salue, teque bona Iuppiter auctet ope,

hail, and may Jupiter bless you with kindly help;

olim, cum sedes ipse senex tenuit,

when the old man himself held the house,

postquam es porrecto facta marita sene.

now that the old man is dead and laid out, and you are become the door of a wedded house.

in dominum ueterem deseruisse fidem.

and to have deserted your old faithfulness to your master.

culpa mea est, quamquam dicitur esse mea,

it is not my fault, though it is said to be mine,

uerum istius populi ianua qui te facit,

But of course people will have it that the door does it all;

ad me omnes clamant: ianua, culpa tua est.

cry out to me, "House-door, the fault is yours."

sed facere ut quiuis sentiat et uideat.

but so to do that any one may feel it and see it.

Nos uolumus: nobis dicere ne dubita.

I wish to know -- do not scruple to tell me.

falsum est. non illam uir prior attigerit,

She did not give her maidenhead to her husband,

numquam se mediam sustulit ad tunicam;

and could never rise to the middle of his tunic;

dicitur et miseram conscelerasse domum,

and disgraced the wretched home with his crime,

seu quod iners sterili semine natus erat,

or because his son was useless and could not have children,

quod posset zonam soluere uirgineam.

that could untie her girdle of virginity.

qui ipse sui gnati minxerit in gremium.

who urinated in his own son's lap.

Brixia Cycneae supposita speculae,

Brixia that lies close under the citadel of Chinea,

Brixia Veronae mater amata meae,

Brixia dear mother of my own Verona;

cum quibus illa malum fecit adulterium.

with whom she committed wicked adultery.

cui numquam domini limine abesse licet,

you who never may be away from your master's threshold,

tantum operire soles aut aperire domum?

have nothing to do but to shut or open the house?

solam cum ancillis haec sua flagitia,

with hushed voice alone with her maids,

speraret nec linguam esse nec auriculam.

that I had neither tongue nor ear.

nomine, ne tollat rubra supercilia.

by name, lest he should arch his red brows.

falsum mendaci uentre puerperium.

from a falsely imputed child-birth.