Noli admirari, quare tibi foemina nulla, Rufe, velit tenerum supposuisse femur; Non ullam rarae labefactes munere vestis, Aut pellucidulis deliciis lapidis. Laedit te quaedam mala fabula, qua tibi fertur Valle sub alarum trux habitare caper. Hunc metuunt omnes, neque mirum: nam mala valde est Bestia, nec quicum<106.1> bela puella cubet. Quare aut crudelem nasorum interfice pestem, Aut admirari desine, cur fugiant. TO RUFUS. That no fair woman will, wonder not why, Clap (Rufus) under thine her tender thigh; Not a silk gown shall once melt one of them, Nor the delights of a transparent gemme. A scurvy story kills thee, which doth tell, That in thine armpits a fierce goat doth dwell. Him they all fear full of an ugly stench:<106.2> Nor 's 't fit he should lye with a handsome wench; Wherefore this noses cursed plague first crush, Or cease to wonder, why they fly you thus. <106.1> An archaic form of QUOCUM. <106.2> Original has STINCH. <--------------------> CATUL. EP. 71. DE INCONSTANTIA FOEMINEI AMORIS. Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere velle, Quam mihi: non, si Jupiter ipse petat; Dicit; sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti, In vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua. FEMALE INCONSTANCY. My mistresse sayes she'll marry none but me; No, not if Jove himself a suitor be. She sayes so; but what women say to kind Lovers, we write in rapid streams and wind. <--------------------> AD LESBIAM, CAT. EP. 73. Dicebas quondam, solum to nosse Catullum, Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Jovem; Dilexi tum te, non tantum ut vulgus amicam, Sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos. Nunc te cognovi, quare et impensius uror, Multo mi tamen es vilior et levior. Qui potis est inquis, quod amantem injuria talis Cogat amare magis, sed bene velle minus? Odi et amo; quare id faciam, fortasse requiris; Nescio; sed fieri sentio, et excrucior. ENGLISHED. That me alone you lov'd, you once did say, Nor should I to the king of gods give way. Then I lov'd thee not as a common dear, But as a father doth his children chear. Now thee I know, more bitterly I smart; Yet thou to me more light and cheaper art. What pow'r is this? that such a wrong should press Me to love more, yet wish thee well much lesse. I hate and love; would'st thou the reason know? I know not; but I burn, and feel it so. <--------------------> IN LESBIAM CAT. EP. 76. Huc est mens deducta tua, mea Lesbia, culpa, Atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo. Ut jam nec bene velle queam tibi, si optima sias: Nec desistere amare, omnia si facias. ENGLISHED. By thy fault is my mind brought to that pass, That it its office quite forgotten has: For be'est thou best, I cannot wish thee well, And be'est thou worst, then I must love thee still. <--------------------> AD QUINTIUM. CAT. EP. 83.