Abscisa servom quid figis, Pontice, lingua?
Nescis tu populum, quod tacet ille, loqui? Why cut his tongue out, Ponticus, And nail your slave upon the cross? Aren’t you aware that people shout The very things he can’t let out? Perché tagliare la lingua al tuo servo, o Pontico? Non sai tu che il popolo dice ciò che egli tace?
Martial, Epigrams, Book 2, LXXXII
English translation by A. G. Carrington Italian translation by Giuseppe Lipparini |
Paul Klee, Gespenst eines Genies (Ghost of a Genius), 1922. Credit: Scottish National Gallery.
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