_He tells Græcinus how he is in love with two mistresses at the same
time._
|Thou wast wont to tell me, Græcinus [395] (I remember well), 'twas
thou, I am sure, that a person cannot be in love with two females at the
same time. Through thee have I been deceived; through thee have I been
caught without my arms. [396] Lo! to my shame, I am in love with two at
the same moment. Both of them are charming; both most attentive to their
dress; in skill, 'tis a matter of doubt, whether the one or the other is
superior. That one is more beauteous than this; this one, too, is more
beauteous than that; and this one pleases me the most, and that one the
most. The one passion and the other fluctuate, like the skiff, [397]
impelled by the discordant breezes, and keep me distracted. Why,
Erycina, dost thou everlastingly double my pangs? Was not one damsel
sufficient for my anxiety? Why add leaves to the trees, why stars to the
heavens filled _with them?_ Why additional waters to the vast ocean?
But still this is better, than if I were languishing without a flame;
may a life of seriousness be the lot of my foes. May it be the lot of
my foes to sleep in the couch of solitude, and to recline their limbs
outstretched in the midst of the bed. But, for me, may cruel Love _ever_
disturb my sluggish slumbers; and may I be not the solitary burden of
my couch. May my mistress, with no one to hinder it, make me die _with
love_, if one is enough to be able to do so; _but_ if one is not enough,
_then_ two. Limbs that are thin, [401] but not without strength, may
suffice; flesh it is, not sinew that my body is in want of. Delight,
too, will give resources for vigour to my sides; through me has no fair
ever been deceived. Often, robust through the hours of delicious night,
have I proved of stalwart body, even in the mom. Happy the man, who
proves the delights of Love? Oh that the Gods would grant that to be the
cause of my end!
Let the soldier arm his breast [402] that faces the opposing darts, and
with his blood let him purchase eternal fame. Let the greedy man seek
wealth; and with forsworn mouth, let the shipwrecked man drink of the
seas which he has wearied with ploughing them. But may it be my lot to
perish in the service of Love: _and_, when I die, may I depart in the
midst of his battles; [403] and may some one say, when weeping at my
funeral rites: "Such was a fitting death for his life."