LectitōOpen the reader

Lectitō › Horace › Epistles, Book 1 › Horace, Epistles 1.8

Horace · Epistles I

Horace, Epistles 1.8

A message for Celsus

English onlyRead it word by word

Epist. 1.8.1Celsō gaudēre et bene rem gerere Albinovānō
Mūsa rogāta refer, comitī scrībaeque Nerōnis,
sī quaeret quid agam, dīc multa et pulchra minantem
vīvere nec rēctē nec suāviter;
Muse, at my request take my wishes for joy and success to Celsus Albinovanus, companion and secretary of Nero. If he asks what I am doing, say that, though promising many fine things, I live neither rightly nor pleasantly;
Epist. 1.8.4haud quia grandō
5contuderit vītīs oleamque momorderit aestus,
nec quia longinquīs armentum aegrōtet in agrīs;
not because hail has battered my vines and the heat has nipped my olive, nor because my herd is sick in distant pastures;
Epist. 1.8.7sed quia mente minus validus quam corpore tōtō
nīl audīre velim, nīl discere, quod levet aegrum;
but because, less healthy in mind than in my whole body, I will hear nothing, learn nothing, that might relieve my sickness;
Epist. 1.8.9fīdīs offendar medicīs, īrāscar amīcīs,
10cūr mē fūnestō properent arcēre veternō;
I take offence at faithful doctors, I am angry with my friends for hurrying to rescue me from deadly lethargy;
Epist. 1.8.11quae nocuēre sequar, fugiam quae prōfore crēdam;I pursue what has harmed me, flee what I believe will help; Epist. 1.8.12Rōmae Tībur amem ventōsus, Tībure Rōmam.fickle as the wind, at Rome I love Tibur, at Tibur Rome.

Epist. 1.8.13Post haec, ut valeat, quō pactō rem gerat et sē,
ut placeat iuvenī percontāre utque cohortī,
15sī dīcet, rēctē, prīmum gaudēre, subinde
praeceptum auriculīs hoc īnstillāre mementō:
ut tū fortūnam, sīc nōs tē, Celse, ferēmus.
After this, ask how he is, how he manages his affairs and himself, how he pleases the young prince and his staff. If he says 'well', remember first to rejoice, and then to drip this precept into his ears: 'As you bear your fortune, so we shall bear you, Celsus.'

Read the Latin itself: tap any word for its meaning and grammar, save words to review, and keep your place.

Read in Lectitō

Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×5

Latin vocabulary for this passage (90 words)
gaudeō, gaudēre, gāvīsusbe glad, rejoice
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
bene, adv.well; successfully
rēs, reī, f.thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
gerō, gerere, gessī, gestuscarry, wear; carry on, do
rogō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusask
referō, referre, rettulī, relātusbring or carry back, return; pedem referre, to draw back, retire, retreat; grātiam referre, see grātia
comes, -itis, m. and f.companion
scrība, -ae m.clerk, secretary (public clerks of the treasury)
que, enclitic conj.and
sī, conj.if
quaerō, quaerere, quaesīvī, quaesītusseek; ask, inquire
quis, quid, interrog. pron.who? which? what?
agō, agere, ēgī, āctusdrive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictussay, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day
multus, -a, -ummuch, great; plur., many
pulcher, pulchra, pulchrumbeautiful
minor, -ārī, -ātus sumthreaten (someone: dat.; with something: abl.)
vīvō, vīvere, vīxī, vīctuslive
neque or nec, conj.and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
rēctē (adv.)rightly, properly; safely
suāviter (adv.)pleasantly, agreeably, sweetly
haud, adv.not at all, by no means, not
quia (conj.)because
grandō, -inis f.hail
contundō, -ere, -tudī, -tūsumcrush, pound; subdue
vītis, -is f.vine
olea, -ae f.olive tree; olive
mordeō, mordēre, momordī, morsusbite
aestus, -ūs m.heat; tide
longinquus, -a, -umdistant, remote
armentum, -ī n.herd (of cattle)
aegrōtō, -āre, -āvībe ill, be sick
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
ager, agri, m.field, land
sed, conj.but
mēns, mentis f.mind, spirit
minus, comp. adv.less
validus, -a, -umstrong
quam, adv.how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
corpus, corporis, n.body
tōtus, -a, -umall the, the whole or entire
nihil, n., indecl.nothing
audiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītushear; listen or attend to
volō, velle, voluīwish
discō, discere, didicīlearn
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
levō, -āre, -āvī, -ātuslift; lighten, relieve
aeger, -gra, -grumsick, ill; as noun, a sick man
fīdus, -a, -umfaithful, loyal, trustworthy
offendō, -fendere, -fendī, -fēnsusoffend
medicus, -ī m.doctor
īrāscor, īrāscī, īrātusbe angry
amīcus, -ī, m.friend
cūr, adv.why
ego, meī, pers. pron.I
fūnestus, -a, -umdeadly, fatal; bringing death and mourning
properō, -āre, -āvī, -ātushasten
arceō, -ēre, -uīkeep off, keep away, shut out
veternus, -ī m.lethargy, sluggishness, torpor
noceō, -ēre, nocuī, nocitum (+ dat.)harm, hurt
sequor, sequī, secūtusfollow
fugiō, fugere, fūgī, fugitūrusflee, run away
prōsum, prōdesse, prōfuībe of advantage, profit, avail, assist
crēdō, -dere, -didī, -ditusbelieve
amō, -āre, -āvī, -ātuslove
ventōsus, -a, -umwindy
post, adv.after, later; prep. with acc., after, behind
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
valeō, -ēre, -uī, -itūrusbe strong or effectual, have effect, prevail
quī, quae, quod, interrog. pron. adj.what?
pactum, -ī n.agreement; quō pactō: in what way, how
suī, sibi, sē or sēsē, reflexive pron.himself, herself, itself, themselves
placeō, -ēre, placuī, placitum (+ dat.)please (placuit eī: he decided)
iuvenis, -is, m.young man, youth
percontor, -ārī, -ātus suminquire, question closely
cohors, cohortis f.cohort (a tenth of a legion); company
prīmum, adv.first, in the first place
subinde (adv.)immediately after; repeatedly, from time to time
praeceptum, -ī n.instruction, order
auricula, -ae f.ear (diminutive of auris)
īnstillō, -āre, -āvī, -ātuspour in drop by drop, drip in; instil
meminī, meminisseremember
tū, tuī, pers. pron.thou, you
fortūna, -ae, f.fortune
sīc, adv.so, thus
nōsplur. of ego
celsus, -a, -umhigh, lofty
ferō, ferre, tulī, lātusbear, bring
Horace, Epistles I. Latin text: H. R. Fairclough, Horace: Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica (Loeb, 1929), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.