'O Ruddier than the Cherry' 139 Rogō cūrēs, quanti aequum est, emat; ita enim dēlectābit ēmisse. Nam mala emptio semper ingrāta, eō maxime, quod exprobrare stultitiam 5 dominō vidētur. In hoc autem agellō, si modo adrīserit pretium, Tranquilli meī stomachum multa sollicitant, vīcīnitās urbis, opportūnitās viae, mediocritas villae, modus rūris, qui avocet magis quam distringat. Scholasticis porrò dominīs, ut 10 hic est, sufficit abunde tantum solī, ut relevare caput, reficere oculos, ūnam sẽmitam terere, omnesque viticulas suas nosse et numerāre arbusculas possint. Haec tibi exposui, quo magis scīrēs, quantum esset ille mihi, ego tibi, dēbitūrus, sī 15 praediolum istud, quod commendātur hīs dōtibus, tam salubriter ēmerit, ut paenitentiae locum non relinquat. Vale. PLINY, Letters i 24. 140. O Ruddier than the Cherry The Cyclops, the one-eyed giant who fed his flocks in Sicily, fell in love with the sea-nymph, Galatea. He played on his pipes and sang to mollify her hard heart; and this was his song. Candidior folio nivei, Galatea, ligustrī, 5 Mollior et cycnī plūmīs et lacte coactō, Et, si non fugias, riguō formōsior hortō; Saevior indomitis eadem, Galatea, iuvencīs, 10 Dūrior annōsā quercū, fallacior undīs, Lentior et salicis virgīs et vītibus albīs, His immobilior scopulis, violentior amne, Laudātō pāvōne superbior, acrior igni, Asperior tribulis, fētā truculentior ursa, 15 Surdior aequoribus, calcātō immītior hydrō, Et, quod praecipuē vellem tibi dēmere possem, Nōn tantum cervō, clārīs lātrātibus actō, Vērum etiam ventis volucrique fugacior aurā! At, bene sī nōris, pigeat fugisse, morasque 20 Ipsa tuas damnēs, et mē retinere labōrēs. OVID, Metamorphoses xiii 789-809. 5 ΙΟ 141. An Ancient Cockney Catullus laughs at some contemporary, who was in the habit of inserting an aspirate where it was not wanted. Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet Dīcere, et insidias Arrius hinsidias, Et tum mirificē spērābat sẽ esse locutum, Sīc māternus avus dixerat atque avia. Hōc missō in Syriam, requiêrant omnibus aurēs; Cum subito affertur nuntius horribilis Ioniōs fluctūs, postquam illuc Arrius isset, CATULLUS lxxxiv. and vices. 142. The Character of Cato Marcius Porcius Cato was the most typical of Romans, the incarnation of the national character in its virtues Born at Tusculum B. c. 234, he died at the age of 85. He fought against Hannibal, and later in Spain and Greece; he held all the high offices at Rome and gained especial fame as censor. His writings are lost except a treatise upon agriculture. He had greenish-gray eyes and sandy hair, an iron frame, and a stentorian voice. In hoc virò tanta vīs animi ingeniique fuit, ut, quocunque loco natus esset, fortunam sibi ipse facturus fuisse videretur. Nulla ars neque privātae neque publicae rei gerendae eī dēfuit; urbānās rusticasque res pariter callebat. Ad 5 summōs honōrēs aliōs scientia iūris, aliōs ēloquentia, alios glōria mīlitāris prōvexit; huic versatile ingenium sīc pariter ad omnia fuit, ut nātum ad id ūnum dīcerēs, quodcumque ageret. In bellō manu fortissimus multisque insignibus clārus 10 pugnis; idem, postquam ad magnōs honōrēs pervēnit, summus imperator; īdem in pace, si iūs consulerēs, perītissimus, sī causa ōranda esset, ēloquentissimus; nec is tantum, cuius lingua vīvō eō viguerit, monumentum eloquentiae nullum extet; 15 vivit immo vigetque eloquentia eius, sacrāta scriptis omnis generis. Orātiōnēs et prō sẽ multae et prō aliis et in aliōs; nam nōn sōlum accusando sed etiam causam dicendo fatīgāvit inimīcōs. Asperi 20 procul dubio animi et linguae acerbae et immodicē līberae fuit, sed invictī a cupiditātibus animī, rigidae innocentiae, contemptor gratiae, dīvitiārum. In parsimonia, in patientia labōris et periculi, ferrei prope corporis animīque, quem nē 25 senectus quidem, quae solvit omnia, frēgerit. LIVY xxxix 40, 4. 143. Country Pursuits The lover is advised to try the farmer's life as a remedy for love-sickness. Rūra quoque oblectant animōs studiumque colendi ; Quaelibet huic curae cēdere cūra potest. Colla iube domitos oneri suppōnere taurōs, Sauciet ut duram võmer aduncus humum; 5 Obrue versātā Ceriālia semina terrā, Quae tibi cum multo faenore reddet ager. Aspice curvātōs pōmōrum pondere rāmōs, Ut sua, quod peperit, vix ferat arbor onus. Aspice labentēs iūcundō murmure rīvōs; ΙΟ Aspice tondentes fertile gramen ovēs. Ecce, petunt rūpēs praeruptaque saxa capellae, Iam referent haedīs ūbera plēna suīs. Pastor inaequali moderatur harundine carmen, Nec desunt comitēs, sēdula turba, canēs. The Christians in Bithynia 143 Parte sonant alia silvae mūgītibus altae, Et tonsam rārō pectine verrit humum. Cum semel haec animum coepit mulcēre voluptas, OVID, Remedium Amoris 169-198. 144. The Christians in Bithynia This letter was written about 112 A.D. by Pliny in Bithynia to the emperor Trajan at Rome. Few remains of ancient literature are more famous. By other Latin authors of that date Christianity is barely mentioned ; but here we have an official document, written by a very competent observer, which tells us a good deal of the life of the Christian communities about 60 years after the Acts of the Apostles were written. C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI. Sollemne est mihi, domine, omnia, de quibus dubitō, ad tē referre. Quis enim potest melius vel cunctātiōnem meam regere vel ignorantiam instruere? 15 20 25 |