Catullus 77-85

Original Latin

LXXVII. ad Rufum

Rufe mihi frustra ac nequiquam credite amice

(frustra? immo magno cum pretio atque malo),

sicine subrepsti mi, atque intestina perurens

ei misero eripuisti omnia nostra bona?

eripuisti, heu heu nostrae crudele venenum

vitae, heu heu nostrae pestis amicitiae.

LXXVIII. ad Gallum

Gallus habet fratres, quorum est lepidissima coniunx

alterius, lepidus filius alterius.

Gallus homo est bellus: nam dulces iungit amores,

cum puero ut bello bella puella cubet.

Gallus homo est stultus, nec se videt esse maritum,

qui patruus patrui monstret adulterium.

LXXVIIIb.

* * * * * * *

sed nunc id doleo, quod purae pura puellae

suavia comminxit spurca saliva tua.

verum id non impune feres: nam te omnia saecla

noscent et, qui sis, fama loquetur anus.

LXXIX. ad Lesbium

Lesbius est pulcer. quid ni? quem Lesbia malit

quam te cum tota gente, Catulle, tua.

sed tamen hic pulcer vendat cum gente Catullum,

si tria natorum suavia reppererit.

LXXX. ad Gellium

Quid dicam, Gelli, quare rosea ista labella

hiberna fiant candidiora nive,

mane domo cum exis et cum te octava quiete

e molli longo suscitat hora die?

nescio quid certe est: an vere fama susurrat

grandia te medii tenta vorare viri?

sic certe est: clamant Victoris rupta miselli

ilia, et emulso labra notata sero.

LXXXI. ad Iuventium

Nemone in tanto potuit populo esse, Iuventi,

bellus homo, quem tu diligere inciperes.

praeterquam iste tuus moribunda ab sede Pisauri

hospes inaurata palladior statua,

qui tibi nunc cordi est, quem tu praeponere nobis

audes, et nescis quod facinus facias?

LXXXII. ad Qvintium

Quinti, si tibi vis oculos debere Catullum

aut aliud si quid carius est oculis,

eripere ei noli, multo quod carius illi

est oculis seu quid carius est oculis.

LXXXIII. ad Lesbiam

Lesbia mi praesente viro mala plurima dicit:

haec illi fatuo maxima laetitia est.

mule, nihil sentis? si nostri oblita taceret,

sana esset: nunc quod gannit et obloquitur,

non solum meminit, sed, quae multo acrior est res,

irata est. hoc est, uritur et loquitur.

LXXXIV. ad Arrium

Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet

dicere, et insidias Arrius hinsidias,

et tum mirifice sperabat se esse locutum,

cum quantum poterat dixerat hinsidias.

credo, sic mater, sic liber avunculus eius.

sic maternus auus dixerat atque avia.

hoc misso in Syriam requierant omnibus aures

audibant eadem haec leniter et leviter,

nec sibi postilla metuebant talia verba,

cum subito affertur nuntius horribilis,

Ionios fluctus, postquam illuc Arrius isset,

iam non Ionios esse sed Hionios.

LXXXV.

Odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.

nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

My Translation

Catullus 77: Dirty Robber

Rufus, my friend,

I trusted you in vain, with no purpose at all

(in vain? No– to a great cost, to great pains).

Have you really invaded my life like this –

rupturing my organs and tearing away everything good

from wretched me?

You have–

O no! O no!

You’re my life’s cruel poison.

O no! O no!

What a horrible friend!

Catullus 78: Playing Cupid

Gallus has two brothers:

one has a most charming wife,

the other, a most charming son.

He is a fine fellow, Gallus,

for he brings together two sweet lovers,

allowing that fair girl to lie with a handsome boy.

But Gallus is also a fool,

and does not see that he is a husband

instructing his own nephew to

commit adultery with his very uncle’s wife.

Catullus 78b: To Live Forever

And now, now I grieve

because your disgusting saliva has

mingled with the kisses of

a pure, innocent girl.

You will not go unpunished:

all of time will know you and the man you are–

this old rumor will never cease to speak.

Catullus 79: The Other Man

Lesbius is handsome– so why not prefer him?

Lesbia certainly does.

She prefers him to you, Catullus,

and all of your kin.

Let this handsome man sell

Catullus and all of his kin,

but only if he can find three men who don’t deem him

a bastard.

Catullus 80: A Poorly Kept Secret

What answer can I give, Gellius,

as to why those rosy lips of yours

grow whiter than winter snow

when you leave your home in the morning,

after the eighth hour awakens you out of a long, soft sleep?

I don’t know! Yet, something is there.

Is it true, what the rumors whisper?

Do you devour a man’s long cock?

You must – the torn loins of poor Victor

betray your secret,

and your lips are stained with

cum wiped away.

Catullus 81: Him?

Was there no one else, Iuventius,

no other handsome man you might love

in all that crowd, except that guest of yours

from deadly Pisaurum, who stands there

yellower than a gold-plated statue?

Is he really the one dear to your heart now?

The one you dare to prefer to me?

Do you not see the heinous crime you’re committing?

Catullus 82: Eyes for Eyes

Quintius, if you want Catullus to owe to you

his eyes, or anything dearer,

don’t take from him something far dearer to him

than his eyes,

or anything dearer than eyes!

Catullus 83: Still, She Burns

Lesbia, when her husband is present,

says the worst things about me, and

gives that fool the greatest pleasure.

Ass! Are you blind? If she had forgotten me,

she would keep silent and be unaffected,

but instead she snaps and moans–

not only does she remember,

but, and this is far more serious,

she’s angry.

I speak the truth:

she burns for me,

and so she speaks.

Catullus 84: Mispronunciations

Arrius used to say chonvenient when he meant convenient,

and hambush when he meant ambush,

and then, marvelously,

he was confident he’d spoken well,

even after shouting hambush as strongly as he could!

I suppose it’s because

his mother, his freeborn uncle spoke freely,

his maternal grandfather, his maternal grandmother – they all spoke freely.

Our ears finally rested when he was sent to Syria–

we heard those same words

softly, harmlessly, and no longer feared to speak them.

Suddenly, a dreadful report arrives:

the Ionian waves, ever since Arrius visited,

are no longer Ionian–

they’re Hionian.

Catullus 85: Love and Hate

I hate and I love.

You might ask me, how?

I don’t know– all I know is

I feel, and I suffer.