1Gaius quidem Fannius id quod accidit multo ante praesensit
Gaius Fannius actually foresaw what has happened long before
2visus est sibi per noctunam quietem iacere in lectulo suo
he seemed to him to be lying on his couch in the quiet of the night
3compositus in habitum studentis
arranged in a writing posture
4habere ante se scrinium
and to have in front of him his writing desk
5ita solebat
as he usually did
6mox imaginatus est venisse Neronem
soon he imagined that Nero came
7in toro resedisse
sat down on the couch
8prompisse primum librum quem de sceleribus eius ediderat
asked for the first volume that he had written about his crimes
9eumque ad extremum revolvisse
and unrolled it right to the end
10idem in secundo ac tertio fecisse
he did the same with the second and the third
12expavit et sic interpratus est
he was terrified and interpreted it in this way
13tamquam idem sibi futurus esset scribendi finis qui fuisset illi legendi
as though the ending of his writing would be the same as it had been of Nero's
14et fuit idem
and it was the same
15quod me recordantem miseratio subit
when I think of this, I am filled with pity
16quantam vigiliarum
for how many sleepless nights
17quantam laboris exhauserit frustra
how much effort he used up in vain
18occursant animo mea mortalitas
there comes to my mind my own mortality
19mea scripta
and my own writings
20nec dubito te quoque eadem
I don't doubt that you too
21cogitatione terreri
are alarmed by the same thought
22pro istis quae inter manus habes
for those projects which you have in hand
23proinde, dum suppetit vita
therefore, while life lasts
24enitamur ut mors quam paucissima abolere possit inveniat
let us try to ensure that death finds as few things to destroy as possible