34

Tannonius accuses me of saying obscenities when he himself renders everything indecent by his inarticulate innuendos. It is absurd to argue that these so called obscenities were sought for their magical powers. 

(1)

Hic: Aemilianus.

prō suā gravitāte: "in due proportion to his gravitas," "as the stern judge he is" (Jones), ironic.

vitiō mihi vortēbat: "was turning into a mark against me," vitiō vortere = "to reckon as a fault" (OLD vitium 1.b), a common idiom seen also at 3.12. vorto = verto, a common spelling in early Latin authors.

quod: "the fact that."

mē nec ... pigēret: "it did not disgust me," "I did not shrink from," + infin.

sordidiōra: "rather sordid," "somewhat obscene."

honestē: "in accordance with good taste," "decently" (OLD honestus 3), construe with pigēret.

(2)

exprobrārim: exprobrāverim, potential subjunctive in the perfect tense: "I could have reproached," + dat. (illi = Aemiliano).

quī: "(a person) who."

patrōcinium ... profiteātur: "practices (the art of) advocacy," "professes himself to be an advocate," LS profiteor II.B.

vulgō: "publicly."

etiam honesta dictū: "even (things that are generally) respectable to say," supine (AG 510).

(3)

Cedo: "come now," "tell me," introducing the indirect question quibus ... verbīs accūsāssēs. LS cedo2.

nōmināssem: nōmināvissem.

tandem: expresses impatience: "may I ask" (Jones).

accūsāssēs crīmen illud: "would you have made that charge," accūsāssēs = accūsāvissēs. The charge in question is a central one of the case, that Apuleius used obscenely named fish to lure Pudentilla to himself. See just below.

tam ... quam: "both ... and."

(4)

An quicquam stultius: supply est.

quam: "than that ..." introducing an indirect statement.

An quicquam stultius quam ex nōminum propinquitāte vim similem rērum coniectam: "or is there anything more foolish than, based on a (mere) similarity of names, inferring that a thing has an analogous power?" He quotes examples shortly. In fact ancient magic often made use of an analogy between name and effect. 

ex: "based on," LS ex III.E.

vim:  "power."

coniectam: supply esse, verb in an indirect statement with the subject vim. "to have been deduced (to be)."  LS conicio I.B.2, as in Greek, συμβάλλειν.

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The fish called ἐχενηίς was used as a love charm to "hold fast," stress being laid on ἔχειν. The herba scorpio, so called from the appearance of its seed, was used as an antidote to the bite of a scorpion (B/O).  

An amazing and indeed startling denial of one of the most elementary patterns of ancient magic, based on the analogy of name and effect. In view of Apuleius's obvious familiarity with magical practices, his statement simply cannot be sincere. He is deliberately feigning saintly innocence, pretending to know nothing of magic at all, not even what anyone else in the audience was bound to know. This supreme bluff must have left the accusers dumbfounded. (Hunink).

(5)

Et fortasse an: "Or perhaps you even."

peracūtē repperisse: "to have made a very astute discovery," "found a very clever ruse" (Jones).

ut ... fingeretis: "when you (falsely) alleged."

ad illecebrās magicās: "magical enticements," i.e., to lure Pudentilla and inflame her with sexual desire. This was a central contention of the prosecution.  

veretillam et virginal: two fish, otherwise unknown. 

nōmina rērum Latīna: "the Latin words for these things."

proptereā ... ut: "for this reason ... that ...," "just so you can."

variē nōmināvī: "I have given the name of in a different way." 

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It occurs to me that Apuleius has only named them once, so we need to understand variē somehow otherwise than "in different ways."  The use of the perfect tense seems to me to be pinpointing the single instance of Apuleius listing the names just now.  I wonder whether variē here can mean something like "in an oblique / the accusative case," since putting them in the accusative case directly identifies them as first declension and a third declension neuter, respectively: it may be that the accusers had heard veretilla and had picked up its use as a neuter plural form, or had fumbled and used virginalem as an accusative form, unaware of that word's neuter gender.

dēnuō īnstrūctus: "once you'd finally learned them," i.e., from Apuleius offering direct instruction on their names.

(6)

Mementō tamen tam rīdiculum argūmentum fore dēsīderāta ad rēs veneriās marīna obscēna, quam sī dicās: Mementō tamen, argūmentum marīna obscēna ad rēs veneriās dēsīderāta (esse) tam rīdiculum (esse), quam sī dicās … .

Mementō: future imperative (normal with this verb, AG 449.2.a), "remember," introducing indirect statement argumentum fore, "that the argument would be." 

argūmentum: introduces a further indirect statement, dēsīderāta (esse) ... marīna obscēna, "(the argument) that obscene-sounding sea-creatures are needed." 

tam ridiculum: predicate accusative after fore, looking forward to quam sī dicās: the argument would be "as absurd as if you should say...." 

dicās: introduces yet another indirect statement, with a series of fish in the accusative as subjects of the infinitive quaesītum (esse), "have been sought for," + dat. The datives (comendō capillō ... aucupandīs volantibus ... venandīs aprīs ... ēliciendīs mortuīs) are all gerundives agreeing with their nouns and expressing purpose (AG 504.4), "for combing hair," etc. 

marīnum pectinem: pecten ("comb") means "scallop," LS pecten II.L.

piscem accipitrem: the "hawkfish" is otherwise unknown.                                                                           

piscem apriculam: the "little boarfish" is otherwise unknown.

ēliciendīs: "summoning" spirits by charms or incantations (OLD elicio 2.b.).

marīna calvāria: the "sea skull" is otherwise unknown. 

(7)

vestrum locum: "part of your speech."

commentum: "invented," "contrived" LS comminiscor II.1.

mē: subject of the delayed indirect statement after respondeō.

quiscilīās lītorālīs: "sea trash." See LS quisquiliae.

neque pretiō neque grātīs: construe the negative portion of each neque with the verb quaesīsse. The phrase is repeated from ch. 23.