Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

MARTIAL'S EPIGRAMS
LXIX
ON A DOG'S GRAVE
TRAINED in the amphitheatre and found
Ruthless in chase and yet a gentle hound,
Lydia my name; my lord had chosen me
Before thy loyal friend, Erigone;
Or him who, following Cephalus afar
From Dicte's land, became with him a star,
The faithful hound that loved Dulichium's lord
Was numbed, of lagging years, and age abhorred;
The flashing tushes of a slavering boar,
Huge as the brute in Calydon of yore,
Thrust me in youth to death. Shall I repine?
Nay for a nobler fate could not be mine.
* LXX
TO TUCCA
How can you endure to sell your poor boys;
Each cost you a thousand, these delicate toys.
Do not their caresses your stubborn heart move,
Their artless complaints, and the signs of their love.
If you want ready money, there's land you can sell,
Your house and your plate, cups and tables as well,
Old slaves of your father's-I'm sure they won't mindNothing matters as long as the boys stay behind.
It was reckless to buy them-that none will denyBut to sell them would recklessness greater imply.
LXXI
HYSTERICAM uetulo se dixerat esse marito
Et queritur futui Leda necesse sibi;
Sed flens atque gemens tanti negat esse salutem
Seque refert potius proposuisse mori.
Uir rogat ut uiuat, uirides nec deserat annos,
Et fieri quod iam non facit ipse sinit.
Protinus accedunt medici medicaeque recedunt,
Tollunturque pedes. 0 medicina grauis!
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