Page:The poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus - Francis Warre Cornish.djvu/170

 154 C. Valerius Catullus

xxxix ii. parens codd. (pingnis gloss. Vat.); al. pastas far/us; porcus Seal. P., 'an Umbrian pig.' Cf. Pers. in 74 pinguibus Umbris.

xli i. Or {an/ic sana B ) 'is she in her right mind?' cf. 7.

xlii 16. Or (pole, nt rnlwrem...ore, conclamate &c. M.), 'if nothing else can do so, in order to extort a blush from her brazen face, bawl out,' &c. This reading carries the sense on, and avoids the 'awkward stop' at the end of 17; but has no MS. authority.

xliv 12. legi codd., 21 legit codd. Two explanations of this poem are given, according as legi or legit is read in 12, 21.

(1) (legi) Catullus, invited to dine with Sestius, read one of his speeches, caught cold from it, and did not go to dinner;

(2) (legit) Catullus was invited to dine with Sestius; went there, heard him read, and came away with a chill.

(2) makes better sense, reading/^/'/ (B.) for legit.

21. tunc — cum, 'just when I have read,' of a single occasion, or ' only when I happen to read.' eum almost = quoties.

xlv 8. ut ante of codd. has probably come in from 17. I follow Dr Postgate's reading. This makes three sneezes: (1) dcxtra 9, (2) sinistra 8 and sinistram 17, (3) dextrani 18; the first from the right, the second from the left, the third from the right again. (Journal of Philology xvn 237 sqq.) Dr Verrall suggests (ibid. 239 n.) that there were two pairs of sneezes; right and left at 8, 9, left and right at 17, 18. For Munro's view see his Criticisms, 120 sqq.

16. Or 'than to you,' understanding quam tibi: but sic (the formula of a vow) implies magis magisque, corresponding to maior acriorqne, and this is simpler and more natural.

xlvii 2. fames mnnda (for mnndi codd.) - fames tiiera Mart, in lviii 45.

xlix 7. omniums is the reading of R.

L 2. Or (invicem) 'in turns.'

1.1 a 11. Or (geminae) 'both my ears... my eyes are