The Songs of Bilitis: III. Epigrams in the Isle of Cyprus: To a Happy Husband

TO A HAPPY HUSBAND

I envy you, Agorakrites, for having so zealous a wife. 'Tis she herself who tends the stable, and in the morning, instead of making love, she waters the beasts.

And you rejoice in it. How many others, you say, think only of base pleasures, 'wake the night, sleep all day and still ask of adultery a criminal satiety.

Yes, your wife works in the stable. They even say she has a thousand caresses to bestow upon the youngest of your asses. Ah! ha! what a handsome animal! He has a black spot over both his eyes.

They say she plays between his hoofs, beneath his soft grey belly. . . But they who say these things are slanderers. If your ass pleases her, Agorakrites, it is, without a doubt, because your expression reminds her of its own.