Exegi Monumentum

Fur notae nimium rapacitatis conpilare Cilix volebat hortum, ingenti sed erat, Fabulle, in horto praeter marmoreum nihil Priapum. Dum non vult vacua manu redire, ipsum subripuit Cilix Priapum. A thief of too notorious rapacity, A Cilician, was minded to plunder a garden; But in the immense garden was nothing, Fabullus, but a marble Priapus. Being loth to return with empty hands, The Cilician carried off’ Priapus himself! Ladro famoso e assai rapace, volle saccheggiare un Cilicio un gran giardino; ma nulla v’era per quel gran giardino, tranne, o Fabullo, un marmo di Prïapo. Per non tornarsi via a mani vuote, il Cilicio rubò proprio Prïapo.

Martial, Epigrams, Book 6, LXXII
English translation by Walter C. A. Ker
Italian translation by Giuseppe Lipparini