Deipnosophistae
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
1.3
Make your hand perfect by a third attempt,
1.4
You court the heav'nly muse with ceaseless zeal,
1.4
And seek to open all the varied stores
1.4
Of high philosophy.
1.4
Nor less renown'd his hand essays
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To wake the muse's choicest lays,
1.4
Such as the social feast around
1.4
Full oft our tuneful band inspire.
1.4
Whene'er you cross the threshhold of a friend,
1.4
How welcome you may be needs no long time
1.4
To feel assured of; blithe the porter looks,
1.4
The house-dog wags his tail, and rubs his nose
1.4
Against your legs; and servants hasten quick,
1.4
Unbidden all, since their lord's secret wish
1.4
Is known full well, to place an easy chair
1.4
To rest your weary limbs.
1.5
Call the elders to the feast,
1.5
Such a course befits you best.
1.5
For why should any man wealth desire,'
1.5
And seek to pile his treasures higher,
1.5
If it were not to aid his friends in their need,
1.5
And to gain for himself love's and gratitude's meed?
1.5
For all can drink and all can eat,
1.5
And it is not only the richest meat,
1.5
Or the oldest wine in the well-chased bowl
1.5
Which can banish hunger and thirst from the soul.
1.6
I come from the salt depths of Aegeus' sea.
1.6
Hail holy heralds (κήρυκες), messengers of Jove.
1.6
Crooked ways, and nothing sound.
1.6
Good morrow, fool.
1.6
O charming sight; hence with the vulgar crowd.
1.6
Beauty when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most.
1.6
Give me a cup of sack, that partridge leg,
1.6
Likewise a pot, or else at least a cheesecake.
1.6
Bringing baskets full of votes.
1.7
Here to all Greece I open wisdom's store;)
1.7
A numerous party may sit round a table,
1.7
But not more than three, four, or five on one sofa;
1.7
For else it would be a disorderly Babel,
1.7
Like the hireling piratical band of a rover.
1.7
How keenly they watch for a feast in the town,
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And, asked or not, they are sure to go down;
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Such are the men the state at public cost
1.7
Should gladly feed;
1.7
Treat them like flies at the Olympic games
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And hang them up an ox to feast upon.
1.8
Winter produces this, that summer bears;
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A. But I have sought this tranquil solitude,
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To ponder deeply on this wondrous book.
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B. I pray you, what's the nature of its treasures
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A. Sauce for the million, by Philoxenus.
1.8
B. Oh, let me taste this wisdom. A. Listen then;
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I start with onions, and with tunnies end."
1.8
B. With tunnies? Surely, then, he keeps the best
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And choicest of his dishes for the last.
1.8
A. Listen. In ashes first your onions roast
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Till they are brown as toast,
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Then with sauce and gravy cover;
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Eat them, you'll be strong all over.
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So much for earth; now list to me,
1.8
While I speak of the sons of the sea.
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A good large flat dish is not bad,
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But a pan is better when 'tis to be had.
1.8
Never cut up a sardine
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Or mackarel of silv'ry sheen,
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Lest the gods should scorn a sinner—
1.8
Such as you, and spoil your dinner;
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But dress them whole and serve them up,
1.8
And so you shall most richly sup.
1.8
Good sized polypus in season
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Should be boil'd,—to roast them's treason;
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But if early and not big,
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Roast them; boil'd ain't worth a fig.
1.8
Mullets, though the taste is good,
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Are by far too weakening food;
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And the ills it brings to master
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You will need a scorpion plaster.
1.9
I've fingers IdæanThere is a pun here that is untranslateable. δάκτυλος is a finger; but the δάκτυλοι ʼιδαῖοι were also priests of Cybele in Crete, and are the people to whom the discovery of iron, and the art of working it by fire, is ascribed. to take up hot meat,
1.9
And a throat to devour it too;
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Curries and devils are my sweetest treat,
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Not more like a man than a flue.
1.9
O Marriage, greatest of the gods,
1.13
A. I am a pupil of Soterides,
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Who, when his king was distant from the sea
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Full twelve days' journey, and in winter's depth,
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Fed him with rich anchovies to his wish,
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And made the guests to marvel.
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B. How was that?
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A. He took a female turnip, shred it fine
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Into the figure of the delicate fish;
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Then did he pour on oil and savoury salt
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With careful hand in due proportion.
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On that he strew'd twelve grains of poppy seed,
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Food which the Scythians love; then boil'd it all.
1.13
And when the turnip touch'd the royal lips,
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Thus spake the king to the admiring guests:
1.13
"A cook is quite as useful as a poet,
1.13
And quite as wise, and these anchovies show it."
1.14
A. But how can you be generous, if the son
1.14
Of old Ischomachus of Myconos?
1.14
B. I, a good man, may banquet with the good,
1.14
For friends should have all their delights in common.
1.14
You come and drink full cups of Chian wine,
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And yet give no return for them, nor wait
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To be invited, as a friend would do.
1.14
Your belly is your god, and thus misleads
1.14
Your better sense to acts of shamelessness.
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We have invited two unequaled men,
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Philocrates and eke Philocrates.
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For that one man I always count as two,
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I don't know that I might not e'en say three.
1.14
They say that once when he was ask'd to dinner,
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To come when first the dial gave a shade
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Of twenty feet, he with the lark uprose,
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Measuring the shadow of the morning sun,
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Which gave a shade of twenty feet and two.
1.14
Off to his host he went, and pardon begg'd
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For having been detain'd by business;
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A man who came at daybreak to his dinner!
1.14
A man who comes late to a feast,
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At which he has nothing to pay,
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Will be sure if in battle he's press'd,
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To run like a coward away.
1.14
Never shun a banquet gay,
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Where the cost on others falls;
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Let them, if they like it, pay
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For your breakfasts, dinners, balls.
1.14
More blest than all the gods is he,
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Whom every one is glad to see,
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Who from all care and cost is free.
1.14
Happy am I, who never have cause
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To be anxious for meat to put in my jaws.
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For bards make offerings which give no smoke.
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But if you sulk, μονοφαγῶν,
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Why must I, too, eat alone?
1.14
And if she's a μονοφάγος, plague take her,
1.14
I'd guard against her as a base housebreaker.
1.15
The tables in fair order spread,
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They heap the glittering canisters with bread,
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Viands of simple kinds allure the taste,
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Of wholesome sort, a plentiful repast.Odyss. iv. 54. The poetical translations are from the corresponding passages in Pope's Homer.
1.15
The table groan'd beneath a chine of beef,
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With which the hungry heroes quell'd their grief.lb. iv. 65.
1.16
The wholesale murderers of lambs and kids.Iliad, xxiv. 262.
1.16
But when their thirst and hunger were appeased;Iliad, i. 469.
1.17
Sit now, and drink your fill,
1.17
A shoeing-horn for further draughts of wine;Ib. xi. 629.
1.17
Strengthen'd with wine and meat, a man goes forth:Iliad, xxii. 427.
1.17
There, too, were casks of old and luscious wine.Odyss. ii. 340.
1.18
Luscious wine will be your bane,Ib. xxi. 293.
1.18
Disastrous folly led me thus astray,
1.18
Or wine's excess, or madness sent from Jove:
1.18
Tyrant, with sense and courage quell'd by wine."
1.19
Ulysses and the swineherd, noble man,
1.19
First lit the fire, and breakfast then began.Odyss. xv. 499.
1.19
Then quickly they prepared to break their fast.Iliad, xxiv. 124.
1.19
While the cook the ἄριστον prepares.
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Then when you have done your business,
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Come and share my ἀκρατισμός.
1.19
A. Shall we, then, take our ἀκρατισμὸς there?
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B. No; at the Isthmus all the slaves prepare
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The sweet ἄριστον,—
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I'll stop awhile to breakfast, then I'll come,
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When I a slice or two of bread have eaten,
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The different officers I then appointed,
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And bade them recollect the soldiers' meals,
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In number three, first breakfast, and then dinner,
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Supper the third.
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And come thou δειελιήσας. Odyss. xvii. 599. This word is found nowhere else; waiting till evening, Buttman Lexic. s. v. δείλη, 12, explains it, having taken an afternoon meal.—L. & S. v. Call. Fr. 190.
1.19
δε͂ιπνον they took, then arm'd them for the fray.
1.20
Laden with all dainty dishes,
1.20
Bore off the feast, and clear'd the lofty hall,
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Removed the goblets and the tables all.
1.20
He eat and drank, while still the table stood,
1.20
He eat and drank still, while the table stood,
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He never boil'd the legs or haunches,
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But roasted brains and roasted paunches,
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As did his sires of old.
1.21
Their hunger was appeased,
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And strength recruited by the equal feast.Odyss. viii. 98.
1.21
Come, then, Achilles, share this equal feast.Iliad, ix. 225.
1.21
αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
1.21
οἰωνοῖσί τε δαῖτα, The real reading is οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Iliad, i. 5. He made them the prey of dogs and of all birds.
1.22
All fish and birds, and all that come to hand
1.22
With barbed hooks.Odyss. xii. 322.
1.22
An active man is he, and dives with ease;Iliad, xvi. 745.
1.23
To drink whene'er his soul desired.Odyss. vii. 70.
1.23
πᾶσιν, ἐπαρξάμενοι δεπάεσσιν, Iliad, i. 471.
1.23
Let all around the due libation pay
1.23
To Jove, who guides the wanderer on his way;Odyss. vii. 179.
1.23
All drink the juice that glads the heart of man.
1.23
A rump of beef they set before the king:Il. iv. 65.
1.23
With ever brimming cups of rosy wine.Iliad, iv. 3.
1.23
In golden goblets pledged each other's health;
1.24
A band amid the joyous circle sings
1.24
High airs at tempered to the vocal strings;
1.24
While, warbling to the varied strain, advance
1.24
Two sprightly youths to form the bounding dance.Odyss. iv. 18.
1.24
Therefore the holy Muse their honour guards
1.24
In every land, and loves the race of bards.Odyss. vii. 481.
1.24
Whate'er beneath the sun's bright journey lies,
1.24
Oh stay and learn new wisdom from the wise.Ib. xii. 191.
1.26
Wretch that I am, my neck's so stiff;
1.26
The player takes the ball elate,
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And gives it safely to his mate,
1.26
Avoids the blows of th' other side,
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And shouts to see them hitting wide;
1.26
List to the cries, Hit here, hit there, '
1.26
Too far, too high, that is not fair, —
1.26
See every man with ardour burns
1.26
To make good strokes and quick returns.
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To play Phæninda at Ph$anestius' school.
1.26
A youth I saw was playing ball,
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Seventeen years of age and tall;
1.26
From Cos he came, and well I wot
1.26
The Gods look kindly on that spot.
1.26
For when he took the ball or threw it,
1.26
So pleased were all of us to view it,
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We all cried out; so great his grace,
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Such frank good humour in his face,
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That every time he spoke or moved,
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All felt as if that youth they loved.
1.26
Sure ne'er before had these eyes seen,
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Nor ever since, so fair a mien;
1.26
Had I staid long most sad my plight
1.26
Had been to lose my wits outright,
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And even now the recollection
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Disturbs my senses' calm reflection.
1.27
In frequent interchanges,
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Danced round and sung in soft well measured tune.
1.28
Meats such as godlike kings rejoice to taste.
1.28
We ever love the banquet rich,
1.28
The music of the lyre,
1.28
How goodly seems it, etc. etc.
1.28
How goodly seems it ever to employ
1.28
Far from all ills man's social days in joy,
1.28
The plenteous board high heap'd with cates divine
1.28
While tuneful songs bid flow the generous wine.Odyss. ix. 7.
1.29
Spirit divine! whose exhalation greets
1.29
The sense of gods with more than mortal sweets.Iliad, xiv. 173.
1.30
This is the man who threw so well
1.30
The vessel with an evil smell,
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And miss'd me not, but dash'd to shivers
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The pot too full of steaming rivers
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Against my head, which now, alas! sir,
1.30
Gives other smells besides macassar.
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He in his anger threw too well
1.30
The vessel with an evil smell
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Against my head, and fill'd the room
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With something not much like perfume;
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So that I swear I nearly fainted
1.30
With the foul steam the vessel vented.
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I hate the ways of Sparta's line,
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And would rather fry my dinner;
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He who first invented wine
1.30
Made poor man a greater sinner,
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And through him the greater need is
1.30
Of the arts of Palamedes.Schweighauser says here that the text of this fragment of Eupolis is corrupt, and the sense and metre undiscoverable.
1.32
Plague take the bath! just see the plight
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In which the thing has left me;
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It seems t' have boil'd me up, and quite
1.32
Of strength and nerve bereft me.
1.32
Don't touch me, curst was he who taught a
1.32
Man to soak in boiling water.
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As to mischievous habits, if you ask my vote,
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I say there are two common kinds of self-slaughter,
1.32
One, constantly pouring strong wine down your throat,
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T'other plunging in up to your throat in hot water.
1.33
With every beauty every feature arms,
1.33
Bids her cheeks glow, and lights up all her charms.Odyss. xviii. 191.
1.33
That lovely isle crown'd by the foaming waves,Ib. x. 195.
1.33
For all around the crown of battle swells.Iliad, xiii. 736.
1.33
Raise the battle cry so clear,
1.33
Prelude to the warlike spear.
1.34
Stranger, thou seest Pytheas' tuneful son,
1.34
While living oft with victory's garlands crown'd,
1.34
Sweet singer, though on earth his race is run,
1.34
E'en the high heavens with his name resound.
1.36
Memphis, which winter dares not to assail,
1.36
And lotus-crowned Nile.
1.37
The fair-hair'd maids of mighty Jove
1.37
Danced lightly in the mystic grove;
1.37
This strange occurrence makes my heart to dance.
1.38
Sure by some milkmaid you've been taught
1.38
To dress, whose gown is all too short
1.38
To reach her sturdy ancles.
1.38
Don't let your gown fall down too low,
1.38
Nor pull it up too high to show
1.38
Your legs in clownish fashion.
1.38
'Tis a sure sign of a degraded nature,
1.38
To walk along the street in sloven's guise;
1.38
Having the means of neatness: which costs nothing;
1.38
Is subject to no tax; requires no change;
1.38
And creditable is to him who uses it,
1.38
And pleasant to all those who witness it.
1.38
Who then would ever disregard this rule,
1.38
That wishes to be thought a man of sense?
1.39
I myself taught those dances to the chorus,
1.39
Which pleased so much when erst they danced before us.
1.40
Prince of dancers, prince of grace,
1.40
Hail, Phœbus of the silver quiver.
1.40
How deftly Phœbus strikes the golden lyre,
1.40
While strength and grace each moving limb inspire!
1.40
And gracefully amid the dancing throng,
1.40
The sire of gods and mortals moved along.
1.41
Aegypt has its mad recluses,
1.41
Book-bewilder'd anchorites,
1.41
In the hen-coop of the Muses
1.41
Keeping up their endless fights.
1.41
Three weeks ere Sirius burns up the wheat,
1.41
And three weeks after, seek the cool retreat
1.41
Of shady house, and better your condition
1.41
By taking Bacchus for your sole physician.
1.41
Steep your heart in rosy wine, for see, the dog star is in view;
1.41
Lest by heat and thirst oppress'd you should the season's fury rue.
1.41
Fill me, boy, a sparkling cup;
1.41
See, the dogstar's coming up.
1.41
A. Tell me, I pray you, how you life define.
1.41
B. To drink full goblets of rich Chian wine.
1.41
You see how tall and fine the forest grows
1.41
Through which a sacred river ceaseless flows;
1.41
While on dry soils the stately beech and oak
1.41
Die without waiting for the woodman's stroke.
1.41
Eating much may bring on choking,
1.41
Unless you take a turn at soaking.
1.41
A. I Sicon come with duly moisten'd clay.
1.41
B. What have you drunk then? A. That you well may say.
1.42
Ply your oars and bend your backs.
1.42
I for a while sat down (ἀνεκείμην):
1.42
I supped too ἀνακειμένος in his house.
1.42
What, was he giving a dinner to a statue?
1.42
'Tis hard before one's supper to lie down,
1.42
For if one does one cannot go to sleep;
1.42
Nor give much heed to aught that may be said;
1.42
One's thoughts being fix'd on what there 'll be to eat.
1.42
If I catch fire I'll leap with a mighty
1.42
Spring upon Hercules, as ἀνακεῖται.
1.42
Then we the goblets fill'd with mighty wine,
1.42
On delicate couches κατακειμένος,
1.42
Singing in turn old songs of Telamon.
1.42
I have been here κατακειμένος a long time.
1.42
Ἀνέπεσε (which is the same as ἀνέκειτο
1.42
Breathing forth long and deep and heavy breath.
1.42
After that I bade her ἀναπεσεῖν by my side.
1.43
When they ἐπάσαντο the entrails:
1.43
Now I have tasted food, (πασάμην.)
1.43
But when their minds were pleased (τάρφθεν) with wholesome food;
1.43
When they had ceased to wish for meat and drink.
1.43
I should like to satiate
1.43
(πάσασθαι) myself with thyme;
1.43
They roasted their game in the ashes and ate it,
1.43
(ἐπάσαντο) at least they all did who could get it.
1.44
They threw the quoit, and hurl'd the playful spear.
1.44
As when they stand firm as unshaken towers,
1.44
And face the foe, and pour forth darts in showers.
1.44
Wash'd off their heat in Neptune's briny tides,
1.44
And bathed their heads, and legs, and brawny sides.Iliad, x. 572.
1.44
They to the polish'd marble baths repair,
1.44
Anoint with fresh perfumes their flowing hair,
1.44
And seek the banquet hall.
1.44
Then o'er their heads and necks the cooling stream
1.44
The handmaids pour'd:Odyss. x. 362.
1.45
He went down to the furthest bed
1.45
In the well-order'd garden.
1.45
There was the onion, too, to season wine.
1.45
Figs after figs grow old, pears after pears.
1.45
There many a beauteous tree appears—
1.45
Pomegranates, apples, figs, and pears.
1.45
There tall trees adorn the grove,
1.45
The ash, and pine that towers above.
1.46
I pray you, where in Homer is the chief
1.46
Who e'er eat fish, or anything but beef?
1.46
And, though so much of liberty they boasted,
1.46
Their meat was never anything but roasted.
1.46
But as a caldron boils with melting fat
1.46
Of well-fed pig;
1.46
Then many a well-fill'd dish was duly set
1.46
On the full board, with every kind of meat;
1.46
The Chians
1.46
Are splendid hands at dressing viands.
1.47
Ancient wine and modern songs.
1.47
Inconsistent it seems for a fair one to praise
1.47
Old wine, and to say that such never can cloy;
1.47
But bring her a man who has seen his best days,
1.47
And she'd rather put up with a whiskerless boy.
1.49
Cooks come from Elis, pots from Argos,
1.49
Corinth blankets sends in barges,
1.49
Phlius wine, and Sicyon fish,
1.49
While cheese is a Sicilian dish.
1.49
Aegium sends flute-playing maids;
1.49
Perfumers ply their dainty trades
1.49
At Athens, under Pallas' eye;
1.49
Bœotia sends us eels to fry.
1.49
Tell me, ye Muses, who th' Olympic height
1.49
Cheer with your holy songs and presence bright;
1.49
Tell me what blessings Bacchus gave to man,
1.49
Since first his vessel o'er the waters ran.
1.49
Ox-hides from Libya's coasts, and juicy kail:
1.49
The narrow sea, still vocal with the wail
1.49
Of lost Leander's bride, the tunny sends,
1.49
And our first meal with kipper'd salmon mends.
1.49
Groats come from Italy, and ribs of beef;
1.49
While Thrace sends many a lie and many a thief.
1.49
Still do the Spartans scratch their sides in vain,
1.49
Mad with the itching of th' Odrysian pain.
1.49
Then Syracuse gives cheese and well-fed pigs;
1.49
Fair Athens olives sends, and luscious figs.
1.49
Cursed of all islands let Corcyra be,
1.49
Where no especial excellence we see.
1.49
Sails come from Egypt, and this paper too;
1.49
Incense from Syria; Crete upholds to view
1.49
The cypress tall; and, dear to mighty Jove,
1.49
In Paphlagonia grows the almond grove.
1.49
The elephant sends its teeth from Afric's sands;
1.49
Pears and fat sheep grow on Eubœa's lands;
1.49
Rhodes sends us raisins, and beguiles the night
1.49
With figs that make our dreams and slumbers light
1.49
From Phrygia slaves, allies from Area's land;
1.49
The Pagas$ean ports their hirelings brand;
1.49
Phœnicia sends us dates across the billows,
1.49
???nd Carthage, carpets rich, and well-stuft'd pillows.
1.50
Give me the noble Spartan hound
1.50
With whose deep voice Eurotas' banks resound;
1.50
While the dark rocks
1.50
Of Scyrus give the choicest flocks
1.50
Of milky goats; and, prompt at war's alarms,
1.50
Brave Argos burnishes the well-proved arms,
1.50
The Sicels build the rapid car,
1.50
And the fierce Thebans urge the chariot to the war.This is no part of Pyth. 1 or 2, but a fragment of another ode.
1.50
Know ye the land of the fair Proserpine,
1.50
Where the cottabus splashes the ominous wine;
1.50
Where the lightest and handsomest cars . . .
1.50
And what can for tired limbs compare
1.50
With the soft and yielding Thessalian chair?
1.50
But no town with Miletus vies
1.50
In the bridal bed's rich canopies.
1.50
But none the golden bowl can chase,
1.50
Or give to brass such varied grace,
1.50
As that renowned hardy race
1.50
That dwells by Arno's tide;
1.50
Phœnicia, mother of the arts,
1.50
Letters to learned men imparts;
1.50
Thebes scaled the mountain's side,
1.50
Bade the tough ash its trunk to yield,
1.50
And fill'd with cars the battle-field;
1.50
While Carians, masters of the seas,
1.50
First launch'd the boat to woo the breeze.
1.50
Offspring of clay and furnace bright,
1.50
The choicest porcelain clear and light
1.50
Boasts, as its birth-place, of the towers
1.50
Which Neptune's and Minerva's powers
1.50
From ills and dangers shield;
1.50
Which beat back war's barbaric wave
1.50
When Mede and Persian found a grave
1.50
In Marathon's undying field.
1.51
For all the ills that men endure,
1.51
Thasian is a certain cure;
1.51
For any head or stomach ache,
1.51
Thasian wine I always take,
1.51
And think it, as I home am reeling,
1.51
A present from the God of healing.
1.51
All wise men think
1.51
The Lesbian is the nicest wine to drink.
1.51
His whole thoughts every day incline
1.51
To drink what rich and rosy wine
1.51
From Thasos and from Lesbos comes,
1.51
And dainty cakes and sugarplums.
1.51
Hail, O Bacchus, ever dear,
1.51
You who from Lesbos drove dull care
1.51
With sparkling rosy wine;
1.51
He who would give one glass away,
1.51
Too vile on cheerful earth to stay,
1.51
Shall be no friend of mine.
1.51
Oh how luscious, oh how fine
1.51
Is the Pramnian Lesbian wine!
1.51
All who 're brave, and all who're wise,
1.51
Much the wine of Lesbos prize.
1.51
There is good meat, and plenteous dainty cheer;
1.51
And Thasian wine, perfumes, and garlands here;
1.51
Venus loves comfort; but where folks are poor,
1.51
The merry goddess ever shuns their door.
1.51
In Thasian wine or Chian soak your throttle,
1.51
Or take of Lesbian an old cobwebb'd bottle.
1.51
Give me some Psithian nectar, rich and neat,
1.51
To cool my thirst, and quench the burning heat.
1.52
Shun, my boy, the Pramnian cup,
1.52
Nor Thasian drink, nor Chian sup;
1.52
Nor let your glass with Peparethian brighten—
1.52
For bachelors that liquor's too exciting.
1.52
As sweet as
1.52
Wine from Leucas or Miletus.
1.52
When a libation to the gods you make,
1.52
Let your wine worthy be, and ripe and old;
1.52
Whose hoary locks droop o'er his purple lake,
1.52
Such as in Lesbos' sea-girt isle is sold.
1.52
Phœnicia doth a generous liquor bear,
1.52
But still the Lesbian I would rather quaff;
1.52
For though through age the former rich appear,
1.52
You'll find its fragrance will with use go off.
1.52
But Lesbian is the true ambrosial juice,
1.52
And so the gods, whose home's Olympus, think it;
1.52
And if some rather the Phoenician choose,
1.52
Let them, as long as they don't make you drink it.
1.52
The Thasian isle, too, noble wine doth grow,
1.52
When passing years have made its flavour mellow,
1.52
And other places too; still all I know
1.52
Is that the Lesbian liquor has no fellow.
1.52
I need not stop to tell you all the names
1.52
Of towns which in the generous contest vie,
1.52
Each for itself the vict'ry hotly claims;
1.52
But still the Lesbian wine beats all, say I.
1.53
A cask of good Phœnician wine was tapp'd.
1.53
When a man tastes Mendæan wine,
1.53
How rich, says he, how sweet, how fine!
1.53
I wonder where it can be bought, or
1.53
What's the right quantity of water.
1.53
Mendæan wine such as the gods distil,
1.53
And sweet Magnesian, cures for every ill,
1.53
And Thasian, redolent of mild perfume;
1.53
But of them all the most inviting bloom
1.53
Mantles above old Homer's Chian glass;
1.53
That wine doth all its rivals far surpass.
1.53
There is a wine, which Saprian they call,
1.53
Soon as the seals from whose rich hogshead fall,
1.53
Violets and roses mix their lovely scent,
1.53
And hyacinths, in one rich fragrance blent;
1.53
You might believe Jove's nectar sparkled there,
1.53
With such ambrosial odour reeks the air.
1.53
This is the wine I'll to my friends disclose;
1.53
The Peparethian trash may suit my foes.
1.55
Thurium gives the olive juice,
1.55
Lentils Gela's fields produce;
1.55
Icarian wine well merits praise,
1.55
And figs which the Cimolians raise.
1.56
A. Whence do you come, friend? speak.
1.56
B. From Acanthus I.
1.56
A. Acanthus? then I trow,
1.56
Since you're a countryman of wine so strong,
1.56
You must be fierce yourself;
1.56
Your country's name is thorny, ῎ἄκανθα is Greek for a thorn. but I hope
1.56
Your manners are not quite so rough and prickly.
1.56
And foreign wine was there; for that from Corinth
1.56
Is painful drinking.
1.56
Drinking deep draughts of harsh Eubœan wine.
1.56
My spear finds corn, my spear finds wine,
1.56
From Ismarus; on my spear I dine,
1.56
And on it, when fatigued, recline.
1.56
The black Sciathian wine mix'd half and half,
1.56
Invites the traveller to halt and quaff.
1.56
He pledged him in a cup of Bibline wine.
1.56
I'll give you Lesbian, Chian wine,
1.56
Thasian, Mendæan, and Bibline;
1.56
Sweet wines, but none so strong and heady
1.56
As that you shall next day feel seedy.
1.56
Full of rich wine the ships from Lemnos came.
1.56
Drink wine where lees abound, since Fate has not
1.56
Placed you amid Anthedon's flowery plains,
1.56
Or in the streets of sacred Hypera,
1.56
Where purer wine abounds.
1.58
A tasteless, dry, and foolish wine
1.58
I consider the myrrhine.
1.58
'Tis not enough to mix your wine with taste,
1.58
Unless sweet converse seasons the repast;
1.58
And Bacchus' gifts well such regard deserve,
1.58
That we should e'en the stones of grapes preserve.
1.59
Oh thou my tongue, whom silence long hath bound,
1.59
How wilt thou bear this tale of thine t' unfold?
1.59
Hard is their fate to whom compulsion stern
1.59
Leaves no alternative; which now compels thee
1.59
To open what thy lord would fain conceal.
1.60
You praise yourself, as does Astydamas, woman!
1.62
Last evening you were drinking deep,
1.62
So now your head aches. Go to sleep;
1.62
Take some boil'd cabbage when you wake;
1.62
And there's an end of your headache.
1.62
Wife, quick! some cabbage boil, of virtues healing,
1.62
That I may rid me of this seedy feeling.
1.62
We call it ῥάφανος, and strangers κράμβη;
1.62
But sure to women they must both the same be.
1.62
If you butter and cabbage eat,
1.62
All distempers you will beat,
1.62
Driving off all headaches horrid,
1.62
And clouds which hover round your forehead.
1.62
Instead of cabbage, acorns boil to-morrow,
1.62
Which equally rid you of all your sorrow.
1.62
When one's been drunk, the best relief I know
1.62
Is stern misfortune's unexpected blow;
1.62
For that at once all languor will dispel,
1.62
As sure as cabbage.