Millionaire's Dinner Party Chapter 2 Translation Flashcards
Nos iam ad triclinium perveneramus, in cuius prima parte dispensator rationes accipiebat.
Already we had arrived at the dining room, in which in the first section an accountant was accepting the accounts.
et quod praecipue miratus sum, in postibus triclinii fasces erant cum securibus defixi, sub quibus erat scriptum:
C. POMPEIO TRIMALCHIONI, SEVIRO AUGUSTALI, CINNAMUS DISPENSATOR.
And that which I marvel at especially, on the door posts of the dining room there were bundles of rods and axes attached, under which had been written TO GAIUS POMPEIUS TRIMALCHIO PRIEST OF AUGUSTUS , FROM CINNAMUS THE ACCOUNTANT.
duae tabulae in utroque poste defixae erant, quarum altera hoc habebat inscriptum: ‘ante diem tertium et pridie kalendas Ianuarias Gaius noster foris cenat.’ altera habebat lunae cursum stellarumque septem imagines pictas.
Two tablets had been affixed upon either post, one of which had the inscription ‘On the third day and the day before the Kalends of January (on the 30th and 31st December) , our Gaius dines out.’ The other had the course of the moon and the seven planets pictured.
iam conabamur triclinium intrare, sed exclamavit unus ex pueris ‘dextro pede.’ sine dubio paulisper trepidavimus, ne contra praeceptum aliquis nostrum limen transiret.
Already we were attempting to enter the dining room, but one of the boys exclaimed “right foot first.” Without a doubt we were anxious for a little while, lest anyone of us might cross the threshold against the rules.
tandem pariter movimus dextros gressus, sed subito servus despoliatus procubuit ad pedes nostros ac rogare coepit ut se poenae eriperemus;
Finally we moved together with our right feet forward, but suddenly a stripped slave laid down at our feet and began to ask us to save him from punishment:
‘nec magnum’ inquit ‘fuit peccatum meum, propter quod iam in periculo sum. subducta enim mihi sunt vestimenta dispensatoris in balneo, quae vix fuerunt decem
sestertiorum.’
“my mistake wasn’t great” he said “but because of which I am now in danger for the stewards clothes were stolen from me in the baths, they were barely worth 10 sesterces.”
rettulimus igitur dextros pedes dispensatoremque in atrio invenimus, qui aureos numerabat.
We therefore took back our right feet and discovered the steward in the foyer, who was counting aureus(?).
eum precati sumus ut servo remitteret poenam. superbus ille sustulit vultum et ‘non tam iactura me movet’ inquit ‘quam neglegentia nequissimi servi. vestimenta mea cubitoria perdidit, quae mihi natali meo cliens quidam donaverat. Tyria sine dubio, sed iam semel lota. quid ergo est? dono vobis eum.’
We begged that he would remove the punishment from the slave. That proud man lifted his face and he said “it’s not so much the theft that moves me more than the negligence of that utterly worthless slave. He lost my dinner clothes, which a certain client had gifted me on my birthday. Tyrian no doubt, but already washed once. Well what does it matter? I give him to you.”
gratias ei egimus pro tanto beneficio et processimus ut intraremus triclinium. ecce, occurrit nobis ille idem servus pro quo rogaveramus et nobis plurima basia impegit et gratias egit humanitati nostrae.
We thanked him for his great kindness and proceeded in order to enter the dining room. Look, that same slave on behalf of whom we had asked ran to meet us and planted a shower of kisses on us and thanked us for our kindness.
tandem ergo discubuimus. extemplo pueri alii aquam in manus infuderunt, alii insecuti sunt ad pedes ut paronychia tollerent. neque tamen dum hoc officium molestum agebant, tacebant, sed obiter cantabant.
Therefore we finally reclined. Immediately other boys poured water onto our hands , others followed in order to cut our toenails. However while they were doing this bothersome task they were not being silent, but in passing they were singing.
ego experiri volui ‘num tota familia ita cantat?’; itaque puerum rogavi ut potionem mihi afferret. extemplo puer imperium meum cantu excepit. pantomimi chorus, non patris familiae triclinium mihi videbatur.
I wished to test “Does the whole household sing in such a way?” and so I asked the boy to bring the drink to me. Immediately the boy took my order with song. It seemed to me to be the chorus of a pantomime, not the dining room of the father of the household.
allata est tamen gustatio valde lauta; nam iam omnes discubuerant praeter ipsum Trimalchionem, cui locus primus servabatur.
However a very elegant hors d’oeurve was brought; for all had already sat down except Trimalchio himself. For whom the first place was reserved.
asellus Corinthius in mensa positus erat cum bisaccio, qui habebat olivas in altera parte albas, in altera nigras. tegebant asellum lances duae, in quibus nomen Trimalchionis inscriptum erat et argenti pondus.
A donkey of Corinthian bronze was placed on the table with a double pannier which had white olives on one side and black on the other. Two lances covered the ass on which was inscribed the name of Trimalchio and a weight of silver.
in his erant glires melle et papavere sparsi et tomacula et Syriaca pruna.
In these were dormice sprinkled with honey and poppy seeds and sausages and damsons
