When the oldest cask is opened,
And the largest lamp is lit;
When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
And the kid turns on the spit;
When young and old in circle
Around the firebrands close;
And the girls are weaving baskets,
And the lads are shaping bows;
When the goodman mends his armor,
And trims his helmet’s plume;
When the goodwife’s shuttle merrily
Goes flashing through the loom,—
With weeping and with laughter
Still is the story told,
How well Horatius kept the bridge
In the brave days of old.[22-27]
[1-1] Clusium was a powerful town in Etruria.
[1-2] According to the religion of the Etruscans there were nine great gods. An oath by them was considered the most binding oath that a man could take.
[2-3] This line shows us that the writing of the Etruscans was done backwards, as we should consider it; that is, they wrote from right to left instead of from left to right.
[3-4] Nurscia was a city of the Sabines.
[3-5] Tale here means number.
[3-6] Sutrium was an Etruscan town twenty-nine miles from Rome.