Prosa 4:
P. complements the last section's summary of past happiness with a positive view of B.'s present condition.fuisse felicem: "to have been happy."
quod . . . luas: in apposition with id , "the fact that you are paying the penalty." mecum reputes licet: "please consider with me . . . ," governing the indirect question quam . . . abundes .
quod . . . possidebas: antecedent is id . divinitus: "by divine influence." meliora quaeque: "all the better things"; see note on 1P3.14. de infortunio . . . causari: "to complain about misfortune"; iure is adverbial (see on 2P3.1).
quod: antecedent is to be inferred from following main clause ( vir . . . iniuriis ). emeres: < emo , "buy." securus suarum (sc. iniuriarum ) : "without fear of injuries of his own."
pudicitia pudore: both ablatives governed by praecellens ; the two terms are very close in meaning, but are used together without a connective (cf. Sallust, Catilina 12.2). dotes: < dos , literally, "dowry," figuratively, "gifts"; B. plays on both meanings here. tibique tantum: "for you alone." vitae huius exosa spiritum servat: "(although) detesting this life, (yet) keeps breath [in her body]"; vitae huius is a very rare use of the objective genitive (see Gruber). quoque uno: "and in which thing alone"; the antecedent is the whole clause tui desiderio . . . tabescit : enclitic -que correlates with tibique in the preceding line. vel ipsa: "even I." tui desiderio: "with longing for you."
quorum: the clause is marked by anacoluthon, a shift in grammatical structure in midstream; it would be easier to translate if quorum were in quibus . id aetatis: "at that age." ( AG 397a.
o te . . . felicem: accusative of exclamation, "O happy you!" suppetunt: "are available." vita: ablative of comparison with cariora .
nondum . . . fortuna: literally, "Fortune has not yet hated all, to [the last] one." Omnes must be Boethius's loved ones.
aliquantum: adverb, "somewhat." nondum: "not yet." piget: constructed with accusative of the person affected and genitive of the source of the emotion: "you are not yet vexed with your lot as a whole." delicias: if applied to inanimate objects, "triflings, whimsicalities"; metaphor for self-indulgence. qui . . . conqueraris: subjunctive in a causal relative clause ( qui = cum tu ).
et quae: "and one which."
census: literally, "register of property," hence the property itself; here, "wealth." pudori: dative of purpose; "a source of shame," i.e., "an embarrassment." rei familiaris: "property, wealth."
utroque: "with both," i.e., wealth and nobility. orbus: "bereft of," with ablative.
inest . . . exhorreat = inest singulis [rebus aliquid] quod inexpertus ignoret [et quod] expertus exhorreat . ( expertus: "one who has experienced [it].") Roughly, "Every silver lining has a cloud."
delicatissimus: "most fastidious." ad nutum: "according to his whim." insolens: "unaccustomed to"; with genitive. minimis quibusque: "every least thing." fortunatissimis: dative of separation.
Hic ipse locus: see on 1P4.36.
omnis tolerantis: possessive genitive: "of every (person) enduring . . ."
dederit impatientiae manus: dare manus + dative = "to yield to, to give in to."
respersa: < respergo , "besprinkle, splash." quominus . . . abeat: clause of prevention after retineri ; the subject of the verb is dulcedo .
liquet: "it is clear"; with indirect question, quam sit misera . . . ("how wretched is . . .").
Construe: Quid ("Why") petitis extra [vos] felicitatem positam intra vos?
cardinem: literally, "hinge, axis"; here, "crucial element." inquies: "you will say." tui compos: "in control of yourself."
naturae . . . ratione degentis: "of a nature living by reason" ( degentis < dego , "live"). manifestum est, quin: "it is clear that"; quin after a positive statement is rare, even in later Latin, but manifestum est has the force of non est dubium ( AG 558a; cf. dubitari nequit . . . quin in sec. 28 below.
Ad haec: "moreover." vel si amiserit: "if he does in fact lose [it]."
perexile: literally, "very thin, meagre."
nequit: "cannot." haec: sc. fortuita felicitas . quin: cf. on sec. 25 above. in miseriam . . . labatur: "slides toward wretchedness." mortis fine: "at the end, which is death"; mortis is epexegetic (i.e., explanatory) genitive.
multos: e.g., Zeno (1P3.9); it is not necessary to see here an allusion to Christian martyrdom (though medieval readers would have). praesens: sc. felicitas fortuita .