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Poggio Bracciolini. "The greedy man who tasted urine." Global Medieval Sourcebook.Transcription from Basel 1538 (Reprinted in Poggio Bracciolini, Scripta in editione Basilensi anno 1538 collata. Ed. Riccardo Fulbini. Turin: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1964.) .
De Avaro Qui Urinam Degustavit | The greedy man who tasted urine
Source Information
De Avaro Qui Urinam Degustavit | The greedy man who tasted urine
by Poggio Bracciolini
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- Transcription from Basel 1538 (Reprinted in Poggio Bracciolini, Scripta in editione Basilensi anno 1538 collata. Ed. Riccardo Fulbini. Turin: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1964.)
- Translation by Robin Wahlsten Böckerman
- Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Danny Smith
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Published by The Global Medieval Sourcebook.
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Facetia LXX Joke 70
Curialis unus e nostris notae avaritiae, saepe mensam familiae accedebat, dum comederet, degustans vinum, an satis aquatum esset: A colleague of ours in the curia, known for his greed, would often come to the servants’ table while taking his dinner to taste the wine to see if it was watered enough. simulabat autem se id agere, ut bono vino uterentur. However, he only pretended to do this so that they would use the good wine. Hoc cum animadvertissent nonnulli, tandem communicato consilio recentem quandoque urinam pro vino in mensa supposuere, qua hora venturum hominem suspicabantur. When some servants noticed this, they made a plan and at the hour they suspected the man would attend, they placed fresh urine on the table instead of wine. Accessit ille more suo, et cum urinam bibisset, nauseans ac semieructans, magno clamore abscessit, minatus multa illis qui haec conati essent. He arrived in his usual way and when he had drunk the urine, he got nauseous and almost threw up, he left the place with loud shouts and made great threats against the ones who had planned this. Illi vero risu cenam finierunt. The servants then finished their meal with laughter. Hoc eius rei machinator mihi postmodum retulit multo cum risu. All of this was told to me later with much laughter by the perpetrator of the act.
Facetia LXX Joke 70
Curialis unus e nostris notae avaritiae, saepe mensam familiae accedebat, dum comederet, degustans vinum, an satis aquatum esset: A colleague of ours in the curia, known for his greed, would often come to the servants’ table while taking his dinner to taste the wine to see if it was watered enough. simulabat autem se id agere, ut bono vino uterentur. However, he only pretended to do this so that they would use the good wine. Hoc cum animadvertissent nonnulli, tandem communicato consilio recentem quandoque urinam pro vino in mensa supposuere, qua hora venturum hominem suspicabantur. When some servants noticed this, they made a plan and at the hour they suspected the man would attend, they placed fresh urine on the table instead of wine. Accessit ille more suo, et cum urinam bibisset, nauseans ac semieructans, magno clamore abscessit, minatus multa illis qui haec conati essent. He arrived in his usual way and when he had drunk the urine, he got nauseous and almost threw up, he left the place with loud shouts and made great threats against the ones who had planned this. Illi vero risu cenam finierunt. The servants then finished their meal with laughter. Hoc eius rei machinator mihi postmodum retulit multo cum risu. All of this was told to me later with much laughter by the perpetrator of the act.
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