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Computatorium Amoris [13]


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26 ↓
Computatorium Amoris.translation
XIII.
Solon.
Aulicolas sapiens olim dicebat id esse.
Calculus in manibus quod solet esse, Solon:
Qui nunc depositus designat millia multa;
Nunc aliter positus, pauca, nihilque notat. translation

Polyb. Plin.
EXigua plane tempora homines quidem omnes
valdè exaltant, rursusque humiliant, sed auli-
cos maxime amatores; reuera enim hi similes sunt
abaculorum calculis, isti enim secundum compu-
tantis arbitrum modo ærei sunt, modo aurei; hi ad
nutum Regis nunc beati sunt, nunc miseri.
Indicæ testudines, meridiano tempore blan-
diente, gaudent toto dorso per tranquilla fluitare,
donec oblitis sui, solis vapore siccetur cortex, vt
mergi nequeant, iamque inuitè natent oportunæ
venantium prædæ: ita quidam spe magnarum re-
rum allecti, in Amoris aulam, Principumque pa-
latia sese conijciunt, & adeò deliniuntur horum
delitijs, donec imprudentes eo redigantur, vt non
possint, etiamsi velint, sese in suum otium reci-
pere. translation

Lucan.
Exeat aulâ qui volet esse pius. translation

[26a] ↓

Qui in honore sunt, similes sunt abaculorum calculis. Polyb. lib. 5. translation

L'estime seule fait, qu vn mesme ietton vaille,
Tantost mille ducats, tantost moins qu vne maille.

27 ↓
Comptoir de l'Amour.
XIII.
Incertain est le sort, instable la fortune,
Si bien que la faueur changeant comme la lune,
Ne se peut iamais veoir en vn estat esgal.
Car ce qu' auiourdhuy l'vn ayme, & lautre estime,
Se voit le lendemain estre tenu pour crime,
Sans laisser qu' vn moment entre le bien & mal.

El amante y el priuado,
Como el tanto o contador;
Valen lo que quiere Amor.

Dan hooghe staten is den val/
Als eenen penninck uyt 't ghetal.

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26

[26a]

27

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Translations

Love's computations.
The sage Solon once said that the question of who is in power
is like the outcome of the dice in our hands.
At one moment, in this position it points to many thousands.
At another, with another side up, it points to very little or nothing at all.
[Polyb.] The time is quite short that indeed all people are in very good spirits, and then again are downcast. For in truth they are like the beads of the abacus, for those have, to the discretion of the accountant, at one moment the value of gold, at another that of silver. Dependent on the king's whim these courtiers are happy at one moment, miserable at the next. Indian tortoises, when the time of noon is pleasant, like to float with their backs completely exposed through the calm waters, until forgetting themselves, their skin dries out by the heat of the sun, so that they cannot dive, and now swimming against their will [on the surface] are ready prey to hunters.
[Plin.]1 So some, lured by the chance of winning great rewards, push their way into the court of Love and the palaces of princes, and are smeared with the delights of these until unwittingly they are pushed to the point that, even if they want to, they cannot retreat to the leisure of a private life.
Who wishes to become2 pious must leave the court.
Those who are in honourable positions are like the accountants' beads.3

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Literature


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    Sources and parallels


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    Iconclass

    In a garden building - with a statue of Fortune on top - a cupid and a girl are counting money

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    Comments

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    Notes

    1
    This is in fact one continuous piece of prose in the original, but this looks the best way to separate the Polybius part from the Plinius part. 'Plin.' in margin is just about here, and it looks best to have Plinius start after 'ita'.
    2
    'volet' is future. The future has been shifted -- more or less -- by translating esse with 'become'.
    3
    'abaculus': LS has s.v. 'abaculus' a reference to Plin. 36, 26, 67, para. 199.