[Previous: lines 1-35]
Joseph and John have resolved to petition Pilate to release Jesus. Now read on!
Sic memorans gressum Syriae rectoris ad aedes------------
tendit. Ei senior comitem se iungit, et ambo
incedunt pariter tristes; ceu forte boves quum
agricola amisit pauper, quos hostis abegit
depopulatus agros, quaesitum protinus illos [40]
longum iter ingreditur. natorum maximus olli
it comes: hic illic saepe ambo ignota per arva,
siquos forte suis similes videre vagari,
subsistunt flentes, atque avia questibus implent.
Haud illi secus, et jam ventum ad limina tecti, [45]
quod regum quondam fuit antiquissima sedes,
cum res incolumi regno Iudaea maneret,
sed tum Romulides orae moderator habebat.
Fervere cuncta vident strepitu, patresque sub ipso
vestibulo ante fores dissensu tendere magno, [50]
iamque sacerdotes paulatim cedere ab aula
Romano velut infensos, ac dira minantes.
His animum arrecti paullum lenire dolorem
incipiunt, rebusque aliquam sperare salutem.
Atque ita Ioannes: “Mihi se nonnulla aperit spes. [55]
Solve metum, atque virum pro nato affare, deique
dissimula sobolem, et causas innecte precandi.”
His dictis, pariter succedunt aedibus ambo:
atque ducem senior, qui re suspensus eadem
his super in medio procerum consulta rogabat, [60]
alloquitur genua amplexans, supplexque precatur:
“Optime Romulidum, quem clari rector Olympi
iustitia voluit Syriam frenare supeibam,
parce piis, saevumque hominum compesce furorem.
Hinc ratio penitus sublata est: vi geritur res. [65]
Illi ego sum genitor, quem primi geniis in unum
coniurant omnes, et ficto crimine terrent.
Iamque tibi, ut scelere ante omnes immanior unus,
traditus, immeritas quo pendat sanguine poenas.
Illum autem virtus tantum, et benefacta per orbem [70]
his mersere malis sua, dum gens effera laudi
invidet eximiae, nec fert surgentis honorem.”
They made their way to the palace of Syria’s------------
ruler. The older man accompanied the
younger, equal in grief; like a farmer
whose cows have been stolen by an enemy
despoiling the fields—he goes in search of them [40]
joined by his oldest son, they look all over
hurrying through unknown fields, and if by chance,
they see some familiar-looking cattle, they
stop, filling the countryside with weeping.
So it was with them. And now they reached the [45]
palace that in antiquity had belonged
to the kings of Judea (when that realm stood)
but now housed the Roman administration.
There was much noise and chaos; city elders
crowded the vestibule, loudly arguing: [50]
the priests stormed out, furious with the Roman
authorities and yelling dire threats.
The sight of this eased their pain a little:
raised their hopes that his life might yet be spared.
And John said: “Me, I consider this hopeful. [55]
Be strong: go talk to him about your son,
keeping quiet about his divine birth.”
That said they both went into the building.
The older man addressed the governor, who
was himself uncertain how to proceed, [60]
harried by the city-elders. He listened.
“Great Roman! who the lord of bright Olympus
chose to rule proud Syria justly, please show
mercy, curb the raging fury of these men.
Their reason has entirely gone: they’ve lost it. [65]
I am the father of that man, who the crowd
are persecuting with false accusations.
He is yours now, a base criminal they all say,
deserving the death penalty for his crimes.
But he is here only because of his virtue [70]
his good deeds throughout the world: they envy him
for the praise he gets and hate to see him loved.”
It seems to me, shall we say, puzzling that these two unimportant Jews manage to walk straight into a personal (and as we find out as we read on, lengthy) interview with the ruler of their entire country. Indeed we might imagine that John, being present at such a remarkable and significant occasion, might have mentioned it in his gospel. But here we are.
The epic simile in lines 38-44 is also a bit of a puzzle. The classic NT pastoral analogy is, of course, that we are sheep and Jesus is the good shepherd. Vida here turns that on its head: we are farmers and Jesus is our … cow? Stolen from us by cattle rustlers? What? Perhaps this reflects the fact that, though the peoples of the middle east were, largely, herders of sheep and goats, the Romans considered cattle the mark of the highest status. Cicero closes book two of the De Officiis with this anecdote about the Elder Cato.
To this class of comparisons belongs that famous saying of old Cato's: when he was asked what was the most profitable feature of an estate, he replied: “Raising cattle successfully.” What next to that? “Raising cattle with fair success.” And next? “Raising cattle with but slight success.” And fourth? “Raising crops.” And when his questioner said, “How about money-lending?” Cato replied: “How about murder?”It may be that Vida is thinking of the bit in Aeneid 8, when Evander is feasting the newly arrived Trojans, and tells Aeneas the legend of Cacus, the nasty giant who stole the cattle of Hercules, dragging them backwards by their tails to disguise their tracks, and hiding them in his cave. The parallels between the passages aren’t exact, but perhaps Vida is gesturing towards this bit [Aeneid 8: 214], about how Cacus’s secret stash of cows in his cave is betrayed:
Ex quo genere comparationis illud est Catonis senis: a quo cum quaereretur, quid maxime in re familiari expediret, respondit: “Bene pascere”; quid secundum: “Satis bene pascere”; quid tertium: “Male pascere”; quid quartum: “Arare”; et cum ille, qui quaesierat, dixisset: “Quid faenerari?”, tum Cato: “Quid hominem,” inquit, “occidere?” [2:89]
Interea, cum iam stabulis saturata moveretI don’t know, though.
Amphytrioniades armenta abitumque pararet,
discessu mugire boves atque omne querelis
impleri nemus et colles clamore relinqui.
reddidit una boum vocem vastoque sub antro
mugiit et Caci spem custodita fefellit.
‘Meanwhile the sons of Amphitryon were moving the well-fed herds fron their stalls and making ready to head out, their cattle lowing as they went. One heifer returned the cry, lowed from the high cave’s depths, and from her prison baffled the hopes of Cacus.’
At the head of this post: a Roman bronze figure of a cow, found in Pompeii and dated to 1st century BCE.
[Next: lines 73-104]
No comments:
Post a Comment