|
EGNATIVS, quod candidos habet dentes, |
1 |
EGNATIVS, because he has white teeth, |
| renidet usque quaque.
si ad rei uentum est |
2 |
is everlastingly smiling.
If people come to the prisoner's bench, |
| subsellium, cum orator
excitat fletum, |
3 |
the counsel for the defence
is making every one cry, |
| renidet ille; si ad pii
rogum fili |
4 |
he smiles: if they are
mourning at the funeral of a dear son, |
| lugetur, orba cum flet
unicum mater, |
5 |
when the bereaved mother
is weeping for her only boy, |
| renidet ille. quidquid
est, ubicumque est, |
6 |
he smiles: whatever it
is, wherever he is, |
| quodcumque agit, renidet:
hunc habet morbum, |
7 |
whatever he is doing,
he smiles: it is a malady he has, |
| neque elegantem, ut arbitror,
neque urbanum. |
8 |
neither an elegant one
as I think, nor in good taste. |
| quare monendum est te
mihi, bone Egnati. |
9 |
So I must give you a bit
of advice, my good Egnatius. |
| si urbanus esses aut Sabinus
aut Tiburs |
10 |
If you were a Roman or
a Sabine or a Tiburtine |
| aut pinguis Vmber aut
obesus Etruscus |
11 |
or a pig of an Umbrian
or a plump Etruscan, |
| aut Lanuuinus ater atque
dentatus |
12 |
or a black and tusky Lanuvian, |
| aut Transpadanus, ut meos
quoque attingam, |
13 |
or a Transpadane (to touch
on my own people too), |
| aut quilubet, qui puriter
lauit dentes, |
14 |
or anybody else who washes
his teeth with clean water, |
| tamen renidere usque quaque
te nollem: |
15 |
still I should not like
you to be smiling everlastingly; |
| nam risu inepto res ineptior
nulla est. |
16 |
for there is nothing more
silly than a silly laugh. |
| nunc Celtiber es: Celtiberia
in terra, |
17 |
As it is, you are a Celtiberian;
now in the Celtiberian country |
| quod quisque minxit, hoc
sibi solet mane |
18 |
the natives rub their
teeth and red gums, |
| dentem atque russam defricare
gingiuam, |
19 |
every morning with what
they have urinated, |
| ut quo iste uester expolitior
dens est, |
20 |
so that the cleaner your
teeth are, |
| hoc te amplius bibisse
praedicet loti. |
21 |
the more urine you are
shown to have drunk. |