51.
De eo qui predicat iustum et dimittit impium
Concerning he who forewarns the just and sends away the impious.
Fundit aquam fluviis vecors sitientibus hortis.
The foolish pour water into the rivers while the garden is thirsty.
52.
Laus elemosinae
Praise of alms-giving
Fenerat ille Deo, qui sumptum praebet egeno;
Reddere promisit, qui non mendacia novit.
He who offers something of value to the needy, lends to god,
He promises to return, who did not know lies, promised to give back.
Solvitur expletum graviori fenore lucrum;
Pro modico magnum, pro caeno redditur aurum.
Full profit is repaid with greater interest;
Much gold is returned for a modest amount of mud.
Sic hemina batum, lucratum dragma talentum;
Sic obolus regnum, cyathus mercatur Olympum;
Caelica terrenis redhibentur, fixa caducis.
Thus a cup has earned nine gallons, and a drachma has earned a talent;
In this way an Obulus1 purchases a kingdom, and a drinking cup purchases Mt. Olympus;
Heavenly things are given back on earth, and fixed things are given back to fleeting things.
Ignes unda necat, lapsus elemosina purgat;
Est aqua mors flammae, mors est elemosina culpae;
Haec replet irriguis lacrimarum corda fluentis,
Haec vitiis vacuat, virtutum floribus ornat,
Hac redimunt ipsum pietatis viscera Christum.
A wave destroys a fire, almsgiving makes clean a falling;
Water is death to a flame, almsgiving is death to guilt,
She fills hearts filled with well-watered rivers of tears,
She empties of sins, she adorns with flowers of virtue,
By her the bowels of dutiful conduct redeem Christ himself.
53.
Avaro diviti
To a rich miser
Qui cedros olidis scit contignare cupressis,
Fundamenta struit nullis obnoxia flabris.
He who knows how to join cedar beams to fragrant cypress wood,
Builds foundations liable to no winds.
Ditior es caeno quam sis, Pactole2, fluento:
Unda levat cumulum, flavescit arena metallum;
Lama tulit fruges, rupes praerupta cacumen.
You are more wealthy than is the mud of the river Pactolus:
A wave raises up the bank, gold yellows the sand;
A bog destroys the fruits, rocks break away from the summit.
His vitam regimus, procul hoc adstare videmus;
In vidua dives Deus est, in divite pauper.
We guide our life by these things, we see this standing a long way off;
God is rich with the widow, poor with the rich.
54.
Viro superbo
To the proud man
Mens scatet in veras causa perhibente loquelas.
When asserting reason, the mind brings forth true speech.
Vere licet rubeat, numquam rosa pulchra perannat.
Truly although a beautiful rose reddens, it never lives through an entire year.
Qui stat, praesto cadit, ceu flos caro lapsa putrescit3.
He who stands, soon falls, just as flesh withers away like a fading flower.
Vita volans hominis decurrit more fluenti.
The life of man runs swiftly in the manner of a river.
Te patulum vento folium pendere memento.
Remember that you are a leaf hanging in the wind.
Turgida colla suis subigit mors improba plantis.
Bold death with his feet (tramples) subdues stiff necked men.
Vivere qui patitur, felici morte fruetur;
Qui fruitur vita, mortem patietur amaram,
Vita brevis prohibet, ne longum vivere speres.
He who suffers lives; he will enjoy a happy death;
He who enjoys life, will suffer a bitter death,
This short life does not allow you to hope to live long.
Vive memor mortis, quo semper vivere possis.
Live mindful of death, by which you may always live.
Totus vive Deo, totus tibi mortuus esto.
Live totally in God, be totally dead to yourself.
Vita parit mortem, mors vitam parva perennem.
Life brings forth death, puny death brings forth eternal life.
Qui sibi nunc vivit, semper moriendo peribit;
In se qui moritur, hunc vita beata sequetur.
He who lives for himself now, will always pass away dying;
He who is dead to himself, blessed life follows this one.
Sic requies fesso redhibetur, vita perempto.
Thus in weariness will rest be given back, in dying will life be given back.
55.
Livido obtrectatori
To a malicious detractor
Esse foret panem melius quam rodere fratrem;
Corporis una cibus, animae res altera virus.
It would be better to eat bread than to slander a brother;
One morsel is food for the body, the other thing is poison for the soul.
Rosus non moritur, rodens homicida tenetur.
Having been slandered is not to die, slandering is held to be murder.
Non alios capreae, te cernas lumine talpae.
You look at yourself with mole’s eyes, you do not look at others with the eyes of a she-goat.
Non mihi des multum promptus tibi vertere tergum,
Me faciens speculum, cum sis tibi mantica factus;
Polypus haerenti de se non foetet olenti.
May you not give me many things right away, may you turn your back to yourself,
Making a mirror of me, when you make a handbag of yourself;
The octopus does not smell a putrid odor clinging to himself.
Lyncea lux radios in viscera figit acutos;
Cum se non videat, penetrat procul omne, quod adstat.
The ray of the eye of the lynx penetrates internal organs full of life;
Although she does not see herself, she penetrates far into everything which stands near.
Obtunsae cotes acuunt, non caedere possunt,
Nec sibi sed vario parent sua iura metallo;
scabra polire lima novit, non ipsa poliri:
Prava manet, sentum scoriis dum levigat aurum.
Blunt rocks sharpen rocks, but they cannot cut,
Nor can they make different metals by their nature;
A file knows how to polish a rough surface, but not to polish itself;
It remains rough, while it smooths thorny gold of dross.
Num scabiosa canis titulo fit digna fidelis,
Si rictu rabido vernam cum fure lacessit?
Does a mangy dog become worthy by calling her faithful,
If she has provoked the house-slave along with the thief by a rabid snarl?
Qui quod vult dicit, quod non vult saepius audit.
He who says what he wants, more often hears what he does not want.
Non habet os lingua, frangi facit ossa sed ipsa,
Unaque diversis parit infortunia membris.
The tongue does not have a bone, but it can break bones,
And alone it brings forth misfortune to many limbs.
Pone modum linguae, quam vibras more sagittae,
Ne gladii conto referantur, saxa lapillo.
Set a limit to your tongue, which you brandish like an arrow,
Swords are not answered by a pole, nor stones by a pebble.
56.
Duobus inimicis ut ad pacem redeant
To two enemies so that they may go in peace.
Hamat amor varios, scindit discordia iunctos.
Love brings together those who are separate, discord separates those who are united.
Non ibi lux pacis, ubi fit divisio cordis.
There is no light of peace, where the heart is divided.
Pax docet ignaros, discordia caecat acutos,
Non status est rebus, fortunae vertitur ordo,
Cervici rigidae mors improvisa minatur.
Peace teaches the ignorant, discord blinds the intelligent,
There is not stability in things, the order of fortune is turned,
Unlooked for death threatens stiff necks.
Turgida colla suis subigit febris ignea plantis
Ac domat indomitos divino iure solutos.
Burning fever to the soles of their feet tames those with stiff necks
And subdues those free of divine law who are indomitable.
Qui tumuere Deo, coguntur cedere morbo;
Quod dant languori, verae vetuere saluti.
Those who are puffed up by God, are forced to yield to disease;
Those things that give disease, are forbidden to true health.
Vultu saepe trucem, flammas velut ore vomentem,
Oraque terribilem, frendentia verba tonantem
Funda perexiguo stravit contorta lapillo.
The one whose face is often savage, as if vomiting flames from his mouth,
And whose mouth is terrible, roaring words with gnashing of teeth
He has been laid prostrate by a small pebble from a twisted sling.
57.
Ad paenitentiam provocat
He calls forth to repentance
Cum cruor execrescit, nemitorem vena requirit,
Vulnus et incolumen facit, affert plaga salutem.
When the blood overflows, the vein requires emptying,
A wound makes (a man) sound, and a blow brings health.
Mens fluvidum generat, pia quod confessio purgat:
Sic animae sanguis per venam profluit oris.
The mind produces a slackness, which a pious confession cleanses:
Thus as from a vein the blood of the soul flows out through the mouth.
Egere, letifero violat quod viscera tabo.
Discharge that which violates your internal organs with deadly corruption.
Esto vomax proprii salubri conamine morbi,
Ut mentis stomachus relevetur mole reatus.
Thou shalt vomit for your own health while struggling with disease
So that the stomach of the soul may be lifted from the heap of offence.
58.
Cum idem scriptum bis mittitur
When the same writing is sent twice.
Iure notatur, idem qui saepe rescribit eidem.
It is censured in the law that he who rewrites often writes the same thing.
Non tamen absurdum, cum res habet ipsa recursum,
Indiga verborum dum sit geminatio rerum.
Nevertheless it is not absurd, when the matter itself is considered repeated,
There is a need for words until there is a doubling of things.
59.
De cruce
Concerning the cross
Omnibus est una spes haec metuenda figura;
Cernite librata pretium pendere statera,
Quod mundum redimit, protoplasti debita solvit,
Crux est vita mihi, mors, inimice, tibi.
This frightening image is the only hope for all;
Perceive the reward that hangs from this balance,
That he who redeemed the world, paid the debts of the first man,
The cross is life for me and for you, for the enemy, it is death.
60.
Item de sancta cruce duobus invicem inimicis
Also concerning the holy cross, to the two enemies
Ecce rubet Christi crux sanguine tincta recenti;
Haec caelum terris confoederat, infima summis.
Behold the cross of Christ having been just now bathed with his blood;
This makes heaven agree with earth, the lowest with the highest.
Haec iubet, in vobis ut lux oriatur amoris,
Litibus sedatis succedant oscula pacis.
This he commands so that the light of love may spring up in you,
The quarrels having been settled, let the kisses of peace follow.
1 $0.03
2 Pactolus was a Lydian River God in Greek Mythology. The Pactolus River originates from Mount Tmolo in what is now western Turkey, flows through the ruins of Sardis, the ancient capital of Lydia (which was most of modern Turkey), and flows into the Gediz River, called the Ermo by the ancients (Hermus, in Latin). At one time, the Pactolus was rich in gold sands, sands that came in the form of electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver.
3 One of several instances where Lokrantz (1964) (putrescit) is a better source than Lokrantz and Facchini (2007) (patrescit).
