16. quid...] 'What can owners do' says Menalcas 'when thieves are so daring?' This reflection rises to his lips as he contemplates Damoetas, who, as he goes on to say, when last he saw him, was engaged in stealing Damon's goat. dominus is one who has dominium ownership'; the dominus of a slave is his 'master,' of a goat its owner. Many editors, mistaking the sense of domini and not seeing that Menalcas is referring to what is going to be said and not to what has been said, take this wrongly: thus Conington says that fures is comic for servi and renders 'what will the master do if the man talks at this rate?' i.e. what language will Aegon use if Damoetas is so impudent. This however gives a forced sense to fures and would certainly require facient, which has much less authority than faciant. 18. excipere insidiis] 'lie in wait to catch,' lit. 'try to catch with lying in wait.' excipere is a technical word for hunters who wait to catch game as it is driven out of cover, cf. Hor. Od. 3. 12. 11 alto latitantem | fruticeto excipere aprum. multum latrante: 'barking much' or 'vigorously,' cf. line 63 n. 19. ille] Deictic, pointing to the thief who was just going to seize the goat. 21. an mihi... ] 'What? was he not when beaten in playing to hand over the goat, although my pipe had earned it...?' an is often used to introduce a question in argument, and implies a suppressed thought, e.g. here I was not stealing, only taking my own,' or 'will you argue that he was not to hand over...?' redderet: as very frequently is not='give back' but 'give what is due,' 'duly give,' re often having this force in composition; cf. line 73 referatis duly carry'; G. 1. 339 refer 'duly bring'; 2. 194. 22. quem meruisset] ... being quamvis eum. The subj. seems due to quem 23. si nescis] colloquial = 'Allow me to inform you.' 24. reddere posse negabat] = se reddere posse negabat. The personal pronoun is not unfrequently thus omitted when there can be no ambiguity, cf. Aen. 3. 201 negat discernere... Palinurus, Livy 23. 63 id nescire Mago dixit. 25. cantando tu illum ?] 'You - him—in playing!' Menalcas scornfully passes over all the rest of the explanation, and answers Damoetas' assertion that he had beaten Damon in playing by simply repeating it interrogatively. Of course after tu we must supply vicisti from victus, but the omission of the verb makes the satire much more terse and telling and the antithesis between tu and illum more vigorous. fistula: 2. 32 n. 26. non tu...] 'was it not your wont to murder in the crossways, dunderhead, a wretched ballad with a squeaking straw?'-Kennedy. in triviis: places where three roads meet are natural resorts of the rabble and itinerant musicians; hence Juvenal (7. 55) has carmen triviale 'a vulgar song,' and cf. our word trivial.' miserum disperdere carmen: most editors say that the song was a bad one and was further spoilt by his playing, but surely the satire is more effective if we regard the song as a good one, and wretched' or 'unhappy' in being 'murdered' by him ('un chant d'ailleurs bon mais qui a le malheur d'être répeté par toi.'-Benoist). The passage is copied from Theocr. 5. 5: τὺ γὰρ πόκα, δῶλε Σιβύρτα, ἐκτάσα σύριγγα· τί δ ̓ οὐκέτι σὺν Κορύδωνι and has been copied by Milton, Lyc. 123— 'And when they list, their lean and flashy songs Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw.' 28-48. D. Shall we have a contest to see which is the better singer? I will stake a choice cow. M. I dare not stake anything from the flock, but I have two cups beautifully carved and quite new, made by Alcimedon. D. As to that I have two by the same maker, equally beautiful and quite new also, but of course they are nothing to the cow. 28. vis ergo...experiamur?] 'Do you wish then that we should try...?' The subj. without ut is almost the regular construction after the colloquial vis? visne? vin? e.g. quid vis faciam? visne videamus? vicissim, i.e. in amoebaeic song, see Introduction. 29. ne forte...] 'lest perchance you refuse, it comes twice...,' i.e. to keep you from refusing I may tell you that it comes twice. 30. bis...] Copied from Theocr. 1. 25, who speaks of a goat with two kids, but Virgil is scarcely happy in altering this to a young cow' (vitula), for cows rarely have twins, ind, if they had, could certainly not be milked twice a day. 31. depono] 'stake'; below simply pono; so in Greek oth KaTaTiOnui (Theocr. 8. 11) and Tionμ (Theocr. 5. 21). mecum...] 'with what pledge you contend against me,' i.e. what your stake is. 32. non ausim] 'I could not dare.' In old Latin many words have a fut. in -so (cf. Greek -ow) and corresponding subj. in -sim, and some of these seem to have been used colloquially in later times: ausim is=au(d)sim, cf. faxo=fac-so, faxim= fac-sim, capso, capsim. 33. est mihi.....] Cf. Theocr. 8. 15: οὐ θησῶ πόκα ἀμνόν, ἐπεὶ χαλεπὸς ὁ πατήρ μεν χὰ μήτηρ, τὰ δὲ μᾶλα ποθέσπερα πάντ' ἀριθμεῦντι. The harshness of step-mothers was proverbial, cf. G. 2. 128 saevae novercae, Tac. A. 12. 2 novercalia odia. 34. bisque...] and twice a day they count both of them the flock, one of them the kids also.' copyists, exaggerates his original. Virgil, like most 35. id quod] 'a thing which,' i.e. an offer which. 36. insanire...] i.e. to enter on a mad contest in which you must lose. The words explain maius: he lays odds,' being sure to win. pocula clearly two, cf. lines 40, 44; cups were generally in pairs, cf. Cic. Verr. 2. 19. 47 scyphorum paria complura. 38. lenta quibus...]'on which a pliant vine overlaid with skilful chisel clothes the clusters spread by the pale ivy': > hedera pallente is abl. after diffusos, as the sense makes it impossible to take it with vestit, with which it would naturally go by position. The vine is carved in relief (superaddita) and is the main feature of the carving, so that it 'enwraps' or 'enwreaths' the ivy and only allows one or two of its clusters here and there to show through. torno: is used loosely for any carving tool; facili expresses the ease of perfect mastery. 39. hedera pallente] cf. 7. 38 hedera alba; G. 4. 124 pallentes hederas. Ancient writers all speak of a 'white ivy' bearing a white fruit, but Martyn cannot identify it. Variegated ivies are often strongly marked with white, having some leaves wholly of that colour. 40. in medio] 'in the centre,' i.e. in an open space inclosed by the vine and ivy, forming a sort of medallion. signa: 'figures.' et-quis fuit alter... : an artistic imitation of natural forgetfulness. Conon was an astronomer at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus (260-220 B.C.), and the other, whose name Menalcas cannot recall, may have been Eudoxus of Cnidus, who flourished about 360 B.C., and whose Pacóueva were versified by Aratus. 41. radio] 'the rod' used in drawing geometrical or as fu we must supply ricisti from victus, but the omission of the verb makes the satire much more terse and telling and the antithesis between tu and illum more vigorous. fistula: 2.32 n. 26. non tu...] was it not your wont to murder in the crossways, dunderhead, a wretched ballad with a squeaking straw?'-Kennedy. in triviis: places where three roads meet are natural resorts of the rabble and itinerant musicians; hence Juvenal (7. 55) has carmen triviale ‘a vulgar song,' and cf. our word trivial.' miserum disperdere carmen: most editors say that the song was a bad one and was further spoilt by his playing, but sarely the satire is more effective if we regard the song as a good one, and wretched' or 'unhappy' in being murdered' by him un chant d'ailleurs bon mais qui a le malheur d'être repeté par toi.'-Benoist). The passage is copied from Theocr. 5. 5: τὸ γὰρ πόκα, δῶλε Σιβύρτα, ἐκτάσα σύριγγα τί δ ̓ οὐκέτι σὺν Κορύδωνι and has been copied by Milton, Lyc. 123— And when they list, their lean and flashy songs 28—48. D. Shall we have a contest to see which is the bett singer! I will stake a choice cow. M. I dare not stake an thing from the flock, but I have two cups beautifully carved o quite new, made by Alcimedon. D. As to that I have two the same maker, equally beautiful and quite new also, b course they are nothing to the cow. 28. vis ergo...experiamur?] 'Do you wish ther should try...! The subj. without ut is almost f construction after the colloquial vis? visne? vin? faciam! visne videamus? vicissim, i.e. in amoebaeic song, see Introdr 29. ne forte...] 'lest perchance you refuse i.e. to keep you from refusing I may tell yor 30. bis...] Copied from Theocr. 1. goat with two kids, but Virgil is scar this to a young cow' (vitula), for and, if they had, could certainly not 31. depono] 'stake', both sarari@nui (Theocr. mecum...] with what what your stake is. |