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i Domino sancto ac venerabili 2 et in Christi gratia spiritaliter 3 erudito Floriano abbati, Arator subdiaconus S. 4 Qui meriti florem, maturis sensibus or[tum. Nominis ore tui jam, Floriane, tenes; Nam, primævus adhuc, senibus documenta [ dedisti, E quibus in cælum vita pararet iter; 6 Ad carmen concurre meam, pedibusque la- [banti Porrige de placide sæpe favore manum. 7 Jejuno sermone quidem, sed pinguia gesta Scripsimus, ac pelagi pondere gutta fluit: 8 Inter grandiloquos per mille volumina. libros Maxima cum teneas, et breviora lege. Naturaeque modo, variam quam condidit Auctor, Concordent studiis celsa vel ima tuis.
To the holy and venerable lord Florianus, the abbot, spiritually instructed in the grace of Christ, Arator the subdeacon sends greeting. You who already hold, O Florianus, in the very utterance of your name the flower of merit, sprung from mature understanding; for, while yet young, you gave to old men lessons by which life might prepare its way to heaven: hasten to my song, and to its faltering feet often stretch out the hand of your gentle favor. In meager speech indeed, yet of rich deeds, have I written, and a drop flows with the weight of the sea: among grandiloquent books through a thousand volumes, though you possess the greatest, read also the briefer ones. And after the manner of Nature, which the Author founded in variety, let things lofty or lowly accord with your pursuits.
致那聖潔可敬的主、弗洛里安院長，他在基督的恩典裡受了屬靈的教導，副執事阿拉托爾問安。弗洛里安啊，你單在自己名字的稱呼中，便已持有那從成熟悟性中萌生的功德之花；因你尚且年輕，便已給年長者以教訓，使生命得以藉之預備通天之路：求你急來顧念我的詩歌，常向它蹣跚的步韻伸出你溫和恩眷之手。我所寫的言辭固然淺薄，所述的事蹟卻豐厚，恰如一滴水卻流着海洋的分量：在那千卷宏辭巨著之中，你雖擁有最偉大的，也請讀這些較短小的。又願如同造物主所立的多樣本性一般，無論崇高或卑微之事，都與你的志趣相合。
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9 Quæ genuit tigres, quæ nutrit terra leones, Formicis, apibus præbuit ipsa sinum. Et si respicias, dispenset ut omnia rector, Ingenium mites, vim meruere truces. 10 Ipsaque continuum virtus infracta laborem Deserit, et varias quaerit habere vices. 11 Loricam solitus membris imponere mi[les, Gymnasii gaudet nudus adire locum. 12 Et, qui ferratas acies atque agmina vin[ cunt, Imbelles feriunt per sua tela feras. 13 Ergo gradum retinens, et prisca volomina [linquens, Cede dies operi, quod pia causa juvet.
The earth that bore tigers, that nourishes lions, itself offered its bosom to ants and to bees. And if you consider how the Ruler dispenses all things, the gentle have earned cleverness, the fierce have earned strength. Valor itself, unbroken, abandons unceasing toil and seeks to have varied interchanges. The soldier accustomed to lay the breastplate upon his limbs rejoices to enter the wrestling-ground naked. And those who conquer iron-clad battle-lines and armies strike with their weapons unwarlike beasts. Therefore, holding your step and leaving aside the ancient volumes, give the day to a work which a pious cause may favor.
那生養猛虎、哺育獅子的大地，也親自向螞蟻與蜜蜂敞開了懷抱。你若思想那主宰如何分配萬物，便知溫和的得着了機巧，凶猛的得着了力量。剛勇本身雖未折損，也會撇下不息的勞作，尋求有所變化更替。那慣於將胸甲披在肢體上的兵士，喜歡赤身步入角力場。那些征服鐵甲陣列與大軍的人，也以兵器去擊那不善爭戰的野獸。所以，請你止步，放下那些古老的卷帙，把這一日獻給一件虔誠之由所喜悅的工作。