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ADESTE, hendecasyllabi, quot estis
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1
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Hither from all sides, hendecasyllables, as many as
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omnes undique, quotquot estis omnes.
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2
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there are of you, all of you as many as there are.
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iocum me putat esse moecha turpis,
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3
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An ugly drab thinks she may make fun of me,
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et negat mihi nostra reddituram
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4
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and says she will not give me back your tablets,
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pugillaria, si pati potestis.
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5
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if you can submit to that.
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persequamur eam et reflagitemus.
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6
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Let us follow her, and demand them back again.
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quae sit, quaeritis? illa, quam uidetis
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7
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You ask who she is? That one whom you see
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turpe incedere, mimice ac moleste
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8
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strutting with an ugly gait, grinning like a vulgar mountebank
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ridentem catuli ore Gallicani.
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9
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with the gape of a Cisalpine hound.
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circumsistite eam, et reflagitate,
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10
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Stand round her and call for them back
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'moecha putida, redde codicillos,
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11
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"Dirty drab, give back the tablets,
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redde putida moecha, codicillos!'
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12
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give back the tablets, dirty drab!"
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non assis facis? o lutum, lupanar,
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13
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Don't you care a penny for that? O filth! O beastliness!
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aut si perditius potes quid esse.
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14
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or anything else that I can call you worse still!
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sed non est tamen hoc satis putandum.
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15
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But we must not think this enough.
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quod si non aliud potest ruborem
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16
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Well, if nothing else can do it, let us force
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ferreo canis exprimamus ore.
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17
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a blush from the brazen face of the beast:
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conclamate iterum altiore uoce.
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18
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call out again with louder voice,
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'moecha putide, redde codicillos,
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19
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"Dirty drab, give back the tablets,
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redde, putida moecha, codicillos!'
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20
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give back the tablets, dirty drab!"
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sed nil proficimus, nihil mouetur.
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21
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We get noing by that: she does not mind.
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mutanda est ratio modusque uobis,
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22
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You must change your plan and method,
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siquid proficere amplius potestis:
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23
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if you can do better so:
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'pudica et proba, redde codicillos.'
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24
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"Maiden modest and chaste, give back the tablets."
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