Catullus 13
Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me is the first line, sometimes used as a title, of Carmen 13 from the collected poems of the 1st-century BC Latin poet Catullus. The poem belongs to the literary genre of mock-invitation.[1] Fabullus is invited to dine at the poet's home, but he will need to bring all the elements of a dinner party (cena) himself: the host pleads poverty. Catullus will provide only meros amores, "the essence of love",[2] and a perfume given to him by his girlfriend, granted to her by multiple Venuses and Cupids, guaranteed to make Fabullus wish he were totum nasum ("all nose").
Latin text and translation
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me | You will dine well, my Fabullus, at my house |
| 2 | paucis, si tibi di favent, diebus | in a few days, if the gods favor you, |
| 3 | si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam | if with you you bring a good and great |
| 4 | cenam, non sine candida puella | meal, not without a fair-skinned girl |
| 5 | et vino et sale et omnibus cachinnis | both wine and wit and all the banter. |
| 6 | Haec si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster, | If you bring these, I say, our charming friend, |
| 7 | cenabis bene; nam tui Catulli | you will dine well, for the wallet of your Catullus |
| 8 | plenus sacculus est aranearum. | is full of cobwebs. |
| 9 | Sed contra accipies meros amores | But in exchange you will receive the most pure friendship |
| 10 | seu quid suavius elegantiusve est: | or whatever is more sweet or more elegant: |
| 11 | nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae | for I will give perfume, which to my girl |
| 12 | donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque, | Venuses and Cupids have given, |
| 13 | quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis, | which when you will smell it, you will ask the gods, |
| 14 | totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum. | to make you, Fabullus, all nose. |
References
- D.F.S. Thomson, Catullus (University of Toronto Press, 1997, 2003), p. 242.
- Emily Gowers, The Loaded Table: Representation of Food in Roman Literature (Oxford University Press, 1993, 2003), p. 234.
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