1. ibam:
cf. 6.112 and 122.
via sacra:
the Boulevards of Rome, the favorite lounging-place, alongside the
forum, and where the most brilliant outdoor life was carried on.
2. nugarum:
probably some effort in verse.
3. accurrit:
his manner of approach already suggests his effusiveness.
4. arrepta:
this action is also excessive; a simple salve would
have been enough. quid
agis: the common very familiar salutation, like How
are you? or How goes it? dulcissime,
etc., my dearest fellow; still more familiar.
rerum: partitive
genitive (equivalent to "in the world"), but the gender
of the adjective is determined by the sense. The best translation
is that given under the previous word.
5. suaviter,
etc.: a polite but distant reception of the salute; especially is
cupio, etc. (I wish you every success, I'm sure)
only an expression of thanks for his interest. ut
nunc est, i.e. as the times go.
6. adsectaretur,
followed me up, as Horace proceeds on his way.
numquid vis: the
regular formula of leave-taking, There's nothing I can do for
you, is there? occupo,
I anticipate him with.
7. noris nos,
yes, make my acquaintance. It was not uncommon to reply to
this formula in a sense contrary to its meaning, with a kind of pleasantry,
as, Yes, take care of yourself; but here the snob will not
be turned off, and so rudely tells the object of his address. The
verb properly depends on vis. docti,
an accomplished artist, i.e. a trained literary man, and
diner out, cf. v. 22.
pluris, etc.:
like O indeed! I shall think more of you, I'm sure, a cool
reply.
8. hoc,
i.e. on account of your accomplishments.
misere quaerens,
wretchedly anxious.
10. puero:
pretending to have some business with his slave who was following
him. sudor:
from desperation.
11. Bolane,
an unknown person of a hot temper. cerebri:
governed by felicem, Grammar § 218 c.
12. felicem,
equal to blessed with, because he would not be restrained
by politeness from shaking off the intruder, as Horace was.
tacitus, to
myself.
13. vicos,
urbem: i.e. talking about the parts of the city
as they went on, for the purpose of making conversation.
14. misere,
etc.: the bore could not help seeing that his presence was unwelcome,
and so resorts to the vulgar expedient of jesting about it in a way
which would be almost rude even in the greatest intimacy.
15. nil agis,
it's of no use. usque
tenebo, I will stick fast to you.
16. persequar,
I will follow you up. quo:
interrogative, whither? which way? nil
opus, etc., oh, there's no occasion for you to go
out of your way.
17. quendam,
a man.
18. cubat,
lies sick. hortos,
an estate on the Janiculum, left by Julius Caesar to the Roman people.
20. demitto
auriculas: as an indication of forced submission to a
disagreeable necessity. iniquae
mentis, of sullen temper.
21. The bore now
gradually leads up to his accomplishments to show what a useful friend
he would be in society.
22. Viscum,
Vilius Viscus Nervius; cf. I.10.83,
II.8.20.
23. Varium:
cf. I.5.40.
nam quis, etc:
for Horace's estimate of this accomplishment, see I.4.14.
24. membra
movere, dance.
25. mollius,
more gracefully. Dancing was a rather disreputable accomplishment
among the Romans at this time. (Cf. Cic. pro Mur. VI.13).
quod:
the acc. of the thing after invideat. Its antecedent
id or tale would be the object of
canto.
26. hic locus
erat, etc.: apparently the opportunity was his mention
of his accomplishments, to which Horace replies, as if feeling that
so accomplished a man was too valuable to expose to danger; "have
you any friends dependent on you?" implying that there is danger
in going to see the sick person. The answer destroys this hope of
getting rid of him, and Horace's reply as far as v. 35 must be supposed
to be made aside in his own thought. It is obvious that if Horace's
good nature would allow him to speak in that tone to the fellow, he
would have got rid of him long before.
29. confice:
jocosely said, as if he had bored all his friends to death, and now
was going to crown the whole by killing off Horace. Of course the
allusion to his destiny is an invention. Sabella:
the Sabines and the mountain people generally were famous for superstitions
and divination, acting, it would seem, as a sort of gypsies.
30. divina,
prophetic. urna,
in which the lots (sortes) were cast (cf. Od.
II.3.26), and shaken (mota), whereupon one came to
the surface, which was drawn out.
32. tussis:
i.e. consumption. tarda,
crippling: a transferred epithet; it was the patient that
was the show.
33. quando.
. .cumque, at some time or other, whenever it
is.
35. Vestae
(Grammar § 214.b): in their ramble they had come to the south
end of the Forum, near which was the temple of Vesta and the courts
of justice. quarta:
i.e. it was past nine.
36. vadato,
a plaintiff in a lawsuit, who had made him give bail to appear
on this day.
37. debebat,
he was bound. fecisset:
in informal indirect discourse for fecerit of the
direct (cf. reddidisses, Od. I.10.9), as
it would appear in the terms of the contract of bail.
perdere (with
debebet): i.e. the case would go against
him by default.
38. si me
amas, equal to if you will be so kind. Prosody,
e shortened before a, as in Greek.
ades, attend
me; as advocatus, not an advocate, but an adviser and
friend to suggest the law and give him moral support.
inteream, confound
me. The condition (si valeo, etc.) is of the
kind where no opinion is expressed, and a wish takes the place of
the indicative in apodosis.
39. stare:
best taken literally, "bear the fatigue of the court."
novi, etc.: i.e.
he would be of no use.
41. rem,
his case. sodes
(si audes, if you please), i.e. by all means.
43. victore:
i.e. he had beaten him so many times that Horace was now
discouraged and let him have his own way. Maecenas,
etc.: the bore now comes to his real object. quomodo,
equal to on what terms.
44. hinc
repetit, he begins again (his talk) with
that. paucorum,
etc., of few friends, and has a very level head, i.e. has
made a shrewd use of his luck. This is said as if Maecenas' choice
of friends had been prompted by such motives.
45. haberes
(in the contrary to fact construction) implies, of course, that Horace
has no desire of making his acquaintance, but thereby makes the request
all the more importunate.
46. secundas
(sc. partes), etc., support you,
or with another figure, play into your hands.
47. hunc
hominem, your humble servant.
tradere, introduce,
a technical term, almost. dispeream:
the same construction as in v. 38;
its protasis is the truth of the proposition ni summosses,
which is itself conditioned on the preceding si velles.
48. summosses:
the pluperfect seems to refer to the rapidity of the action; you
would shove them all aside in a twinkling. Horace hereupon endeavors
to persuade the bore that he misunderstands the situation; the coterie
has no such relations among its members.
49. domus:
of Maecenas. purior,
more free.
50. aliena,
at variance with.
52. magnum,
etc.: the bore cannot believe in such a state of things; so he flatteringly
says that it increases his eagerness to get into the set.
54. Horace now changes
his tone, and says humorously that he has only to try and he will
succeed, no doubt covertly alluding to the bore's prowess in his own
case.
55. est qui,
etc.: i.e. he has his weak spots, and so guards more carefully
the first access to him.
56. Horace shows
the worthless character of the fellow by the view which he takes of
Horace's suggestion, and the means which he proposes to use.
58. tempora,
favorable opportunities.
59. triviis,
at the street corners. deducam,
escort to the Forum, a technical expression.
nil, etc.: the
comic effect is heightened by the use of a proverb which in the mouth
of a hero would be commendable. The kind of labor referred to, however,
makes it contemptible here.
60. haec
dum agit, while he is talking in this way.
61. Fuscus
Aristius, one of the poet's best friends. Cf. I.10.83,
Ep. I.10, Od. I.22.
62. nosset:
a characteristic relative clause, showing clearly the nature of such
clauses by its connection with an adjective, to which it is equivalent.
unde venis,
etc.: ordinary familiar salutations.
63. rogat,
etc., is asked and answered, on both sides.
vellere, etc.:
the poet begins to nudge him (strictly, pull his toga), and make signs
for Fuscus to relieve him by claiming an engagement with him, or the
like.
64. lentissima,
unresponsive, which did not resist enough to feel the pull.
65. male
salsus, the wicked wag, wishing to play a malicious
joke on Horace.
66. dissimulare,
pretended not to notice it. bilis:
the bile was anciently supposed to be the seat of the passions, here
of anger.
67. certe,
etc., I'm sure you were saying, etc., making up an engagement
for the purpose.
69. tricesima:
the Jews seem to have had a festival once a month, not strictly the
thirtieth Sabbath, but so called because of the familiar weekly Sabbath.
The mention of the Jews at all shows an extraordinary spread of their
rites. vin',
the colloquial form for visne, as in the comedy.
70. curtis,
circumcised. oppedere:
a coarse term for insult, of course by doing business on
their holy day.
71. religio,
religious scruple. infirmior:
rather weak in those matters, not strong-minded enough to be free
from superstition.
72. huncine,
etc.: a construction especially common in the Comedy, equal to to
think that this, etc.
73. surrexe,
old form for surrexisse, cf. 5.79.
74. sub cultro:
a figure from the sacrifice.
75. adversarius,
the same person referred to as vadatus in v.
36. quo
(sc. is), i.e. why don't you appear?
76. licet
antestari: the formula used to appeal to a person, asking
his permission to use him as a witness; here, of course, to establish
the fact that the man was found breaking his bail, in which case the
plaintiff could seize him.
77. auriculam:
the party seems to have touched the ear, the seat of memory, to warn
the witness to remember the circumstances. See Ecl. VI.4,
and Fig. 21, Greenough's Virgil.
78. Apollo:
probably only as the president of the Muses, and patron of poetry
and guardian of poets. The poet's usual guardian is Mercury (Od.
II.17.29). |
