6AHigh life and society (Text pp. 220–33)
General note
Everything you read from now on is unadapted. Notes on grammar, and difficult expressions and background information, follow each Running Vocabulary. There are grammar sections and exercises on metre. We have produced selected answers to these exercises below.
Translation of 6A
6A (i)
You will dine well, my Fabullus, at my house
in a few days, gods willing,
if you bring with you a good, big
dinner, not forgetting a pretty girl,
[5] wine, wit and all the giggles.
As I say, if you bring this, my charmer,
you will dine well; for your Catullus’
little purse is full of cobwebs.
But in return you will get unmixed passion,
[10] or whatever is sweeter or classier:
for I shall give you a perfume which my girl
was given by Venuses and Cupids,
and when you smell it, you will ask the gods
to make you all, Fabullus, nose.
Now learn the Learning vocabulary at Text p. 221.
6A (ii)
Marrucinus Asinius, your left hand
you do not use agreeably: over jokes and wine
you lift the linen of the rather negligent.
Do you think this is witty? You're wrong, idiot:
[5] it's ever such a cheap and tasteless trick.
You don't believe me? Believe Pollio,
your brother, who even if it cost him a million,
would like to reform your larceny: for he's
a lad stuffed full of charm and wit.
[10] And so it's either three hundred insulting verses
you can expect or you can return my linen,
which does not bother me in terms of its value,
but is a souvenir of a good old pal of mine.
For they were Spanish napkins from Saetabis
[15] that were sent to me as a gift by Fabullus
and Veranius: I've got to love these napkins
as much as my little Veranius and Fabullus.
Now learn the Learning vocabulary at GE p. 223.
6A (iii)
Yesterday, Licinius, at leisure
we played around a lot on my writing-tablets,
writing gay verse, as we'd agreed:
as each of us wrote short poems,
[5] we played around in different metres,
capping each other over our jokes and wine.