Wherefore I admit the wealth, whilst
everything
is wanting.
Catullus - Carmina
In the first consulate of Pompey, two, Cinna, were wont to frequent
Mucilla: now again made consul, the two remain, but thousands may be added
to each unit. The seed of adultery is fecund.
CXIIII.
Firmano saltu non falso Mentula dives
Fertur, qui tot res in se habet egregias,
Aucupium, omne genus piscis, prata, arva ferasque.
Nequiquam: fructibus sumptibus exuperat.
Quare concedo sit dives, dum omnia desint. 5
Saltum laudemus, dum modo _eo_ ipse egeat.
CXIIII.
ON MAMURRA'S SQUANDERING.
For yon Firmian domain not falsely Mentula hight is
Richard, owning for self so many excellent things--
Fish, fur, feather, all kinds, with prairie, corn-land, and ferals.
All no good: for th' outgoing, income immensely exceeds.
Therefore his grounds be rich own I, while he's but a pauper. 5
Laud we thy land while thou lackest joyance thereof.
With Firmian demesne not falsely is Mentula deemed rich, who has everything
in it of such excellence, game preserves of every kind, fish, meadows,
arable land and ferals. In vain: the yield is o'ercome by the expense.
Wherefore I admit the wealth, whilst everything is wanting. We may praise
the demesne, but its owner is a needy man.
CXV.
Mentula habes instar triginta iugera prati,
Quadraginta arvi: cetera sunt maria.
Cur non divitiis Croesum superare potissit
Vno qui in saltu totmoda possideat,
Prata, arva, ingentes silvas saltusque paludesque 5
Vsque ad Hyperboreos et mare ad Oceanum?
Omnia magna haec sunt, tamen ipse's maximus ultro,
Non homo, sed vero mentula magna minax.
CXV.
OF THE SAME.
Mentula! masterest thou some thirty acres of grass-land
Full told, forty of field soil; others are sized as the sea.
Why may he not surpass in his riches any a Croesus
Who in his one domain owns such abundance of good,
Grass-lands, arable fields, vast woods and forest and marish 5
Yonder to Boreal-bounds trenching on Ocean tide?
Great are indeed all these, but thou by far be the greatest,
Never a man, but a great Mentula of menacing might.
Mentula has something like thirty acres of meadow land, forty under
cultivation: the rest are as the sea. Why might he not o'erpass Croesus in
wealth, he who in one demesne possesses so much? Meadow, arable land,
immense woods, and demesnes, and morasses, e'en to the uttermost north and
to the ocean's tide! All things great are here, yet is the owner most great
beyond all; not a man, but in truth a Mentule mighty, menacing!
