RKS Literature: “Trimalchio’s Feast”: Trimalchio’s Wife A Magpie with a Rough Tongue! (Petronious)

“Who was the woman running around this place? ‘Trimalchio’s wife’ he told me, ‘Fortunata is her name and she counts her money by the sackful. And before, before what was she? You’ll pardon me for saying so, but you wouldn’t have touched a bit of bread from her hand. Nowadays-and who knows how or why- she’s in heaven, and she’s absolutely everything to Trimalchio. In fact, if she tells him at high noon it’s dark, he’ll believe her. He doesn’t know himself how much he’s got, he’s so loaded-but this bitch looks after everything; she’s even in places you wouldn’t think of. She’s dry, sober and full of ideas-you see all that gold-but she’s got a rough tongue and she’s a real magpie when she gets her feet up-if she doesn’t like you she doesn’t like you.”