| | Posted on Tue May 30, 2006 03:59:21 | |
| | Here's a verse translation I did as a high school student, many years ago. I know I took some liberties, but I still think I got the spirit of it right:
You’ll eat well at my house, Fabullus, old chum,
If you bring your own dinner along when you come.
Bring a cute girl too, some wine and some wit,
A lot of good jokes bring, and then we shall sit
And for the evening we’ll have a grand time:
That is, if it’s at your expense and not mine.
For your friend Catullus’s cupboard is bare
And my wallet is filled, yes, with cobwebs to spare.
Please, don’t feel cheated, because what you’ll get
In return for this party you won’t soon forget.
It’s the fragrance of perfume my love shared between us,
An ointment donated by heavenly Venus.
From the hands of the Cupids this sweet unguent fell
And, my Fabullus, when this scent you smell:
Then you’ll be begging the gods, I suppose,
To transform your whole body into one huge nose.
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