Book 1 (5.1-5.49)

Quintus Horatius Flaccus, The Satires, 1.5: 1-49

Please, bear in mind that this translation is a very literal one. It was created as an aid for those studying Latin and not as reading material.

I have attempted to break this Latin text up into logical sections, rather than using the original stanzas.

Sermonum, Liber Primus	The Satires, Book One
Egressum magna me accepit Aricia Roma hospitio modico; rhetor comes Heliodorus, Graecorum longe doctissimus; inde Forum Appi differtum nautis cauponibus atque malignis.	Aricia received me, who had left great Rome, with modest hospitality: teacher Heliodorus, my companion, by far the most learned of the Greeks; from this place we arrived at Forum Appi crowded with boatmen and nasty shopkeepers.
(5) hoc iter ignavi divisimus, altius ac nos praecinctis unum: minus est gravis Appia tardis. hic ego propter aquam, quod erat deterrima, ventri indico bellum, cenantis haud animo aequo exspectans comites. iam nox inducere terris	(5) We, lazy ones, divided this journey, it would have been a one-day journey for those girded up higher than we were: Appia is less burdensome for those who are slow. I, not with an even mind (impatiently), waiting for my dining companions, declare war on my stomach on account of water that was the worst. Now night was preparing to bring shadows of the lands
(10) umbras et caelo diffundere signa parabat: tum pueri nautis, pueris convicia nautae ingerere: 'huc adpelle'; 'trecentos inseris'; 'ohe, iam satis est.' dum aes exigitur, dum mula ligatur, tota abit hora. mali culices ranaeque palustres	(10) and to diffuse constellations in the sky. Then slaves heap insults upon the boatmen, boatment heap insults upon the slaves "Put in here!" "You are packing in hundreds: hey, now it is enough!" While the fare is collected, while the mule is being tied, a whole hour passes. Annoying gnats and frogs of the marshes
(15) avertunt somnos; absentem cantat amicam multa prolutus vappa nauta atque viator certatim; tandem fessus dormire viator incipit ac missae pastum retinacula mulae nauta piger saxo religat stertitque supinus.	(15) turn away sleep, while sailor and traveller soaked in flat wine sing in competition a lot about an absent girlfriend: at last the tired traveller falls asleep, and lazy sailor ties the traces of the mule, who is sent out to pasture, then snores, lying on his back.
(20) iamque dies aderat, nil cum procedere lintrem sentimus, donec cerebrosus prosilit unus ac mulae nautaeque caput lumbosque saligno fuste dolat: quarta vix demum exponimur hora. ora manusque tua lavimus, Feronia, lympha.	(20) And already the day was approaching, we feel nothing while proceeding in the boat, while a hot-headed (man) alone jumps forward and with a willow stick inflicts blows on the head of the mule and loins of the boatman. at last at the fourth hour we disembark with difficulty. We washed our faces and hands with your water, Feronia.
(25) milia tum pransi tria repimus atque subimus inpositum saxis late candentibus Anxur. huc venturus erat Maecenas optimus atque Cocceius, missi magnis de rebus uterque legati, aversos soliti conponere amicos.	(25) Then we, having eaten, crawl and climb 3 miles to Anxur laid out with far dazzling-white stones. Here was to come the best Maecenas and Cocceius, both sent about great things, and they are accustomed to rejoin their estranger friends.
(30) hic oculis ego nigra meis collyria lippus inlinere. interea Maecenas advenit atque Cocceius Capitoque simul Fonteius, ad unguem factus homo, Antoni, non ut magis alter, amicus.	(30) here I covered my sore eyes with black eye lotion. Meanwhile Maecenas arrived, and also Cocceius and at the same time Capito Fonteius, a man of perfect finish (a man without a flaw), a friend to Antony, as one more is not.
(34) Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore libenter linquimus, insani ridentes praemia scribae, praetextam et latum clavum prunaeque vatillum.	(34) We left Fundi with pleasure, crazily laughing at the praetor Aufidius Luscus, at the rewards of a scribe, and at the purple-bordered toga, and at the wide-striped tunic, and at the can of coles (insense burning).
(37) in Mamurrarum lassi deinde urbe manemus, Murena praebente domum, Capitone culinam.	(37) Next we tired stayed in the city of Mamurra, Murena supplying us with a home, Capitone supplying us with food.
(39) postera lux oritur multo gratissima; namque Plotius et Varius Sinuessae Vergiliusque occurrunt, animae, qualis neque candidiores terra tulit neque quis me sit devinctior alter.	(39) the next light (of day) arises many very pleasing things; for Plotius and Varius and Vegilius meet at Sinuessa, earth has borne no such souls whiter nor is anybody more tied to them than me.
(43) o qui conplexus et gaudia quanta fuerunt. nil ego contulerim iucundo sanus amico. proxima Campano ponti quae villula, tectum (45) praebuit et parochi, quae debent, ligna salemque.	(43) o what embraces and how much joys there was! I sane have collected nothing to a delightful friend Little villa which is close to the Campanian sea, provided us with roof, and the commissaries that ought to (provide us with) firewood and salt.
(47) hinc muli Capuae clitellas tempore ponunt. lusum it Maecenas, dormitum ego Vergiliusque; namque pila lippis inimicum et ludere crudis.	(47) From here mules after a time lay down the packsacks in Capua. Maecenas went to play, I and Vergilius went to sleep; For indeed it is unfriendly for people with inflamed and bleeding eyes to play ball.