Gaius Valerius Catullus
84-54 BCE (over 2,000 years ago)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Golden Age/Republican Era)
O FVNDE noster seu Sabine seu Tiburs
[O plantation, the Sabine one, or better yet, the one in Tivoli,]
(nam te esse Tiburtem autumant,
[you see, people say that you are a part of Tivoli,]
quibus non est
cordi Catullum laedere;
[that is, those who don't care to offend Catullus;]
at quibus cordi est,
[but to those that do care,]
quouis Sabinum pignore esse contendunt),
[they contend by whatever pledge possible that you are Sabine]
sed seu Sabine siue uerius Tiburs,
[but whether you are Sabine, or more accurately, belong to Tivoli,]
fui libenter in tua suburbana
uilla,
[I once enjoyed being in your country estate outside the city,]
malamque pectore expuli tussim,
[and I cast out a terrible cold from my chest,]
non inmerenti quam mihi meus uenter,
dum sumptuosas appeto, dedit, cenas.
[which my stomach gave to me, undeserving of course, while I was ravenous for sumptuous dinners.]
nam, Sestianus dum uolo esse conuiua,
[You see, although I wish to be dinner guest in Sestius' house,]
orationem in Antium petitorem
plenam ueneni et pestilentiae legi.
[I finished reading a prosecution speech against Antius, one full of venom and pestilence.]
hic me grauedo frigida et frequens tussis
quassauit usque, dum in tuum sinum fugi,
[At that point, a freezing cold and constant coughing shook me so much, while I fleed to your lap,]
et me recuraui otioque et urtica.
[and I healed myself from nettle and taking it easy.]
quare refectus maximas tibi grates
ago,
[So that's why, I, now recovered, give you the greatest thanks of all,]
meum quod non es ulta peccatum.
[because you have not avenged yourself against my mistake.]
nec deprecor iam,
[I no longer excuse myself,]
si nefaria scripta
Sesti recepso,
[if I ever receive the nefarious writings of Sestius,]
quin grauedinem et tussim
non mihi,
[not because of the cough and cold I had,]
sed ipsi Sestio ferat frigus,
[but because it might bear frost upon Sestius himself,]
qui tunc uocat me, cum malum librum legi.
[that is, the man who gives me an invitation, when I finished reading a perfidious book.]
