Kitap 7
16
On a use by the poet Catullus of the word deprecor, which is unusual, it is true, but appropriate and correct; and on the origin of that word, with examples from early writers.
16
As we chanced to be strolling one evening in the Lyceum, A gymnasium at Athens, the favourite resort of Aristotle and his pupils. we were furnished with sport and amusement by a certain man, of the kind that lays claim to a reputation for eloquence by a superficial and ill-regulated use of language, without having learned any of the usages and principles of the Latin tongue. For while Catullus in one of his poems had used the word deprecor rather cleverly, that fellow, unable to appreciate this, declared that the following verses which I have quoted were very flat, although in the judgment of all men they are most charming: xcii. My Lesbia constantly speaks ill of me And ceases not. By Jove! she cares for me! How do I know? 'Tis just the same with me; I rail at, but by Jove! I worship, her.
