XVIII. Si bene te novi, metues, liberrime Lolli, scurrantis speciem praebere, professus amicum ut matrona meretrici dispar erit atque discolor, infido scurrae distabit amicus. est huic diversum vitio vitium prope maius, & asperitas agrestis et inconcinna gravisque, quae se commendat tonsa cute, dentibus atris, dum volt libertas dici mera veraque virtus. virtus est medium vitiorum et utrimque! reductum. alter in obsequium plus aequo pronus et imi 10 derisor lecti sic nutum divitis horret, sic iterat voces et verba cadentia tollit, ut puerum saevo credas dictata magistro reddere vel partis mimum tractare secundas, alter rixatur? de Jana saepe caprina,? 15 propugnat nugis armatus : “‘ scilicet, ut non sit mihi prima fides, et vere quod placet ut non acriter elatrem! pretium aetas altera sordet.”” 1 utrumque aR. 2 rixatur wss.: rixatus V: rixator Muretus. 2 caprina et Bentley. @ Of. Epist. i. 17. 19 and note. » pecérs Sto Kaxcdv (Arist. Nicomach. Eth. ti. 6). © Of Sat. ii. 8. 40f., where the seurrae were with the host on the lowest couch. 368Eristite XVIII If I know you well, my Lollius, most outspoken of men, you will shrink from appearing in the guise of a parasite * when you have professed the friend. As matron and mistress will differ in temper and tone, so will the friend be distinct from the faithless parasite, There is a vice the opposite of this— perhaps a greater one—a clownish rudeness, awkward and offensive, which commends itself by scraped skin and black teeth, while fain to pass for simple candour and pure virtue. Virtue is a mean between vices,? remote from both extremes. The one man, over-prone to servility, a jester of the lowest couch,’ so reveres the rich man’s nod, so echoes his speeches, and picks up his words as they fall, that you would think a schoolboy was repeating his lessons to a stern master or a mime-player acting asecond part. The other man wrangles often about goat’s wool,’ and donning his armour fights for trifles : “ To think, forsooth, that I should not find credence first, or that I should not blurt out strongly what I really think! A second life were poor at such a 4 In the mimes the actor playing second part commonly imitated the chief actor in word and gesture. «The question whether the hair of goats could be called lana or wool, was proverbial for a matter of no im- portance. 2B 369HORACE ambigitur quid enim? Castor sciat an Dolichos! plus; Brundisium Minuci melius via ducat an Appi. 20 Quem damnosa Venus, quem praeceps alea nudat, gloria quem supra vires et vestit et unguit, quem tenet argenti sitis importuna famesque, quem paupertatis pudor ct fuga, dives amicus, saepe decem vitiis instructior, odit et horret, 265 aut, si non odit, regit ac veluti pia mater plus quam se sapere et virtutibus esse priorem volt, et ait prope vera: ‘‘ meae (contendere noli) stultitiam patiuntur opes ; tibi parvola res est. arta decet sanum comitem toga; desine mecum 36 certare.” Eutrapelus, cuicumque nocere volebat, vestimenta dabat pretiosa: “ beatus enim iam cum pulchris tunicis sumet® nova consilia et spes, dormiet in lucem, scorto postponet honestum officium, nummos alienos pascet, ad imum 35 Thraex erit aut holitoris aget® mercede caballum.” Arcanum neque tu scrutaberis illius? umquam, commissumque teges et vino tortus et ira. : nec tua laudabis studia aut aliena reprendes,® nee, cum venari volet ille, poemata panges.® £0 gratia sic fratrum geminorum, Amphionis atque Zethi, dissiluit, donec suspecta severo conticuit lyra. fraternis cessisse putatur moribus Amphion : tu cede potentis amici 1 docilis ase. 2 sumit F. 3 aget EB: agit a3 4 ullius arss. 5 rependes PF. 6 pangas « These were actors or gladiators. . 5 The story of how the brothers Zethus and Amphion quarrelled about the rival merits of music and hunting was set forth by Euripides in his Antiope, and was reproduced in a play of the same name by Pacuvius. 870EPISTLES, I. xvirr. 19-44 price.” Why, what’s the question in dispute? Whether Castor or Dolichos* has more skill ; which is the better road to Brundisium, that of Minucius or that of Appius ! *t The man whom ruinous passion or desperate gambling strips bare, whom vanity dresses up and perfumes beyond his mearis, who is possessed by an insatiate hunger and thirst for money, by the shame and dread of poverty, his rich friend, though often ten times as well equipped with vices, hates and abhors ; or if he does not hate him schools him and like a fond mother would have him ‘wiser and more virtuous than himself. He says to him what is pretty nearly true: “ My wealth—don’t try to rival me— allows of folly: your means are but trifling. A narrow toga befits a client of sense; cease to vie with me.” Eutrapelus, if he wished to injure someone, would give him costly clothes: “for now,” said he, “the happy fellow will, together with his fine tunics, put on new plans and hopes, will sleep till dawn, will postpone honest business for a wanton, will swell his debts, and at last will become a gladiator, or the hired driver of a greengrocer’s nag.” %7 You will never pry into your patron’s secrets, and if one is entrusted to you, you will keep it, though wine or anger puts you on the rack. Again, you will neither praise your own tastes, nor find fault witb those of others, nor when your friend would go a-hunting, will you be penning poems. "Twas so that the brotherly bond between the twins Amphion and Zethus parted asunder, till the lyre, on which the stern one looked askance, was hushed.® Amphion, ’tis thought, yielded to his brother’s mood : do you yicld to your great friend’s gentle biddings ; 871HORACE lenibus imperiis, quotiensque educet! in agros 45 Aetolis? onerata plagis iumenta canesque, surge et inhumanae senium depone Camenae, cenes ut pariter pulmenta laboribus empta : Romanis sollemne viris opus, utile famae vitaeque et membris ; praesertim cum valeas et 50 vel cursu superare canem vel viribus aprum possis. adde virilia quod speciosius arma non est qui tractet ; scis, quo clamore coronae proelia sustineas campestria ; denique saevam militiam puer et Cantabrica bella tulisti 55 sub duce qui templis Parthorum signa refigit nunc et, si quid abest, Italis? adiudicat armis.4 Ac ne te retrahas et inexcusabilis absis, quamvis nil extra numerum fecisse modumque curas, interdum nugaris rure paterno : 60 partitur lintres exercitus, Actia pugna te duce per pucros hostili more® refertur ; adversarius est frater, lacus Hadria, donec alterutrum velox Victoria fronde coronet. consentire suis studiis qui crediderit te, 65 fautor utroque tuum laudabit pollice ludum. 1 educit M: ducit or ducet, I. 3 Aeoliis van Vliet. 3 abest aliis . * arvis Bentley. 5 mole B. 2 Probably a literary epithet, reminding the reader of the mythical boar-hunt of Meleager in Calydon. The con- jectural Aeoliis is explained as equivalent to Cumanis, because flax, which made strong nets (Pliny, N.IE xix. 1. 10), grew near Cumae, a colony from Cyme in Aeolia. 7 > Of. tu pulmentaria quaere sudando,” Sat. ii. 2-20. ¢ Cf. Sat. ii. 2.10f., where hunting is called Romana militia, 4 j.e. the sports of the Campus Martius. . ¢ In 20 a.c. Augustus recovered from the Parthians byEPISTLES, I. xvi. 45-66 and when he takes out into the country his mules laden with Aetolian ¢ nets, and his dogs, up with you and cast aside the glumness of your unsocial Muse, that you may share his supper with a relish, whereof toil has been the price \—’tis the wonted pastime of the heroes of Rome,’ is good for fame as well as for life and limb—especially when you are in health, and can outdo either the hound in speed or the boar in strength, Add that there is none who more grace- fully handles manly weapons : you know how loudly the ring cheers when you uphold the combats of the Campus In fine, while a mere youth, you served in a hard campaign, and in the Cantabrian wars, under a captain who even now is taking down our standards from the Parthian temples¢ and, if aught is still beyond our sway, is assigning it to the arms of Italy. °8 Further, that you may not draw back and stand aloof without excuse, bear in mind that, however much you take care to do nothing out of time and tune, you do sometimes amuse yourself at your father’s country-seat : your troops divide the skiffs /; with you as captain, the Actian fight is presented by your slaves in true foemen’s style ; opposing you is your brother, the lake is the Adriatic ; till winged Victory crowns with leafage one or the other chief- tain. He who believes that you fall in with his pursuits, will with both thumbs ? eagerly commend your sport. treaty the standards they had taken from Crassus ; of. Epist. i. 12. 28. ‘ In a sham fight on their father’s estate, Lollius and his brother have represented the famous battle of Actium. * A reference to the way in which the audience in the amphitheatre expressed approval. The precise form of the gesture referred to is doubtful. 373HORAGE Protinus ut moneam (si quid monitoris eges tu) quid de quoque viro et cui dicas, saepe videto. percontatorem fugito : nam garrulus idem est, nec retinent patulae commissa fideliter aures, 10 et semel emissum volat irrevocabile verbum. non ancilla tuum iecur ulceret ulla puerve intra marmoreum venerandi limen amici, ne dominus pueri! pulchri caraeve puellae munere te parvo beet aut incommodus angat. 15 qualem commendes, etiam atque etiam aspice, ne mox incutiant aliena tibi peccata pudorem. fallimur et quondam non dignum tradimus : ergo quem sua culpa premet, deceptus omitte tueri, ut penitus notum, si temptent crimina, serves 80 tuterisque tuo fidentem? praesidio : qui dente Theonino cum circumroditur, eequid® ad te post paulo ventura pericula sentis ? nam tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet, et neglecta solent incendia sumere vires. 85 Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici : expertus metuit.4 tu, dum tua navis in alto est, hoc age, ne mutata retrorsum te ferat aura. oderunt hilarem tristes tristemque iocosi, sedatum celeres, agilem navumque remissi ; 90 potores [bibuli media de nocte Falerni® oderunt] porrecta negantem pocula, quamvis nocturnos iures te formidare tepores. 1 pueri dominus FE, lemma in Porph. 2 fidens est yAl: fidenter. 3 et quid ER. * metuit aM: metuet 2, U1. 5 Line 91 does not occur in any good as. unless inserted by a late hand. Meineke deleted bibuli . . . oderunt and retained potores. ® Proverbial for calumny, though the origin of the ex- pression is unknown. 874EPISTLES, I. xvi. 67-93 87 To continue my advice, if you need advice in aught—think often of what you say, and of whom, and to whom you say it. Avoid a questioner, for he is also a tattler. Open ears will not keep secrets loyally, and the word once let slip flies beyond recall. Let no maid or boy within your worshipful friend’s marble threshold inflame your heart, lest the owner of the pretty boy or dear girl make you happy with a present so trifling or torment you if disobliging. What sort of a person you introduce, consider again and again, lest by and by the other’s failings strike you with shame. At times we err and present some- one unworthy: therefore, if taken in, forbear to defend him whose own fault drags him down, in order that, if charges assail one you know thoroughly, you may watch over and protect the man who relies on your championship. For when he is nibbled at with Theon’s tooth ¢ of slander, don’t you feel that a little later the peril will pass to yourself? "Tis your own safety that’s at stake, when your neighbour’s wall is in flames, and fires neglected are wont to gather strength. 86 Those who have never tried think it pleasant to court a friend in power ; one who has tried dreads it. While your barque is on the deep, see to it lest the breeze shift and bear you back. The grave dislike the gay, the merry the grave, the quick the staid, the lazy the stirring man of action: drinkers {who quaff Falernian in midnight hours] ® hate the man who declines the proffered cups, however much you swear that you dread fevers at night. Take the » The words bracketed in the Latin were probably intro- duced as a gloss from Epist. i. 14. 34. 375HORAOE deme supercilio nubem : plerumque modestus occupat obseuri speciem, taciturmus acerbi. 95 Inter cuncta leges et percontabere doctos, qua ratione queas traducere leniter aevum, num te semper inops agitet vexetque cupido, num! pavor et rerum mediocriter utilium spes, virtutem doctrina paret Naturane donet, 100 quid minuat curas, quid te tibi reddat amicum, quid pure tranquillet, honos an dulce lucellum, an secretum iter et fallentis semita vitae. Me quotiens reficit gelidus Digentia rivus, quem Mandela bibit, rugosus frigore pagus, 105 quid sentire putas? quid credis, amice, precari ? sit mihi quod nunc est, etiam minus, et? mihi vivam quod superest aevi, si quid superesse volunt di ; sit bona’ librorum et provisae frugis in annum copia, neu fluitem dubiae spe pendulus horae.4 10 Sed satis est orare Iovem, qui? ponit® et aufert, det vitam, det opes; aequum mi animum ipse parabo.” 1 num... num all good Mss., V: ne or non. 2 et V, 17: ut aEM Porph. ® spes bona Fi. “ aurae. 5 quae a, II. ® ponit V, IT: donat, 1. 2 i,¢. philosophers. » These are things which may be contrasted with virtue, the summem bonwm, e.g. our possessions, classed by the Stoics as dd:dpopa, indifferent things. © Whether virtue can be taught (&daxr}, of. doctrina) is discussed in Plato's Meno. 376EPISTLES, I. xv. 94-112 cloud from your brow ; shyness oft gets the look of secrecy, silence of sour temper. % Amid all this you must read and question the wise, how you may be able to pass your days in tranquillity. Is greed, ever penniless, to drive and harass you, or fears and hopes about things that profit little?’ Does wisdom beget virtue,’ or Nature bring her as a gift? What will lessen care ? What will make you a friend to yourself? What gives you unruffled calm—honour, or the sweets of dear gain, or a secluded journey along the pathway of a life unnoticed 4? 104 For me, oft as Digentia¢ refreshes me, the icy brook of which Mandela drinks, that village wrinkled with cold, what deem you to be my feclings ? What, think you, my friend, are my prayers? May I have my present store, or even less ; may I live to myself for what remains of life, if the gods will that aught remain. May I have a goodly supply of books and of food to last the year ; nor may I waver to and fro with the hopes of each uncertain hour. U1 But ‘tis enough to pray Jove, who gives and takes away, that he grant me life, and grant me means: a mind well balanced I will myself provide* 4 Cf. Epist. i. 17. 10. * Cf. Epist. i. 16. 5, with its note b. Mandela, now Cantalupo Bardella, is a lofty village, whose people came down to the Digentia for their water. t ie. the gods may give me life, and the means of ex- istence, but, as Henley says, ‘‘ I am the captain of my soul.”