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Ad Alpēs/VII

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 Caput VI Caput VIII 
CAPUT VII

Posterō diē vectōrēs, maritimā iactātiōne[1] fessī, ē nāvī ēgredī cupiēbant; ac Cornēlius Onēsimum cum Stasimō ad quendam Crassum, hospitem suum, statim mīsit, ut eī nūntiāret ipsum[2] cum uxōre et līberīs in portū esse.

Interim omnēs tempus variē[3] trahēbant; dum enim servī redīrent, Cornēlius incertus erat quō[4] dēverteret. Sed iam accessit mercātor, dē quō suprā dīximus. Ille, ē nāvī ēgressūrus: “Gaudeō,” inquit, “nōs postrēmō ad terram incolumēs pervēnisse. Erat tempus cum putārem nōs numquam vīvōs patriam vīsūros esse.”

“Rēctē dīcis,” inquit Cornēlius. “Neptūnō certē grātia maxima habenda est, quod omnia tam fēliciter ēvēnērunt. Cum illōs naufragōs[5] miserōs in marī mersōs vidērēmus, paulum āfuit quīn[6] īlicō tabulam pictam[7] vovērem,[8] sī ūllō modō vim tempestātis nōs effugere potuissēmus.”

Et mercātor: “Profectō vēra sunt verba eius, quī apud[9] Plautum ita loquitur:

“‘Voluptās nūllast nāvitīs,[10] Messēniō,[11]
Maior meō animō,[12] quam quandō ex altō procul
Terram cōnspiciunt.’”


“Haec mē admonent,” inquit Pūblius, “dē carmine ā poētā Catullō scrīptō, cum domum redīsset, postquam in Asiā annum āfuit. Versūs aliquōs fortasse memoriā prōnūntiāre possum:

“‘Ō quid solūtīs[13] est beātius cūrīs,
Cum mēns onus repōnit,[14] ac peregrīnō
Labōre fessī vēnimus larem[15] ad nostrum
Dēsīderātōque[16] adquiēscimus[17] lectō!’”

“Tē laudō, Pūblī,” inquit Cornēlius, “quod tantam operam poētīs nostrīs dās;[18] etsī satis sciō multōs cīvēs nostrōs parvī[19] poētās omnēs facere. Sed nūlla est disciplīna, quā facilius ad hūmānitātem vēram perveniās.”[20]

“Sed mihi nunc abeundum est,” inquit mercātor. “Spērō aliquandō nōs iterum in urbe Rōmā convenīre posse. Iam valēte.”

“Vīve et valē,” inquiunt omnēs, ut mercātor in cymbam dēscendēbat; quī ad terram vectus brevī ē cōnspectū āmissus est inter hominēs quī convēnerant, ut cognōscerent quae nāvēs in portum noctū pervēnissent.

Interim līberī quam[21] longissimē prōspiciēbant, sī forte[22] Onēsimum et Stasimum redeuntēs aspicere possent. Cum autem diū frūstrā exspectāssent, Annam quaerere coepērunt, ratī eī persuādērī posse ut fābulam aliquam nārrāret, quō minus tardē hōrae discēdere vidērentur.

Anna, quae haud procul cum Lūciō cōnsēderat, cum līberōs vīdisset, rīsit et: “Quid nunc, līberī?” inquit. “Nōnne Onēsimus iam rediit?”

“Eum nusquam videō,” inquit Cornēlia. ‘Nōnne tū vīs aliquid nōbīs nārrāre, quō iūcundius tempus terere possīmus? Plūra dē virīs gentis vestrae audīre cupimus.”

“Vix intellegō unde potissimum[23] incipiam,” inquit Anna; “tam multa simul mihi in mentem veniunt; et ē multīs pauca ēligere haud facile est.”

“Dē bellātōribus aliquid dīc,” inquit Sextus. “Nihil eō[24] est iūcundius.”

At Cornēlia: “Nōlī ita facere, amābō,”[25] inquit. “Caedis et sanguinis mē iam diū taedet.[26] Aliquid et laetum et notābile nārrā, sīs.”

“Difficile est,” inquit Anna, “haec duo cōnfundere; sed experiar quidem: Ōlim erat vātēs, quī longē ā patriā in servitūtem dēductus erat. Diū apud[27] rēgem peregrīnum maximō in honōre habēbātur. Sed prīncipēs eius cīvitātis, invidiā commōtī, quod advena apud rēgem tantum[28] grātiā[29] valēbat, īnsidiās eī[30] fēcērunt.

“Vātēs deum patrium cotīdiē adōrābat, deīs autem aliīs exīstimābat nefās honōrem habērī.[31] Quārē inimīcī, quī haec omnia bene intellegēbant, rēgem dolō adortī, ‘Semper vīvās,[32] ō rēx!’ inquiunt. ‘Quod[33] neque in terrīs neque in caelō est quisquam tēcum cōnferendus, cēnsēmus ut ēdictum prōpōnās, nē quis[34] hīs[35] trīgintā diēbus quemquam nisi[36] tē adōret; sī quis aliter fēcerit, ad bēstiās damnātus estō.’[37]

“Rēx, quem dolus omnīnō fefellerat, honōre sibi habitō laetus, libenter id pollicitus est, atque ēdictum prōposuit. Tum sērō[38] sēnsit sē ā prīncipibus circumventum esse; ēdictum enim rēgis semel prōpositum nec rescindī[39] nec mūtārī poterat.

“Omnia maerēns temptāvit, quō modō vātem cōnservāret, sed nihil reperiēbat; cumque prīncipēs convēnissent hominisque mortem postulārent, trīstis vātem ad bēstiās damnāre coāctus est.”

“Vāh!” inquit Cornēlia. “Haec mihi vehementer displicent.[40] Nōnne modo dīxī mē[41] iam diū[42] caedis sanguinisque taedēre?”

At Anna: “Manēdum,”[43] inquit, “dum reliqua audiās. Vātēs interim nihil[44] terrēbātur; sed in spēluncam leōnum plēnam dēmissus, cum saxum magnum suprā collocātum esset nē quā[45] effugere posset, laudēs tamen clārē deō suō cantāvit.

“Iam rēx, vigiliīs dispositīs, animō maximē conturbātō domum sē contulerat, ubi nec cibum capere nec somnō quiēscere potuit; sed noctem tōtam sollicitus vigilābat. Cum diēs dēmum illūxisset,[46] ē lectō surrēxit et celeriter ad spēluncam pervēnit. Quō ubi ventum est, vōce lāmentābilī: ‘Vērī deī vātēs,’ inquit, ‘adhūc vīvis?’

“Tum ē spēluncā audīta est vōx vātis: ‘Semper vīvās, ō rēx! Salvus sum; nam deus patrius nūntium mīsit, quī faucēs[47] leōnum praeclūderet.’[48] Quō audītō, rēx gaudiō ēlātus saxum āmovērī iussit; vātēsque incolumis ē spēluncā in lūcem redditus est.”

“Euge!” inquit Cornēlia. “Quam gaudeō rem ēventum tam fēlīcem habuisse!”

At Sextus: “Quid factum est,[49] obsecrō, illīs prīncipibus scelestīs, quī tantum dolum frūstrā fabricātī[50] erant?”

“Omnēs,” inquit Anna, “in vincula celeriter coniectī ūnā[51] cum uxōribus līberīsque ad bēstiās damnātī sunt. Quōs, ubi[52] in spēluncam sunt dēmissī, leōnēs saeviter[53] dīlaniāvērunt.” Tum subitō: “Sed Stasimum mihi videor procul aspicere. Nōnne is est?”

“Est profectō ipse,” inquit Sextus; līberīque celeriter abiērunt, ut audīrent quid novī[54] adlātum esset.

Patria poētae catullī
Patria poētae catullī
Photograph by D. N. Robinson
patria poētae catullī
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References
  1. ↑ iactātiō, -ōnis, f., tossing.
  2. ↑ ipsum: i.e., Cornelius.
  3. ↑ variē, adv., in various ways.
  4. ↑ quō: cf. III, 82.
  5. ↑ naufragus, -ī, m., shipwrecked man.
  6. ↑ paulum āfuit quīn, it lacked little but that; trans. freely.
  7. ↑ pictus, -a, -um, adj., painted; tabula picta, a picture.
  8. ↑ voveō, vovēre, vōvī, vōtus, tr., vow.
  9. ↑ apud, in.
  10. ↑ nāvita, -ae, m., sailor.
  11. ↑ Messēniō: voc.
  12. ↑ meō animō, in my judgment.
  13. ↑ solūtīs, relaxed; with curīs (abl. with comp.)
  14. ↑ repōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positus, tr., lay down.
  15. ↑ lār, laris, m., freely, rooftree.
  16. ↑ dēsīderātus, -a, -um, adj., sing. longed for; abl. of place where in text.
  17. ↑ adquiēscō, -quiēscere, -quiēvī, intr., rest.
  18. ↑ quod … dās, for giving.
  19. ↑ parvī: gen. of value.
  20. ↑ perveniās: subj. indef. sec. sing.
  21. ↑ quam: cf. II, 74.
  22. ↑ forte: cf. V, 112.
  23. ↑ potissimum, best, i.e., by preference.
  24. ↑ eō: neut. abl., with comp.
  25. ↑ amābō: colloquial for obsecrō. It is an expression used mostly by women.
  26. ↑ taedet: impers.
  27. ↑ apud, at the court of.
  28. ↑ tantum: adv., lit., so much.
  29. ↑ grātiā: abl. of specif.
  30. ↑ eī, against him.
  31. ↑ honōrem habērī, that honor be paid. The clause is subject of esse understood.
  32. ↑ vīvās: a wish.
  33. ↑ Quod, since, in that.
  34. ↑ nē quis, (to the effect) that no one.
  35. ↑ hīs, these (coming).
  36. ↑ nisi: adv.
  37. ↑ damnātus estō: fut. imper.
  38. ↑ sērō, too late.
  39. ↑ rescindō, -scindere, -scidī, -scissus, tr., revoke.
  40. ↑ displiceō, -ēre, -uī, -itum, intr., be displeasing.
  41. ↑ mē: obj. of taedēre.
  42. ↑ iam diū: see note on IV, 113.
  43. ↑ -dum: particle, just (wait).
  44. ↑ nihil: adv. acc.; cf. III, 40.
  45. ↑ quā: cf. eā, IV, 9.
  46. ↑ illūcēscō, -lūcēscere, -lūxī, intr., dawn.
  47. ↑ faux, faucis, f.; pl., jaws.
  48. ↑ praeclūdō, -clūdere, -clūsī, -clūsus, tr., shut, stop.
  49. ↑ factum est, with abl., became (of).
  50. ↑ fabricor, -ārī, -ātus sum, tr. devise
  51. ↑ ūnā: adv.
  52. ↑ ubi, when.
  53. ↑ saeviter, adv., savagely.
  54. ↑ novī: neut.; partit. gen.
 Caput VI Caput VIII 
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