The Love Story Behind

Lesbia mi praesente viro mala plurima dicit: haec illi fatuo maxima laetitia est. Mule, nihil sentis. Si nostri oblita taceret, sana esset: nunc quod gannit et obloquitur, non solum meminit, sed quae multo acrior est res, irata est. Hoc est, uritur et loquitur. In her husband’s presence Lesbia abuses me roundly; it brings that fool much joy. Idiot, don’t you understand anything? If, having forgotted me, she were silent, she’d be indifferent; now, because she mutters and reviles me, she not only remembers but – more to the point – she’s angry. That’s it: she’s aflame and seethes. Col marito Lesbia mi travolge d’ingiurie e quello sciocco ne trae una gioia profonda. Stronzo, non capisci? Tacesse, m’avrebbe dimenticato, sarebbe guarita, invece sbraita e m’insulta: non solo ricorda, ma cosa ben più grave è furente. Brucia d’amore, per questo parla.

Catullus, Carmina, LXXXIII
English translation by Marilyn B. Skinner
Italian translation by Mario Ramous