21

Even if I were poor for some reason out of my control, I should not be blamed for that (1); living modestly is not a sign of bad character (2); I would like to live more modestly than I do, because living simply with few material needs is the way to live more happily (beatior) (3-5); the gods need little for their own use, and he who needs the least is most like them (6). 

(1)

finge: "imagine," LS fingo II.B.3.

haec aliter esse: "that these (things) are otherwise," i.e., that everything he's just said isn't true. He's got a backup argument for anyone who disagrees.

ideō ... quia: "for this reason, because." ideō might be omitted in translation.

invīdit: "has deprived," + acc. of thing withheld, + dat. of person withheld from, noted in LS invideo II.A.η as a post-classical usage.

eās: dīvitiās.

ferme: "commonly," LS fere II.B.2.

tūtor: as a matter of fact, legal guardians appear to have had a bad reputation for not properly defending the rights and interests of the persons entrusted to them (B/O).

imminuit: "mismanaged" (Jones), literally, "diminished."

pater nōn relīquit: the last option is the most patently imaginary one, given Apuleius's personal account in 23.1 (B/O).

hōcine: ablative, "is it for this reason that," introducing indirect statement. For this emphatic demonstrative, which is mostly anteclassical, see LS hic I.B.

quod: "a thing which."

ex: "of" + gen., indicating a multitude from which an example is taken. See LS ex III.B.

vitiō datur: "is considered a fault in," + dat. (nūllī ... aquilae ... taurō ... leōnī) of disadvantage.

(2)

virtūtibus suīs: "in the virtues proper to itself," quā horse.

sī ... polleat ... nemō ... exprobrat: mixed condition. Indicative in the apodosis emphasizes the reality of the conclusion.

ut sit: "for example, that he is," an epexegetic or explanatory use of ut (OLD ut 39).

aequābilis vector: "an even/smooth carrier," i.e. a horse that doesn't bounce you around when you're riding it.

tu mihi vitiō dabis: "will you consider it a fault in me," + acc. (prāvitātem). See above, vitiō datur.

factī vel dictī alicuius: genitive dependent on prāvitātem: "of anything I have done or (even) said."

gracilī lare: "under a slender lar," i.e., in not an opulent household (LS Lares II.B).

pauciōrēs: "relatively few," supply servōs. The comparatives suggest a moderate, rather than ascetic, lifestyle.

pāscō: a rare intransitive use of the verb (OLD pasco 7, citing this passage). Normally the verb means "to feed" domestic animals. "I feed thriftily" (Jones).

levius vestiō: supply mē, i.e., not in heavy, expensive fabrics.

(3)

quantulacumque: "however small."

haec: "these things," i.e., Apuleius's household expenditures.

etiam et: "and even."

multa ... nimia: acc. neut. pl., supply esse in indirect statement after arbitror.

tantō ... quantō: correlative, "the ... the ..." with the comparatives beatior and collectior.

beātior: beātus has a philosophical sense ("blessed" with a happiness based on virtue, not wealth or power, see Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 5.61 on the sword of Damocles), but in ordinary usage it can also mean "wealthy," "rich," LS beo II.B.1.

futūrus: "believing that I will be."

(4)

ita ut: "just as," connecting animī and corporis.

expedīta: literally: "unencumbered by baggage," used of soldiers on the march, hence, "moving easily, agile, unfettered."

laciniōsa: see licinia in 19.3.

indigēre: "to feel the need for," + abl. (plūribus), subject infinitive of est.

(5)

Prorsus: "certainly." 

ad vivendum, velut ad natandum: "for living, just as for swimming," "in life, just as in swimming."  

is ... quī: order: is, quī onere līberior (est), melior (est) prōrsus ad vīvendum velut ad natandum; similiter enim etiam in istā vītae hūmānae tempestāte levia sunt sustentuī, gravia (sunt) demersuī.

melior: "better (suited)," + ad ("for") + acc. gerunds vivendum, natandum.

vītae hūmānae: predicate genitive, "in that storm which is human life." A nice extension of  the swimming simile.

levia sustentuī:  order: levia sunt sustentuī (dat. of purpose AG 382); "light things are for lifting you up." Use the same construction for gravia demersuī.

(6)

didicī: "I have learned that," > disco, introducing indirect statement. Order: didicī deōs maximē praecēdere hominibus eā rē.

ad ūsum suī: "for their own use" (Jones).

indigeant: "they need," + abl. (nūllā rē).

ex nōbīs cui quam minimīs opus sit: "he among us who needs as little as possible," i.e., less is more.

igitur ... eum esse: still in indirect statement after didicī, "and therefore that the man is." Eum is in turn the antecedent of the relative clause, cui quam minimīs opus sit.