Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

BOOK NINE

* XIV
ON A PARASITE
Do you think that this man, whom your generous board
Has got you for friend, can true friendship afford?
It's your oysters and mullet he loves, sir, not you:
If my dinners were good, he would be my friend too.
* XV
A MUCH-MARRIED LADY
CHLOE seven husbands had,
In the churchyard laid 'em,
On the stone the record sad,
All their names engraved 'em;
Then added-' Chloe's work you see.'
O what delicious naivete!
* XVI
EARINOS' VOW
His mirror, beauty's wisdom, and his hair
To Aesculapius an offering
The boy our lord most loves to-day doth bear,
Who by his name recalls the hours of spring.
Happy the land that is with such gifts fee'd:
For him we would not take e'en Ganymede.
* XVII
ON THE SAME
LATONA'S grandson, by whose potions mild
The Fates with too brief distaff are beguiled,
These locks, his lord's delight, thy boy sends now
To thee from Rome to pay his solemn vow,
And this bright glass has added to the hair
Whose verdict oft assured him he was fair.
Gone are his tresses bright; yet none the less
Preserve for him his youthful comeliness.
267