83.12 Ecce autem, ego dum cum ventis litigo, intravit
pinacothecam senex canus, exercitati vultus et qui videretur
nescio quid magnum promittere, sed cultu non proinde
speciosus, ut facile appareret eum
litterat
LXD But look, while I'm litigating with the breezes, an old white-haired man, with a troubled look, entered. There seemed to hang about him some nebulous promise of greatness. From his neglected grooming, it was evident that he was a man of letters, the sort whom wealthy men usually despise.
83.13 Is ergo ad latus constitit meum.
LXD Then he stood close beside me.
83.14 "Ego, inquit, poeta sum et, ut spero, non humillimi
spiritus, si modo coronis aliquid credendum est, quas etiam
ad imperitos deferre gratia solet.
LXD "I," said he, "am a poet and, I hope, not one lacking in talent, if one is to put any stock by laurels (which however grace is accustomed to grant also to the inexperienced).
83.15 'Quare ergo, inquis, tam male vestitus es?'
LXD "Why then," you ask, "are you so shabbily dressed?
83.16 Propter hoc ipsum.
LXD On account of this very fact.
83.17 Amor ingenii neminem unquam divitem fecit.
LXD The love of creative genius never made anyone rich.
83.18 "Qui pelago credit, magno se fenore tollit; qui pugnas
et castra petit, praecingitur auro; vilis adulator picto
iacet ebrius ostro, et qui sollicitat nuptas, ad praemia
peccat.
LXD 'Whoever trusts the sea gains great profits for himself. Whoever seeks battles and barracks girds himself with gold.
The fawning flatterer lies drunk in his purple-bordered toga, and whoever wrecks marriages, sins for financial reward.
83.19 Sola pruinosis horret facundia pannis, atque inopi
lingua desertas invocat artes.
LXD Eloquence alone shivers from the frost in tattered rags, and calls upon the abandoned arts with his plaintive song.'
84.1 "Non dubie ita est: si quis vitiorum omnium inimicus
rectum iter vitae coepit insistere, primum propter morum
differentiam odium habet: quis enim potest probare diversa?
LXD "Without a doubt, it is thus: if anyone is unfriendly to all vices and sets in to conduct his life uprightly, he is regarded with hatred, primarily because his behavior is different; for who is able to tolerate differences?
84.2 Deinde qui solas exstruere divitias curant, nihil volunt
inter homines melius credi, quam quod ipsi tenent.
LXD And then, they who only care about accumulating wealth, don't want anything else to be considered better among all mankind than what they themselves possess.
84.3 Insectantur itaque, quacunque ratione possunt,
litterarum amatores, ut videantur illi quoque infra pecuniam
positi.
LXD So they persecute the lovers of letters in any way they are able, so that they may be seen as inferior to those with money.
END
No comments:
Post a Comment