Life without forks (Catullus 12)
Catullus may seem unduly harsh on the napkin thief Marrucinus Asinius, says Aaron Brumbaugh, however the poem’s main point is not to shame Marrucinus but to show the value of true friendship over material possessions. Catullus 12, read, translated, and discussed by Aaron Brumbaugh.
Marrucine Asini, manu sinistra 12.1
non belle uteris in ioco atque vino:
tollis lintea neglegentiorum.
hoc salsum esse putas? fugit te, inepte:
quamvis sordida res et invenustast. 5
non credis mihi? crede Pollioni
fratri, qui tua furta vel talento
mutari velit: est enim leporum
differtus puer ac facetiarum.
quare aut hendecasyllabos trecentos 10
exspecta, aut mihi linteum remitte;
quod me non movet aestimatione,
verumst mnemosynum mei sodalis.
nam sudaria Saetaba ex Hiberis
miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus 15
et Veranius: haec amem necessest
ut Veraniolum meum et Fabullum.
latin-poetry-podcast Said,
May 17, 2012 @ 2:47 pm
This is very clear and well-written, Aaron. And the Latin reading is awesome–nice job getting those elisions and subtly bringing out the meter!