42. Was it for this He sent
souls, that some should infest the highways and roads,
3700
others ensnare
the unwary, forge
3701
false wills,
prepare poisoned draughts; that they should break open houses by night,
tamper
with slaves
, steal and drive away, not act uprightly, and
betray
their trust
perfidiously; that they should strike out
delicate dainties for the palate; that in cooking fowls they should
know how to catch the fat as it drips; that they should make cracknels
and sausages,
3702
force-meats,
tit-bits, Lucanian sausages, with these
3703
a sow’s udder and iced
3704
puddings?
Was it for this He sent souls, that beings
3705
of a sacred and august race should here
practise singing and piping; that they should swell out their cheeks in
blowing the flute; that they should take the lead in singing impure
songs, and raising the loud din of the castanets,
3706
by which another crowd of souls should
be led in their wantonness to abandon themselves to clumsy motions, to
dance and sing, form rings of dancers, and finally, raising their
haunches and hips, float along with a tremulous motion of the
loins?
Was it for this He sent souls, that in men they
should become impure, in women harlots, players on the
triangle
3707
and psaltery;
that they should prostitute their bodies for hire, should abandon
themselves to the lust of all,
3708
ready in the brothels, to be met with
in the stews,
3709
ready to submit
to anything, prepared to do violence to their mouth even?
3710
3700
Lit.,
“passages of ways.”
3701
Lit.,
“substitute.”
3702
So
the later edd., reading
botulos
; the
ms.
and early edd. give
boletos
—“mushrooms.”
3703
For
his
, Heinsius proposes
hiris
—“with the
intestines.”
3704
Lit., “in a frozen condition.” As to the
meaning of this there is difference of opinion: some supposing
that it means, as above, preserved by means of ice, or at least frozen;
while others interpret figuratively, “as hard as
ice.” [Our Scottish translators have used their local word,
“iced
haggises
:” I have put
puddings
instead, which gives us, at least, an idea of something edible.
To an American, what is iced conveys the idea of a drink. The
budinarius
, heretofore noted, probably made these iced
saucisses
.]
3705
Lit.,
“things”—
res
.
3706
Scabilla
were a kind of rattles or castanets moved by the
feet.
3707
Sambuca
, not corresponding to the modern triangle, but a
stringed instrument of that shape. Its notes were shrill and
disagreeable, and those who played on it of indifferent character.
3708
So the
ms.
and first four edd.,
reading
virilitatem sui populo publicarent
.
Meursius emended
utilitatem
—“made common the
use,” etc.; and Orelli, from the margin of Ursinus,
vilitatem
—“their vileness.”
3709
The
ms.
reads
in fornicibus
obvi-t-ae
, which, dropping
t
, is the reading translated, and
was received by Elmenhorst, LB., and Hildebrand, from the margin of
Ursinus. The other edd. insert
nc
before
t
—“bound.”
3710
The
translation does not attempt to bring out the force of the words
ad
oris stuprum paratæ
, which are read by Orelli after Ursinus
and Gelenius. The text is so corrupt, and the subject so obscene,
that a bare reference to the practice may be sufficient.