The Satires of Horace. Horace

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ bumpkin hauled to town to pay his debts

      swears city living is the best it gets.

      To make a comprehensive list you'd need15

      a Fabius (or windbags of that breed).

      In brief, here's my elusive bottom line:

      suppose some deity would give a sign,

      then say,

      “I'm here because your prayers are granted,

      so you, the lawyer, will now be replanted20

      as a farmer—you, the soldier, made

      into a business mogul. So, now trade!

      …C'mon! Get on with it! Why stand so still?”

      They would refuse, yet with a little will,

      they could rejoice! Why wouldn't it be just25

      for Jove, in light of what we have discussed,

      to puff his cheeks and angrily declare

      he'll never be so quick to hear a prayer?

      Of course, I will not slight my criticisms

      with jokes, like those who write wry witticisms,30

      but can't we laugh when we reveal a truth

      like teachers bearing treats who bribe a youth

      so that he'll gobble up his ABCs?

      So let us set aside frivolities

      and face hard facts: that farmer plowing rocks,35

      that vet, that merchant no one can outfox,

      those sailors boldly crossing every ocean—

      they've taken on their burdens with the notion

      that because they've saved more than they need,

      their golden years are safely guaranteed,40

      just like that insect whom they imitate—

      the diligent but tiny ant—whose freight

      is carted in then stacked up overhead

      because its future seems so filled with dread.

      Still, when Aquarius darkens the year45

      as it begins its turn, the ant stays near

      to home (wise creature!) drawing on its stash,

      but as for you, no heat or snow, no flash- floods, fires or wars could interrupt your quest for wealth until your hoard exceeds the rest.50

      What is the benefit that you create

      with gold and silver you accumulate

      in vast amounts if you just bury it

      while you're alone and scared? You gripe,

      “To split

      it leaves a measly penny as my fraction.”55

      But if you don't, what is your hoard's attraction?

      Suppose a hundred thousand sacks of grain

      come from your mill. Your stomach would remain

      the size of mine; the outcome is the same

      that it would be if somehow you became60

      a slave whose shoulders hoisted loads of bread—

      your idle peers would be no less well-fed.

      Moreover, if you live your life aligned

      with Nature's laws, what difference can you find

      between a hundred acres to be plowed65

      and ten times that amount? You cry out loud,

      “But I prefer selecting what I please

      from giant piles!”

      Why praise your granaries

      instead of bins if hoarding never offers

      an improvement over modest coffers?70

      It is as if you needed just a cup

      or jug of water, but you summoned up

      the gall to say,

      “I would prefer you took

      my portion from a river, not a brook!”

      When savoring what luxuries provide us,75

      we're swept downriver by the fierce Aufidus

      along with all the flotsam that's nearby,

      while he who longs for what can satisfy

      his basic needs avoids those waves of mud

      and does not perish when these rivers flood.80

      But many people, lured by false desire,

      will then respond,

      “You never can acquire

      too much because you are what you possess.”

      What do you do with people who profess

      such views?

      Tell them to wallow in despair85

      since that's the lot they chose!

      I would compare

      them to that Athens miser who, they say,

      would mock his neighbor's gossip in this way:

      “The peons always hiss, but when I see

      my trunks of coins I shout, ‘Hooray for me!’”90

      Dry-throated Tantalus just misses streams

      that tease his lips—why do you laugh? It seems

      that trading names would tell your story too.

      You snore with moneybags surrounding you

      and treat them with religious veneration95

      or an art collector's fascination!

      Don't you realize what your money means,

      what use it serves? Go purchase bread, some greens,

      a bit of wine, and any other stuff

      that worries people СКАЧАТЬ