Epist. 1.10.1Urbis amātōrem Fuscum salvēre iubēmus
rūris amātōrēs, hāc in rē scīlicet ūnā
multum dissimilēs, at cētera paene gemellī
frāternīs animīs (quidquid negat alter, et alter)
5adnuimus pariter vetulī notīque columbī.We, lovers of the country, bid Fuscus, lover of the city, good health; very unlike in this one thing alone, but in everything else almost twins with brotherly hearts (whatever one refuses, the other refuses too), we nod assent together like a pair of old and familiar doves. Epist. 1.10.6Tū nīdum servās;You keep the nest; Epist. 1.10.6ego laudō rūris amoenī
rīvōs et muscō circumlita saxa nemusque.I praise the streams of the lovely countryside, and rocks overgrown with moss, and groves. Epist. 1.10.8Quid quaeris?What more would you have? Epist. 1.10.8Vīvō et regnō, simul ista relīquī
quae vōs ad caelum effertis rūmōre secundō,
10utque sacerdōtis fugitīvus lība recūsō;I live and reign as soon as I have left those things which you all extol to the skies with favouring applause, and, like a priest's runaway slave, I refuse sweet cakes; Epist. 1.10.11pāne egeō iam mellītīs potiōre placentīs.it is bread I need now, better than honeyed cakes.
Epist. 1.10.12Vīvere Nātūrae sī convenienter oportet,
pōnendaeque domō quaerenda est ārea prīmum,
nōvistīne locum potiōrem rūre beātō?If it is right to live in agreement with Nature, and a site must first be sought for setting a house on, do you know any place preferable to the blessed countryside? Epist. 1.10.15Est ubi plūs tepeant hiemēs, ubi grātior aura
lēniat et rabiem Canis et mōmenta Leōnis,
cum semel accēpit Sōlem furibundus acūtum?Is there anywhere winters are milder, where a more pleasant breeze soothes both the fury of the Dog Star and the onset of the Lion, once in his frenzy he has received the piercing Sun? Epist. 1.10.18Est ubi dīvellat somnōs minus invida Cūra?Is there anywhere less envious Care breaks off our sleep? Epist. 1.10.19Dēterius Libycīs olet aut nitet herba lapillīs?Is grass less fragrant or less bright than Libyan mosaic stones? Epist. 1.10.20Pūrior in vīcīs aqua tendit rumpere plumbum,
quam quae per prōnum trepidat cum murmure rīvum?Is the water purer that strains to burst the lead pipes in the streets than that which ripples murmuring down its sloping channel?
Epist. 1.10.22Nempe inter variās nūtrītur silva columnās,
laudāturque domus longōs quae prōspicit agrōs.Why, among your varied columns a wood is nurtured, and the house is praised that looks out over far-spreading fields. Epist. 1.10.24Nātūram expellēs furcā, tamen ūsque recurret,
25et mala perrumpet fūrtim fastīdia victrīx.You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she will always run back, and will steal victorious through your perverse disdain. Epist. 1.10.26Nōn, quī Sīdōniō contendere callidus ostrō
nescit Aquīnātem pōtantia vellera fūcum,
certius accipiet damnum propiusvē medullīs,
quam quī nōn poterit vērō distinguere falsum,
30quem rēs plūs nimiō dēlectāvēre secundae,
mūtātae quatient.The man who is not skilled at comparing fleeces that drink Aquinum's dye with Sidonian purple will not suffer a surer loss, or one closer to the marrow, than he who cannot distinguish false from true. He whom prosperity has delighted too much, its reversal will shake. Epist. 1.10.31Sī quid mīrābere, pōnēs
invītus, fuge magna: Licet sub paupere tēctō
rēgēs et rēgum vītā praecurrere amīcōs.If you admire anything, you will lay it down unwillingly. Flee greatness: under a poor roof one may outrun kings and the friends of kings in life.
Epist. 1.10.34Cervus equum pugnā melior commūnibus herbīs
35pellēbat, dōnec minor in certāmine longō
implōrāvit opēs hominis frēnum que recēpit;A stag, superior in fight, used to drive the horse from their common pasture, until the loser in the long contest begged the help of man and took the bit; Epist. 1.10.37sed postquam victor violēns discessit ab hoste,
nōn equitem dorsō, nōn frēnum dēpulit ōre.but after the horse, a violent victor, had left his enemy, he did not shake the rider from his back nor the bit from his mouth. Epist. 1.10.39Sīc quī pauperiem veritus potiōre metallīs
40lībertāte caret, dominum vehet improbus atque
serviet aeternum, quia parvō nesciet ūtī.So he who, fearing poverty, does without liberty, which is worth more than mines, will carry a master, the wretch, and will be a slave for ever, because he will not know how to make do with little. Epist. 1.10.42Cui nōn conveniet sua rēs, ut calceus ōlim,
sī pede maior erit, subvertet, sī minor, ūret.He whose fortune does not suit him will be like the shoe of old: if it is larger than his foot, it will trip him; if smaller, it will pinch.
Epist. 1.10.44Laetus sorte tuā vīvēs sapienter, Aristī,
45nec mē dīmittēs incastīgātum, ubi plūra
cōgere quam satis est ac nōn cessāre vidēbor,
imperat aut servit collēcta pecūnia cuique,
tortum digna sequī potius quam dūcere fūnem.Happy with your lot, you will live wisely, Aristius, nor will you let me go unrebuked when I seem to be amassing more than is enough and not stopping. Money that has been amassed is either master or slave to each man, and it ought to follow the twisted rope rather than lead it. Epist. 1.10.49Haec tibi dictābam post fānum putre Vacūnae,
50exceptō quod nōn simul essēs, cētera laetus.This I dictated to you behind the crumbling shrine of Vacuna, happy in everything except that you were not with me.