Dialogues of Roman Life/Kissing Land—a Good Time in Sicily

XXIV. Kissing Land—a Good Time in Sicily

1913

editio: G. Bell & Sons
fons: librum vide

XXIII. Villa Rustica	XXV. Colloquium a Iūliā et Sulpiciā

XXIV. KISSING LAND—A GOOD TIME IN SICILY

Philippus et Iūlius in Mulvio ponte inter se colloquuntur.

Philippus. Quid in Sicilia ēgi? Nos in Sicilia nonnihil prōmōvimus. Philippus, compōtor tuus fidēlissimus, mox bonus vēnātor est factus, eques

A Roman Farm.

non pessimus, piscātor non imperītus. Brevi salutabam paullo blandius, adrīdebam cōmius, et invitā Minervā, ut scīs, haec omnia.

Iulius. An Philippus eques? Philippus blandus salūtātor? Unde haec mīrācula? Nuper nihilo nisi balneis et tabernis utebaris.

Ph. Certior fīes. Tu quoque, si sapīs, in Siciliam advolabis. Quid ita te iuvat, hominem tam impigrum et strēnuum, inter āreas urbānas consenescere? Sed retinet profecto te tua podagra. Utinam ea, te salvo, pereat male!

I. Pereat male, mi Philippe!

Ph. Nam si Siciliae bona et commoda satis pernosses, Iuli, tu ālātis Mercurii pedibus^[1] illūc accurreres: et si podagra tua non sineret, Daedalus^[2] tu fieri optares.

I. Quid est, Philippe? Quantum cupio istud scīre.

Ph. Ut e plūrimis ūnum quiddam attingam, sunt illic dīvīnis vultibus nymphae, faciles, blandae, et quas tu tuis Subūrānis virginibus facile antepōneres.

I. [Paullo minus cupidus.] Ecquid aliud?

Ph. Est praetereā apud Sieulos mōs nunquam

Daedalus and Icarus. (From a Roman bas-relief.)

satis a Romanis laudatus. Sīve quo venīs, omnium osculis exciperis: sive discēdis aliquo, osculis dīmitteris. Redīs, redduntur suāvia. Venītur ad te, propīnantur suāvia: discēditur abs te, dantur bāsia. Occurritur alicubi, bāsiātur affatim. denique quōcunque te moves, suaviorum plēna sunt omnia.

I. Quod ad basia attinet, ego quidem Romae manebo contentus: hīc enim iam vel aestāte vel hieme satis basiorum.

Te vīcīnia tota, te pilōsus
Hircōso premit osculo colōnus.
. . . . . .
Brūma est, et riget horridus December,
Audes tu tamen osculo nivāli
Omnes obvius hinc et hinc tenēre
Et totam, Line, basiare, Romam.
. . . . . .
Hībernas, Line, basiationes
In mensem rogo differas Aprīlem.^[3]

Ph. Sed si tu, Iuli, gustasses semel quam sint molles basiationes Siculae, quam fragrantes, profecto cuperes non decennium modo, ut Solōn^[4] fēcit, sed usque ad mortem in Sicilia peregrīnāri.

I. Ego mālo Romae podagra affici, Philippe. Sed per me haud stābit quōminus tu in Sicilia in aeternum habites. Valē.

XXIII. Villa Rustica	XXV. Colloquium a Iūliā et Sulpiciā

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Notae

↑ alatis … pedibus. Mercury, the messenger of the gods, is represented as having wings on his feet.
↑ Daedalus, the architect of a labyrinth in Crete, is said to have flown away from Crete with his son by means of wings invented by himself.
↑ Aprilem. These lines are quoted from Martial, a Roman poet who wrote under the empire and died in a.d. 102.
↑ Solon. Solon, the great lawgiver of Athens, made the Athenians promise not to alter his laws, and then went into voluntary exile for ten years.

[1] alatis … pedibus. Mercury, the messenger of the gods, is represented as having wings on his feet.

[2] Daedalus, the architect of a labyrinth in Crete, is said to have flown away from Crete with his son by means of wings invented by himself.

[3] Aprilem. These lines are quoted from Martial, a Roman poet who wrote under the empire and died in a.d. 102.

[4] Solon. Solon, the great lawgiver of Athens, made the Athenians promise not to alter his laws, and then went into voluntary exile for ten years.

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