Satyricon, vol 5, Crotona Affairs

Satyricon, vol 5, Crotona Affairs

The Project Gutenberg EBook The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter, v5
#5 in our series by Petronius Arbiter (Translated by Firebaugh)
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Title: The Satyricon, v5 (Crotona Affairs)
Author: Petronius Arbiter
Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5222] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on June 8, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English

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SATYRICON OF PETRONIUS, V5 ***

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THE SATYRICON OF PETRONIUS ARBITER
Complete and unexpurgated translation by W. C. Firebaugh, in which
are incorporated the forgeries of Nodot and Marchena, and the readings
introduced into the text by De Salas.
BRACKET CODE: (Forgeries of Nodot) [Forgeries of Marchena]
{Additions of De Salas} DW
VOLUME 5.--AFFAIRS AT CROTONA

CHAPTER THE
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH.
For a long time affairs at Crotona ran along in this manner and
Eumolpus, flushed with success so far forgot the former state of his
fortunes that he even bragged to his followers that no one could hold
out against any wish of his, and that any member of his suite who
committed a crime in that city would, through the influence of his
friends, get off unpunished. But, although I daily crammed my bloated
carcass to overflowing with good things, and began more and more to
believe that Fortune had turned away her face from keeping watch upon
me, I frequently meditated, nevertheless, upon my present state and
upon its cause. "Suppose," thought I, "some wily legacy hunter should
dispatch an agent to Africa and catch us in our lie? Or even suppose the
hireling servant, glutted with prosperity, should tip off his cronies or
give the whole scheme away out of spite? There would be nothing for it

but flight and, in a fresh state of destitution, a recalling of poverty
which had been driven off. Gods and goddesses, how ill it fares with
those living outside the law; they are always on the lookout for what is
coming to them!" (Turning these possibilities over in my mind I left the
house, in a state of black melancholy, hoping to revive my spirits in the
fresh air, but scarcely had I set foot upon the public promenade when a
girl, by no means homely, met me, and, calling me Polyaenos, the
name I had assumed since my metamorphosis, informed me that her
mistress desired leave to speak with me. "You must be mistaken," I
answered, in confusion, "I am only a servant and a stranger, and am by
no means worthy of such an honor.")

CHAPTER THE
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIXTH.
("You yourself," she replied, "are the one to whom I was sent but,)
because you are well aware of your good looks, you are proud and sell
your favors instead of giving them. What else can those wavy
well-combed locks mean or that face, rouged and covered with
cosmetics, or that languishing, wanton expression in your eyes? Why
that gait, so precise that not a footstep deviates from its place, unless
you wish to show off your figure in order to sell your favors? Look at
me, I know nothing about omens and I don't study the heavens like the
astrologers, but I can read men's intentions in their faces and I know
what a flirt is after when I see him out for a stroll; so if you'll sell us
what I want there's a buyer ready, but if you will do the graceful thing
and lend, let us be under obligations to you for the favor. And as for
your confession that you are only a common servant, by that