The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace Part 8

SATIRE V.

HOC QUOQUE, TIRESIA.

ULYSSES. TIRESIAS.

ULYSSES

Now, good Tiresias, add one favour more To those your kindness has vouchsafed before, And tell me by what ways I may redeem My broken fortunes--You're amused, 'twould seem.

T. You get safe home, you see your native isle, And yet it craves for more, that heart of guile!

U. O source of truth unerring, you're aware, I reach my home impoverished and stripped bare (So you predict), and find nor bit nor sup, My flocks all slaughtered and my wines drunk up: Yet family and worth, without the staff Of wealth to lean on, are the veriest draff.

T. Since, in plain terms, 'tis poverty you fear, And riches are your aim, attend and hear.

Suppose a thrush or other dainty placed At your disposal, for your private taste, Speed it to some great house, all gems and gold, Where means are ample, and their master old: Your choicest apples, ripe and full of juice, And whatsoe'er your garden may produce, Before they're offered at the Lares' shrine, Give them to your rich friend, as more divine: Be he a branded slave, forsworn, distained With brother's blood, in short, a rogue ingrained, Yet walk, if asked, beside him when you meet, And (pray mind this) between him and the street.

U. What, give a slave the wall? in happier days, At Troy, for instance, these were not my ways: Then with the best I matched myself.

T. Indeed? I'm sorry: then you'll always be in need.

U. Well, well, my heart shall bear it; 'tis inured To dire adventure, and has worse endured.

Go on, most worthy augur, and unfold The arts whereby to pile up heaps of gold.

T. Well, I have told you, and I tell you still: Lay steady siege to a rich dotard's will; Nor, should a fish or two gnaw round the bait, And 'scape the hook, lose heart and give up straight.

A suit at law comes on: suppose you find One party's old and childless, never mind Though law with him's a weapon to oppress An upright neighbour, take his part no less: But spurn the juster cause and purer life, If burdened with a child or teeming wife.

"Good Quintus," say, or "Publius" (nought endears A speaker more than this to slavish ears), "Your worth has raised you up a friend at court; I know the law, and can a cause support; I'd sooner lose an eye than aught should hurt, In purse or name, a man of your desert: Just leave the whole to me: I'll do my best To make you no man's victim, no man's jest."

Bid him go home and nurse himself, while you Act as his counsel and his agent too; Hold on unflinching, never bate a jot, Be it for wet or dry, for cold or hot, Though "Sirius split dumb statues up," or though Fat Furius "spatter the bleak Alps with snow."

"What steady nerve!" some bystander will cry, Nudging a friend; "what zeal! what energy!

What rare devotion!" ay, the game goes well; In flow the tunnies, and your fish-ponds swell.

Another plan: suppose a man of wealth Has but one son, and that in weakly health; Creep round the father, lest the court you pay To childless widowers your game betray, That he may put you second, and, in case The poor youth die, insert you in his place, And so you get the whole: a throw like this, Discreetly hazarded, will seldom miss.

If offered by your friend his will to read, Decline it with a "Thank you! no, indeed!"

Yet steal a side-long glance as you decline At the first parchment and the second line, Just to discover if he leaves you heir All by yourself, or others have a share.

A constable turned notary oft will cheat Your raven of the cheese he thought to eat; And sly Nasica will become, you'll see, Cora.n.u.s' joke, but not his legatee.

U. What? are you mad, or do you mean to balk My thirst for knowledge by this riddling talk?

T. O Laertiades! what I foreshow To mortals, either will take place or no; For 'tis the voice of Phoebus from his shrine That speaks in me and makes my words divine.

U. Forgive my vehemence, and kindly state The meaning of the fable you narrate.

T. When he, the Parthian's dread, whose blood comes down E'en from Aeneas' veins, shall win renown By land and sea, a marriage shall betide Between Cora.n.u.s, wight of courage tried, And old Nasica's daughter, tall and large, Whose sire owes sums he never will discharge.

The duteous son-in-law his will presents, And begs the sire to study its contents: At length Nasica, having long demurred, Takes it and reads it through without a word; And when the whole is done, perceives in fine That he and his are simply left--to whine.

Suppose some freedman, or some crafty dame Rules an old driveller, you may join their game: Say all that's good of them to him, that they, When your back's turned, the like of you may say This plan has merits; but 'tis better far To take the fort itself, and end the war.

A shrewd old crone at Thebes (the fact occurred When I was old) was thus by will interred: Her corpse was oiled all over, and her heir Bore it to burial on his shoulders bare: He'd stuck to her while living; so she said She'd give him, if she could, the slip when dead.

Be cautious in attack; observe the mean, And neither be too lukewarm, nor too keen.

Much talk annoys the testy and morose, But 'tis not well to be reserved and close.

Act Davus in the drama: droop your head, And use the gestures of a man in dread.

Be all attention: if the wind is brisk, Say, "Wrap that precious head up! run no risk!"

Push shouldering through a crowd, the way to clear Before him; when he maunders, p.r.i.c.k your ear.

He craves for praise; administer the puff Till, lifting up both hands, he cries "Enough."

But when, rewarded and released, at last You gain the end of all your service past, And, not in dreams but soberly awake, Hear "One full quarter let Ulysses take,"

Say, once or twice, "And is good Dama dead?

Where shall I find his like for heart and head?"

If possible, shed tears: at least conceal The tell-tale smiles that speak the joy you feel.

Then, for the funeral: with your hands untied, Beware of erring upon meanness' side: No; let your friend be handsomely interred, And let the neighbourhood give you its good word.

Should one of your co-heirs be old, and vexed With an inveterate cough, approach him next: A house or lands he'd purchase that belong To your estate: they're his for an old song.

But Proserpine commands me; I must fly; Her will is law; I wish you health; good-bye.

SATIRE VI.

HOC ERAT IN VOTIS.

This used to be my wish: a bit of land, A house and garden with a spring at hand, And just a little wood. The G.o.ds have crowned My humble vows; I prosper and abound: Nor ask I more, kind Mercury, save that thou Wouldst give me still the goods thou giv'st me now: If crime has ne'er increased them, nor excess And want of thrift are like to make them less; If I ne'er pray like this, "O might that nook Which spoils my field be mine by hook or crook!

O for a stroke of luck like his, who found A crock of silver, turning up the ground, And, thanks to good Alcides, farmed as buyer The very land where he had slaved for hire!"

If what I have contents me, hear my prayer: Still let me feel thy tutelary care, And let my sheep, my pastures, this and that, My all, in fact, (except my brains,) be fat.

Now, lodged in my hill-castle, can I choose Companion fitter than my homely Muse?

Here no town duties vex, no plague-winds blow, Nor Autumn, friend to graveyards, works me woe.

Sire of the morning (do I call thee right, Or hear'st thou Ja.n.u.s' name with more delight?) Who introducest, so the G.o.ds ordain, Life's various tasks, inaugurate my strain.

At Rome to bail I'm summoned. "Do your part,"

Thou bidd'st me; "quick, lest others get the start."

So, whether Boreas roars, or winter's snow Clips short the day, to court I needs must go.

I give the fatal pledge, distinct and loud, Then pus.h.i.+ng, struggling, battle with the crowd.

"Now, madman!" clamours some one, not without A threat or two, "just mind what you're about: What? you must knock down all that's in your way, Because you're posting to Maecenas, eh?"

This pleases me, I own; but when I get To black Esquiliae, trouble waits me yet: For other people's matters in a swarm Buzz round my head and take my ears by storm.

"Sir, Roscius would be glad if you'd arrange By eight a. m. to be with him on 'Change."

"Quintus, the scribes entreat you to attend A meeting of importance, as their friend."

"Just get Maecenas' seal attached to these."

"I'll try." "O, you can do it, if you please."

Seven years, or rather eight, have well-nigh pa.s.sed Since with Maecenas' friends I first was cla.s.sed, To this extent, that, driving through the street, He'd stop his car and offer me a seat, Or make such chance remarks as "What's o'clock?"

"Will Syria's champion beat the Thracian c.o.c.k?"

"These morning frosts are apt to be severe;"

Just chit-chat, suited to a leaky ear.

Since that auspicious date, each day and hour Has placed me more and more in envy's power: "He joined his play, sat next him at the games: A child of Fortune!" all the world exclaims.

From the high rostra a report comes down, And like a chilly fog, pervades the town: Each man I meet accosts me "Is it so?

You live so near the G.o.ds, you're sure to know: That news about the Dacians? have you heard No secret tidings?" "Not a single word."

"O yes! you love to banter us poor folk."

"Nay, if I've heard a t.i.ttle, may I choke!"

"Will Caesar grant his veterans their estates In Italy, or t'other side of the straits?"

I swear that I know nothing, and am dumb: They think me deep, miraculously mum.