Gaius Valerius Catullus
84-54 BCE (over 2,000 years ago)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Golden Age/Republican Era)
XXIV. ad Iuuentium
O qui flosculus es Iuuentiorum,
[O you, who are the little flower of the Juventi,]
non horum modo,
[not only of these men,]
sed quot aut fuerunt
[but either so many were their number]
aut posthac aliis erunt in annis,
[or afterward there will be in later years,]
mallem diuitias Midae dedisses
isti,
[let me prefer to surrender the wealth of Midas to that kind of fellow]
cui neque seruus est neque arca,
[to whom neither a slave nor a chest belongs,]
quam sic te sineres ab illo amari.
[above a situation in which you thusly could allow yourself to be loved by THAT man.]
'qui? non est homo bellus?' inquies.
["Who's that? Isn't he a handsome chap?" you might ask.]
est:
[Sure he is.]
sed bello huic neque seruus est neque arca.
[But, handsome as he may be, he owns neither a slave nor a chest.]
hoc tu quam lubet abice eleuaque:
[For your sake, cast this thing away and rise it up, as you see fit]
nec seruum tamen ille habet neque arcam.
[that man still has no slave, and no chest.]
