Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Quid me, Thai...

Here is today's distich by Martial, 4.50. Thais is a proverbial prostitute, the name being made famous by a courtesan named Thais who was famously acquainted with Alexander the Great. Although most of the Martial epigrams with a sexual theme are rendered in Italian in Bohn's edition, Bohn managed to find this English version which is not too naughty. Still, Martial's tone here is actually rather threatening; if the woman is going to rebuke him with being old, then he warns her that he is not too old to make her give him a blow job.

Quid me, Thai, senem subinde dicis?
Nemo est, Thai, senex ad irrumandum.


My age you, Thais, often spell:
One's ne'er too aged - to do well.
- Anon.

Here is the vocabulary:

quid - what
ego - I, me
Thais - Thais
senex - old; old man
subinde - constantly, repeatedly
dico - say, tell
nemo - no one, nobody
sum - be, exist
ad - to, for
irrumo - force to engage in oral sex