Persius, Saturae

Iuppiter? aut quidnam est qua tu mercede deorum

Jupiter? Or what is the fee with which you have bought the gods'

emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis?

little ears? With lungs and greasy guts?

Ecce avia aut metuens divum matertera cunis

Look: a grandmother, or an aunt who fears the gods, from the cradle

exemit puerum, frontemque atque uda labella

has lifted the boy, and his forehead and wet little lips

infami digito et lustralibus ante salivis

with the infamous finger and with purifying spittle beforehand

expiat, urentis oculos inhibere petita;

she purifies, skilled at checking the burning eyes;

tunc manibus quatit et spem macram supplice voto

then she jiggles him in her hands, and her meagre hope, with suppliant prayer,

nunc Licini in campos, nunc Crassi mittit in aedis:

sends now into the estates of Licinus, now into the mansions of Crassus:

hunc optent generum rex et regina; puellae

'May a king and queen want him for a son-in-law; may the girls

hunc rapiant; quidquid calcaverit hic, rosa fiat.

snatch at him; whatever he treads on, may it turn to a rose.'

ast ego nutrici non mando vota; negato,

But I do not entrust my prayers to a nurse; refuse

Iuppiter, haec illi, quamvis te albata rogarit!

her these things, Jupiter, even though she asks you dressed in white!

Poscis opem nervis corpusque fidele senectae,

You ask for strength for your sinews and a body that will stay faithful in old age:

esto, age; sed grandes patinae tuccetaque crassa

so be it, go on; but great platters and fat meat dishes

cretata ambitio? vigila et cicer ingere large

chalk-whitened ambition? Keep watch, and pour chickpeas lavishly

rixanti populo, nostra ut Floralia possint

on the brawling crowd, so that our Floralia can be

aprici meminisse senes! quid pulchrius? at cum

remembered by old men in the sun! What is finer? But when

Herodis venere dies unctaque fenestra

Herod's days have come, and at the greasy window

dispositae pinguem nebulam vomuere lucernae

the lamps set out in rows have spewed a fatty fog,

portantes violas rubrumque amplexa catinum

carrying violets, and, embracing a red dish,

cauda natat thynni, tumet alba fidelia vino,

the tail of a tuna swims, and the white jar swells with wine,

labra moves tacitus recutitaque sabbata palles.

you move your lips silently and turn pale at the circumcised sabbaths.

tum nigri lemures ovoque pericula rupto,

Then black lemures [ghosts of the dead] and the dangers from a broken egg,

tum grandes galli et cum sistro lusca sacerdos

then the huge galli [eunuch priests of Cybele] and the one-eyed priestess with her sistrum

incussere deos inflantis corpora, si non

have struck into you gods who swell up bodies, unless

praedictum ter mane caput gustaveris alii.

you have tasted the prescribed head of garlic three times in the morning.

Dixeris haec inter varicosos centuriones,

Say these things among the varicose-veined centurions,

continuo crassum ridet Pulfenius ingens

and at once huge Pulfenius laughs a coarse laugh