Sunday, December 08, 2024
Such a Man Am I
Horace, Epistles 1.15.42-46 (to Numonius Vala; tr. H. Rushton Fairclough):
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Such a man, in truth, am I. When means fail, I cry up a safe and lowly lot, resolute enough where all is paltry: but when something better and richer comes my way I, the same man, say that only men like you are wise and live well—whose invested wealth is displayed in handsome villas.The same (tr. Colin Macleod):
nimirum hic ego sum. nam tuta et parvola laudo,
cum res deficiunt, satis inter vilia fortis:
verum ubi quid melius contingit et unctius, idem
vos sapere et solos aio bene vivere, quorum 45
conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia villis.
That's just like me: all for the simple life
when short of cash, and brave enough about it;
but in better and fatter times my opinion is,
you can only be wise and happy with visible assets
soundly invested in fine residences.
