran through the whole room, and, petrified, they were more alarmed, as soon as the deep house resounded with (the noise of) Molossian hounds. Then the country (mouse) said, "There is no need of this (kind of) life for me," and "Farewell: my wood and my hole, safe from ambush, with a little vetch, will console me."
quaerere Nasonem, quaerit et illa tamen.
nam modo vos animo, dulces, reminiscor, amici,
nunc mihi cum cara coniuge nata subit;
aque doem rursus pulchrae loca vertor ad Urbis,
cunctaque mens oculis pervidet usa suis.
nunc fora, nunc aedes, nunc marmore tecta theatra,
nunc subit aequata porticus omnis humo.
gramina nunc Campi pulchros spectantis in hortos,
stagnaque et euripi Virgineusque liquor.
You should not believe that Ovid misses the benefits of urban life, and yet he does miss them. For, at one time, I recall to my mind you, my sweet friends, at another time my daughter, together with my dear wife, comes to mind for me; and I turn once more from my home to the places of the beautiful City, and my mind, using its own eyes, surveys everything. Now the fora, now the temples, now the theatres roofed with marble, now each colonnade with its levelled ground, comes to mind. Now (there comes to mind) the grasses of the Field (of Mars) facing towards beautiful gardens, and the pools, and the canals, and the waters of the Aqua Virgo.
4. A country spring (Horace: Odes, Book III, carmen 13).
O fons Bandusiae, splendidior vitro,
dulci digne mero non sine floribus,
cras donaberis haedo,
cui frons tugida cornibus
primis et venerem et proelia destinat.
frustra: nam gelidos inficiet tibi
rubro sanguine rivos
lascivi suboles gregis.
te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculae
nescit tangere, tu frigus amabile
fessis vomere tauris
praebes et pecori vago.
fies nobilium tu quoque fontium,
me dicente cavis impositam ilicem
saxis, unde loquaces
lymphae desiliunt tuae.
O spring of Bandusia, more brilliant than glass, worthy of sweet wine, not without flowers (too), tomorrow you will be presented with a kid, whose forehead, swollen with newly-grown horns, presages both love and battles. In vain: for the offspring of the playful flock will stain your cold streams with red blood. The cruel hour of the blazing Dog Star does not know how to touch you, (and) you provide welcome coolness for the oxen, weary from the ploughshare, and for the wandering flock. You too will become (one) of the famous springs, (with) me describing the holm-oak overhanging the hollowed-out rocks, from where your chattering waters tumble down.
5. The town mouse and the country mouse (Horace: Satires, Book II, 6, lines 79-117).
olim
rusticus urbanum murem mus paupere fertur
accepisse cavo, veterem vetus hospes amaicum,
asper et attentus quaesitis, ut tamen artum
solveret hospitis animum. quid multa? neque ille
sepositi ciceris nec longae invidit avenae,
aridum et ore ferens acinum semesque lardi
frustra dedit, cupiens varia fastidia cena
vincere tangentis male singula dente superbo,
cum pater ipse domus palea porrectus in horna
esset ador loliumque, dapis meliora relinquens.
tandem urbanus ad hunc "quid te iuvat" inquit "amice,
praerupti nemoris patientiem vivere dorso?
vis tu homines, urbemque feris praeponere silvis?
carpe viam, mihi crede, comes; terrestria quando
mortales animas vivunt sortita, neque ulla est
aut magno aut parvo leti fuga: quo, bone, circa,
dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus;
vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis." haec ubi dicta
agrestem pepulere, domo levis exsilit; inde
ambo propositum peragunt iter, urbis aventes
moenia nocturni subrepere. iamque tenebat
nox medium caeli spatium, cum ponit uterque
in locuplete domo vestigia, rubro ubi cocco
tincta super lectos canderet vestis eburnos,
multaque de magna superesset fercula cena,
quae procul exstructis inerant hesterna canistris.
ergo ubi purpurea porrectum in veste locavit
agrestem, veluti succinctus cursitat hospes
continuatque dapes nec non verniliter ipsis
fungitur officiis, praelambens omne quod affert.
ille cubans gaudet mutata sorte bonisque
rebus agit laetum convivam, cum subito ingens
valvarum strepitus lectis excussit utrumque.
currere per totum pavidi conclave, magisque.
exanimes trepidare, simul domus alta Molossis
personuit canibus. tum rusticus "haud mihi vita
est opus hac" ait et "valeas: me silva cavusque
tutusque ab insidiis tenui solabitur ervo."
Once upon a time, a country mouse is said to have received a town mouse into his humble mouse-hole, an old host to have received an old friend, a rough type and careful with his gains, even if however he relaxed his thrifty soul with acts of hospitality. What more (can I say)? He begrudged neither his stored-up chickpeas nor his long oats, and, carrying in his mouth a dry grape and half-eaten scraps of bacon, he offered (them) up, wanting to overcome with his varied dinner the fastidiousness (of one) barely touching the individual items with his haughty teeth, while the master of the house himself, stretched out in this year's chaff, ate grain and grass, leaving the better parts of the feast. Finally, the town mouse said to him, "Why does it please you, my friend, to live uncomplaining on the steep summit of a wood? Would you (not) wish to put men and the town before the wild woods? Take to the road (as) my companion, believe me; since earthly creatures live, having been allotted with mortal souls, there is not any escape from death either for the great or for the small: for this reason, my good (fellow), while it is permitted, live happily , in pleasant circumstances; live remembering how short-lived you are." When these words (had) impressed the country mouse, he jumped nimbly out of the house; they both undertook the proposed journey, eager to creep under the walls of the city by night. And now night was holding the middle space of the sky, when each of them set their footprints in a wealthy house, where a covering dyed with bright scarlet gleamed over the ivory couches, and many dishes (of food) were left over from a great dinner, which from yesterday were in heaped baskets (not too) far off. Therefore, when he placed the country (mouse), stretched out on a purple coverlet, the host runs about girt-up and keeps supplying the feast, and also like a house-slave he performs every single duty, tasting in advance everything which he brings. He (i.e. the country mouse), reclining, rejoices in his changed luck and in the good things, (and) he acted (as) the happy guest, when suddenly a great noise from the doors shook each of them off the couches. Terrified, they ran through the whole room, and, petrified, they were more alarmed, as soon as the deep house resounded with (the noise of) Molossian hounds. Then the country (mouse) said, "There is no need of this (kind of) life for me," and "Farewell: my wood and my hole, safe from ambush, with a little vetch, will console me."
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