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NOLI admirari, quare tibi femina nulla, |
1 |
You need not wonder why no dainty woman |
Rufe, uelit tenerum supposuisse femur, |
2 |
cares to put her tender thigh under you, Rufus, |
non si illam rarae labefactes munere uestis |
3 |
not though you may shake her by the gift of a dress of fine texture, |
aut perluciduli deliciis lapidis. |
4 |
or some delightful transparent jewel. |
|
laedit te quaedam mala fabula, qua tibi fertur |
5 |
What hurts you is a slander that says |
ualle sub alarum trux habitare caper. |
6 |
you have the rank goat under your armpits: |
|
hunc metuunt omnes, neque mirum: nam mala ualde est |
7 |
this is what they all fear, and no wonder; 'tis a horrid beast, |
bestia, nec quicum bella puella cubet. |
8 |
and no bedfellow for a pretty girl. |
|
quare aut crudelem nasorum interfice pestem, |
9 |
Then kill that which so cruelly outrages our noses , |
aut admirari desine cur fugiunt. |
10 |
or wonder no more why they run away. |