Dionȳsius tyrannus, epulātus apud Lacedaemoniōs dīxit, "Equidem iūre hōc nigrō minimē dēlector." Nam apud mēnsās pūblicās Spartae iūs nigrum, pānem, frūctūs comedunt; lac et aqua bibitur. Tum coquus respondit, "Minimē mīrum est: condīmenta enim dēsunt. Haec autem condīmenta sunt labōrēs, cursūs, famēs, sītis. Sine hīs nēmō hōc iūre dēlectārī potest."
dēsum, dēesse, defuī, dēfutūrus: be lacking / wanting
Impersonal use: Dominus pāscit mē et nihil mihi dēerit │ The Lord is my shepherd and I shall want nothing [literally: the Lord feeds / nourishes me (as a shepherd) and nothing will be lacking for me.
epulor, -āri, -ātus sum [1]: feast; dine; eat > epulātus │ having dined (deponent verb: passive in form but active in meaning)
equidem: [i] truly; indeed; certainly [ii] (when referring to oneself) for my part; as far as I am concerned; for me
iūs, iūris [3/n] this noun has two entirely separate meanings: [i] law; (legal) right [ii] (here) soup; juice; gravy; bear in mind that the Romans talk far more about law than they do about soup!
sitis, -is [3/f] (singular only): thirst; one of a small group of 3rd declension i-stem nouns that has an accusative in -im
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/03/140625-level-3-sonnenschein-cunobelinus.html
Note [2](ii)]
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The tyrant Dionysius, having dined with the Lacedaemonians, said, ‘I, for my part, am not at all pleased with this black soup.’ For at the public tables at Sparta they eat black soup, bread, (and) fruit; milk and water are drunk. Then the cook replied: ‘It is not at all surprising, for the sauces are missing. Now these sauces are toil, running, hunger, (and) thirst. Without these no one can be pleased with this soup.’
