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Seneca “On Providence”

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“On Providence” | “On the Shortness of Life”.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“On Providence/De Providentia”

English translation by Lamberto Bozzi (2016)

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“On Providence/De Providentia”

Section I

I

Lucilius you have asked me a question:
“Why should good men be plagued by misfortune
If Providence rules under the Sun?”
One could have more conveniently replied
With an essay proving, on the whole,
That Providence is indeed the sole
Ruler of the world, with god on our side.
But considering that you desire
To take a small part out of the entire
Issue, thus handling one objection
Without answering the main question,
I’ll take the stand, as a consequence,
In the gods’ not difficult defence.

Quaesisti a me, Lucili, quid ita, si providentia mundus ageretur, multa bonis viris mala acciderent. Hoc commodius in contextu operis redderetur, cum praeesse universis providentiam probaremus et interesse nobis deum; sed quoniam a toto particulam revelli placet et unam contradictionem manente lite integra solvere, faciam rem non difficilem, causam deorum agam.

II

Now, there’s no need to prove this immense
World can’t keep together without a guard,
Or that the moving clusters of the starred
Skies are the fruit of coincidence,
And all that chance stirs is often marred
And quickly heads towards collision
While this unhindered velocity
Proceeds under the dominion
Of a law good for eternity
Carrying along, on lands and seas,
So many heavenly bodies
Aglow in a disposition,
Orderly and untypical, of stray
Matter whose casual aggregation
Doesn’t hover in an artful array
So that the earthly mass without a sound
Sits still under the sky running away
From it, whirling rapidly around,
While the seas invade the hollows
Of the lands moistening
Them, without even feeling
The rivers’ billowing,
While from each tiny seed grows
Such an incredibly immense thing.

Supervacuum est in praesentia ostendere non sine aliquo custode tantum opus stare nec hunc siderum coetum discursumque fortuiti impetus esse, et quae casus incitat saepe turbari et cito arietare, hanc inoffensam velocita tem procedere aeternae legis imperio tantum rerum terra marique gestantem, tantum clarissimorum luminum et ex disposito relucentium; non esse materiae errantis hunc ordinem nec quae temere coierunt tanta arte pendere ut terrarum gravissimum pondus sedeat inmotum et circa se properantis caeli fugam spectet, ut infusa vallibus maria molliant terras nec ullum incrementum fluminum sentiant, ut ex minimis seminibus nascantur ingentia.

III

Not even those events whose sense
Seems to be indistinct and arcane.
I mean to say the clouds and the rain,
And the bolts of lightning,
And the flames overspilling
When a mountain top breaks,
And the terrain that quakes
And all the perturbations
That nature’s fluctuations
Stir up upon the land
Happen out of the blue
But have their causes too
As well as those from yonder
Places, hard to understand,
For us a source of wonder:
the warm pools of water
Amid the tossing waves
And new islands in clusters
Over vast liquid acres

Ne illa quidem quae videntur confusa et incerta, pluvias dico nubesque et elisorum fulminum iactus et incendia ruptis montium verticibus effusa, tremores labantis soli aliaque quae tumultuosa pars rerum circa terras movet, sine ratione, quamvis subita sint, accidunt, sed suas et illa causas habent non minus quam quae alienis locis conspecta miraculo sunt, ut in mediis fluctibus calentes aquae et nova insularum in vasto exilientium mari spatia.

IV

And then if one observes
The strand lying unflooded,
Just as the sea swerves
Back, soon to be recapped,
It may well be opined
The waves’ motion is blind
in its incessant race
back and forward apace,
But other waves instead appear
On a specified hour and day
At the beck and call one might say
Of the commanding lunar sphere
Which can cause the oceans to sway.
So let these matters be reserved
In due time, as you do not doubt
Providence but complain about
It, as I have indeed observed

Iam vero si quis observauerit nudari litora pelago in se recedente eademque intra exiguum tempus operiri, credet caeca quadam volutatione modo contrahi undas et introrsum agi, modo erumpere et magno cursu repetere sedem suam, cum interim illae portionibus crescunt et ad horam ac diem subeunt ampliores minoresque, prout illas lunare sidus elicuit, ad cuius arbitrium oceanus exundat. Suo ista tempori reserventur, eo quidem magis quod tu non dubitas de providentia sed quereris.

V

I’ll have you get back the favour
Of the gods who prize man’s valour
For never in nature could
What is good injure the good.
Between the gods and good men too
Friendship is brought about by virtue.
Do I say friendship, or alternately
Relationship and similarity?
Since time only, as it were,
Makes god and man differ.
Man a disciple, emulator and offspring
of god the overseer of virtue
A father generous and strict who
In education sticks to the hard line

In gratiam te reducam cum dis adversus optimos optimis. Neque enim rerum natura patitur ut umquam bona bonis noceant; inter bonos viros ac deos amicitia est conciliante virtute. Amicitiam dico? immo etiam necessitudo et similitudo, quoniam quidem bonus tempore tantum a deo differt, discipulus eius aemulatorque et vera progenies, quam parens ille magnificus, virtutum non lenis exactor, sicut severi patres, durius educat.

VI

So when you see men dear to god sweating
Toiling and climbing up a steep incline,
While the wicked riot with glee
Think how much we like the shine
Of our children’s modesty
And of our slaves’ liberty,
The former kept under strict discipline
While we willingly underpin
The latter’s audacity.
The same is evident in god’s ways:
He puts through his paces and fortifies
The virtuous man worthy of praise
To claim him as his own among the wise

Itaque cum videris bonos viros acceptosque dis laborare sudare, per arduum escendere, malos autem lascivire et voluptatibus fluere, cogita filiorum nos modestia delectari, vernularum licentia, illos disciplina tristiori contineri, horum ali audaciam. Idem tibi de deo liqueat: bonum virum in deliciis non habet, experitur indurat, sibi illum parat

Section II

I

Why is it that adversities then
Seem to fall to the lot of good men?
Nothing bad can to a good man befall
As opposites do not mix at all,
As so many rivers and lots of rain
From above and rich thermal springs
Do not change the taste of the main,
Not even a little bit,
So adversities’ severe sting
Doesn’t sap a strong man’s spirit:
He stands fast and manages to colour
Everything that happens with his valour
And indeed he can take in stride
All that goes on on the outside

'Quare multa bonis viris adversa eveniunt?' Nihil accidere bono viro mali potest: non miscentur contraria. Quemadmodum tot amnes, tantum superne deiectorum imbrium, tanta medicatorum uis fontium non mutant saporem maris, ne remittunt quidem, ita adversarum impetus rerum viri fortis non vertit animum: manet in statu et quidquid evenit in suum colorem trahit; est enim omnibus externis potentior.

II

And I do not say he’s slack
In perceiving all these cases
But he’s a winner and faces
Placidly any attack.
Also he sees adversity
As a test of maturity
But what man fond of honesty
Is not ready to properly abide
By toil and duty, with risks on the side?

Nec hoc dico, non sentit illa, sed vincit, et alioqui quietus placidusque contra incurrentia attollitur. Omnia adversa exercitationes putat. Quis autem, vir modo et erectus ad honesta, non est laboris adpetens iusti et ad officia cum periculo promptus? Cui non industrio otium poena est?

III

And what man with an active intent
Doesn’t deem idleness a punishment?
We see athletes, nurturing their strength
To take on the strongest opponents,
expecting from the training agents
Who Prepare them for the engagements,
To turn their might on them at great length
And if they can’t find their match
They take on a whole new batch:
Quite a few and at the same time too
As no opposition saps virtue

Athletas videmus, quibus virium cura est, cum fortissimis quibusque confligere et exigere ab iis per quos certamini praeparantur ut totis contra ipsos viribus utantur; caedi se vexarique patiuntur et, si non inveniunt singulos pares, pluribus simul obiciuntur.

IV

One sees then how big one is and hard to break
When one shows all the punishment one can take
One may also know it’s just the same
Good men must do who should never refrain
From dire hardships and never should blame
Fate, taking in good part any event
And putting it on a praiseworthy plane
And no matter how strong is life’s turbulence
It’s how one bears it that makes the difference

Marcet sine adversario virtus: tunc apparet quanta sit quantumque polleat, cum quid possit patientia ostendit. Scias licet idem viris bonis esse faciendum, ut dura ac difficilia non reformident nec de fato querantur, quidquid accidit boni consulant, in bonum vertant; non quid sed quemadmodum feras interest.

V

Do you not see the way nature differs
Alternately in fathers and mothers
When they demonstrate their indulgence?
The former order their children to raise
Early from bed even on holidays,
Not approving of an idle adolescence,
And squeeze out of them sweat and tears
But the mothers would like, it appears,
To keep them away from sadness and flings
Happily tied to their own apron strings

Non vides quanto aliter patres, aliter matres indulgeant? illi excitari iubent liberos ad studia obeunda mature, feriatis quoque diebus non patiuntur esse otiosos, et sudorem illis et interdum lacrimas excutiunt; at matres fovere in sinu, continere in umbra volunt, numquam contristari, numquam flere, numquam laborare.

VI

God with his paternal turn of mind
And manly love towards virtuous fellows
Says ‘let men strength through the torments find
Of tribulations hard knocks and sorrows’
Fattened cattle when left in idleness
Grow weak and faint not only under duress
But just by swaying under their own weight:
A complete bliss can’t withstand any stress
But injustice and offenses can’t frustrate
Him who was constantly in harm’s way
He’s nothing daunted and never the prey
Of no matter what kind of crisis
And when he falls he fights on his knees

Patrium deus habet adversus bonos viros animum et illos fortiter amat et 'operibus' inquit 'doloribus damnis exagitentur, ut verum colligant robur.' Languent per inertiam saginata nec labore tantum sed motu et ipso sui onere deficiunt. Non fert ullum ictum inlaesa felicitas; at cui adsidua fuit cum incommodis suis rixa, callum per iniurias duxit nec ulli malo cedit, sed etiam si cecidit de genu pugnat.

VII

You wonder why that god who loves no end
Good souls and wants them excellent and wise
Up to the top level they can ascend
Assigns them fate as a fateful exercise.
I wouldn’t be surprised if now and then
He felt the urge to see famous men
Go up against some calamity

Miraris tu, si deus ille bonorum amantissimus, qui illos quam optimos esse atque excellentissimos vult, fortunam illis cum qua exerceantur adsignat? Ego vero non miror, si aliquando impetum capiunt spectandi magnos viros conluctantis cum aliqua calamitate.

VIII

We ourselves are sometimes pleased to see
A young man approaching without fear
A charging wild beast armed with a spear.
A spectacle which would be a lot more
Relished if it was a fine man who bore
In a gallant way a lion’s onslaught.
What catches the gods’ attention is not
The childish whiff of human levity

Nobis interdum voluptati est, si adulescens constantis animi inruentem feram venabulo excepit, si leonis incursum interritus pertulit, tantoque hoc spectaculum est gratius quanto id honestior fecit. Non sunt ista quae possint deorum in se vultum convertere, puerilia et humanae oblectamenta levitatis:

IX

Here’s a spectacle worthy of the countenance
Of a deity intent on his own providence.
Here’s a pair worthy of god’s scrutiny:
A serene man fighting through adversity
Due above all to his own provocation.
What Jove dearer can hold I do not see,
Should he but turn away his godly attention,
Than watch the often vanquished Cato stand
Among the ruins of the Fatherland

ecce spectaculum dignum ad quod respiciat intentus operi suo deus, ecce par deo dignum, vir fortis cum fortuna mala compositus, utique si et provocauit. Non video, inquam, quid habeat in terris Iuppiter pulchrius, si convertere animum velit, quam ut spectet Catonem iam partibus non semel fractis stantem nihilo minus inter ruinas publicas rectum.

X

Although all powers, says he,
May under one man’s sway be,
With all the seas and all the lands
In the legions’ and fleets’ custody
While at the gates Caesar’s guard stands,
Cato with one of his own hands
Will cut a broad path to liberty:
This sword, pure and innocent
In civil war too, will finally
Do deeds good and excellent.
It’ll give Cato the liberty
He couldn’t give to his own country.
O soul of mine face the long planned events
And get away from all human torments.
Dead lie Petreius and Iuba already
Who one another willingly slew
Theirs was a death bond rare and strong
But for my greatness alas quite wrong.
Begging someone for death or life though
Is equally shameful to Cato

'Licet' inquit 'omnia in unius dicionem concesserint, custodiantur legionibus terrae, classibus maria, Caesarianus portas miles obsideat, Cato qua exeat habet: una manu latam libertati viam faciet. Ferrum istud, etiam civili bello purum et innoxium, bonas tandem ac nobiles edet operas: libertatem quam patriae non potuit Catoni dabit. Aggredere, anime, diu meditatum opus, eripe te rebus humanis. Iam Petreius et Iuba concucurrerunt iacentque alter alterius manu caesi, fortis et egregia fati conventio, sed quae non deceat magnitudinem nostram: tam turpe est Catoni mortem ab ullo petere quam vitam.'

XI

It’s clear to me the gods enjoyed the sight
Of that severe man who took harsh care
Of himself and also great pains to spare
His fellows’ lives preparing the flight
Of the fugitives, and by candlelight
Perusing books on his very last night,
While deep into his sacred breast he
Thrust his sword and with his own hands
Spread out all his visceral strands
Setting his holiest soul, unworthy
Of the contaminating blade, free

Liquet mihi cum magno spectasse gaudio deos, dum ille vir, acerrimus sui uindex, alienae saluti consulit et instruit discedentium fugam, dum studia etiam nocte ultima tractat, dum gladium sacro pectori infigit, dum viscera spargit et illam sanctissimam animam indignamque quae ferro contaminaretur manu educit.

XII

I’d think there was very little consistence
In that laceration: to the gods’ evergreen
'T was not enough to watch Cato just once,
His valour was kept going and called back on the scene
To have him play a much harder part:
Death isn’t tackled with a higher spirit
As when one goes indeed twice after it.
Wouldn’t it have been pleasing to their heart
To see the bright and memorable death
Of their pupil: as drawing one’s last breath
Is praised by the fearful as an art

Inde crediderim fuisse parum certum et efficax vulnus: non fuit dis inmortalibus satis spectare Catonem semel; retenta ac revocata virtus est ut in difficiliore parte se ostenderet; non enim tam magno animo mors initur quam repetitur. Quidni libenter spectarent alumnum suum tam claro ac memorabili exitu evadentem? mors illos consecrat quorum exitum et qui timent laudant.

Section III

I

But as the discourse proceeds I’ll show
You that what you take for woes are not so.
I’m telling you these events you regard
As adverse abominable and hard
Are in the first place beneficial to
Those to whom they happen and their value
Is good for the mass that the gods safeguard
More than single persons whose woes still
Fall upon them by their own free will,
And they’d be well worthy of misery
If they rejected that adversity
Which I’ll further say is the very fate
Befalling the good, just because they’re straight.
I’ll then persuade you never to pity
A good man who may be called unhappy,
Because misery can never be his state

Sed iam procedente oratione ostendam quam non sint quae videntur mala: nunc illud dico, ista quae tu vocas aspera, quae adversa et abominanda, primum pro ipsis esse quibus accidunt, deinde pro universis, quorum maior dis cura quam singulorum est, post hoc volentibus accidere ac dignos malo esse si nolint. His adiciam fato ista sic ire et eadem lege bonis evenire qua sunt boni. Persuadebo deinde tibi ne umquam boni viri miserearis; potest enim miser dici, non potest esse.

II

The first among my propositions seems to be
The hardest: that these things we dread and fear
Benefit the same people whom they near.
You say it’s good for them to be exiled
And to a life of poverty be doomed
To see their children and their wives inhumed
To be ignominiously stigmatized
And then see all their energy consumed.
If you wonder that this is for the best
for someone you’ll also be wondering
That for others both lancing and burning
Are a cure no less than hunger and thirst,
But consider that as a remedy
Some have had their bones abraded
Bony slivers removed veins extracted
Limbs amputated to save the body.
You’ll also allow to be shown the evidence
That those who endure some sort of inconvenience
Profit by it and that, by Hercules,
things others praise and covet on their knees
wreak great havoc along with pleasure,
like indigestions and inebriation
which bring about demise through delectation

Difficillimum ex omnibus quae proposui videtur quod primum dixi, pro ipsis esse quibus eveniunt ista quae horremus ac tremimus. 'Pro ipsis est' inquis 'in exilium proici, in egestatem deduci, liberos coniugem ecferre, ignominia adfici, debilitari?' Si miraris haec pro aliquo esse, miraberis quosdam ferro et igne curari, nec minus fame ac siti. Sed si cogitaveris tecum remedii causa quibusdam et radi ossa et legi et extrahi venas et quaedam amputari membra quae sine totius pernicie corporis haerere non poterant, hoc quoque patieris probari tibi, quaedam incommoda pro iis esse quibus accidunt, tam mehercules quam quaedam quae laudantur atque adpetuntur contra eos esse quos delectaverunt, simillima cruditatibus ebrietatibusque et ceteris quae necant per voluptatem.

III

I recently heard a saying which I treasure
- Among our Demetrius’ magnificent production -
which still vibrates in my ears: “nothing,”
He says, “looks unhappier to me than he
Who has never felt adversity’s sting.
He never could indeed the limits see
Of himself and even though everything
He did was according to plan it irked
The gods and affected their thinking,
As he was deemed lacking in merit
For having occasionally vanquished
Fortune who gives cowards a wide berth,
As if she actually said: why on earth
Should I give a meaningful fighting chance
to an adversary who yields at once?
I need not make him feel all my might
He shall be pushed aside with a light
Commination: he cannot bear my presence.
Search for another man I can fight
Without blushing at his lack of confidence

Inter multa magnifica Demetri nostri et haec vox est, a qua recens sum; sonat adhuc et vibrat in auribus meis: 'nihil' inquit 'mihi videtur infelicius eo cui nihil umquam evenit aduersi.' Non licuit enim illi se experiri. Ut ex voto illi fluxerint omnia, ut ante votum, male tamen de illo di iudicaverunt: indignus visus est a quo vinceretur aliquando fortuna, quae ignavissimum quemque refugit, quasi dicat: 'quid ergo? istum mihi adversarium adsumam? Statim arma summittet; non opus est in illum tota potentia mea, levi comminatione pelletur, non potest sustinere vultum meum. Alius circumspiciatur cum quo conferre possimus manum: pudet congredi cum homine vinci parato.

IV

A gladiator judges an ignominy
To face an inferior in combat.
Winning without peril brings no glory
And fortune for herself does just that
Trying the strongest opponents to seek
while disdainfully ignoring the meek.
She takes on the valiant and the blameless
To corroborate her own sturdiness
Mucios is tried by fire, by poverty
Fabricius, by exile Rutilius
By death Cato, Marcus Attilius
Regulus by a tormenting agony,
Socrates by a most poisonous brew:
Bad luck alone espies men great and true

'Ignominiam iudicat gladiator cum inferiore componi et scit eum sine gloria vinci qui sine periculo vincitur. Idem facit fortuna: fortissimos sibi pares quaerit, quosdam fastidio transit. Contumacissimum quemque et rectissimum adgreditur, adversus quem uim suam intendat: ignem experitur in Mucio, paupertatem in Fabricio, exilium in Rutilio, tormenta in Regulo, venenum in Socrate, mortem in Catone. Magnum exemplum nisi mala fortuna non invenit.

V

Is Mucius unhappy while he’s pressing
his right hand on the coals of the enemy?
Unhappy as he gets the king to flee,
Not when his hand is armed for a bashing,
But when it’s all burned out and weaponless?
What then! Would he a lot happier be
Warming it in the bosom of his mistress?

Infelix est Mucius quod dextra ignes hostium premit et ipse a se exigit erroris sui poenas, quod regem quem armata manu non potuit exusta fugat? Quid ergo? felicior esset, si in sinu amicae foveret manum?

VI

Is Fabricius sad digging his piece of land
Because he’s free from the Republic’s cares
And makes war both on Pyrrhus and on riches?
Because after the triumphal fanfares
The old fellow has supper by the hearth and
Eats the roots and herbs, the poor yield
Left over after purging his field.
What then! Would he a lot happier be
If he could gorge himself with fish
From far-flung shores and birds outlandish?
Or if he chose the cockles from the sea,
The Thyrrenian and the Adriatic,
To make his nauseated stomach tick?
Or if amid a well heaped platter of fruit
He laid big game whose capture had cost
The loss of lots of huntsmen out for the shoot

Infelix est Fabricius quod rus suum, quantum a re publica vacauit, fodit? quod bellum tam cum Pyrrho quam cum diuitiis gerit? quod ad focum cenat illas ipsas radices et herbas quas in repurgando agro triumphalis senex vulsit? Quid ergo? felicior esset, si in ventrem suum longinqui litoris pisces et peregrina aucupia congereret, si conchyliis superi atque inferi maris pigritiam stomachi nausiantis erigeret, si ingenti pomorum strue cingeret primae formae feras, captas multa caede venantium?

VII

Does Rutilius appear to be lost
As they for centuries will rue
Who passed on him sentence untrue?
Because he suffered with extreme patience
To be wrenched from his own country
Rather than have his banishment sentence
Removed after presenting a plea
Or because he refused something in person
To Sulla the dictator and
When called back to the motherland
Overlooked the call and fled further on.
Let, said he, those your luck caught in the City
Of Rome sort it out: let them see the gory
Forum and the preeminent
Senators’ blood-spattered heads which douse
Servilius’ fountain, the charnel house
Of Sulla’s list of banishment,
And bands of killers roaming far and wide,
And Roman citizens galore slain in the same spot
After a promise made and denied

Infelix est Rutilius quod qui illum damnauerunt cau sam dicent omnibus saeculis? quod aequiore animo passus est se patriae eripi quam sibi exilium? quod Sullae dictatori solus aliquid negavit et revocatus tantum non retro cessit et longius fugit? 'Viderint' inquit 'isti quos Romae deprehendit felicitas tua: videant largum in foro sanguinem et supra Seruilianum lacum (id enim proscriptionis Sullanae spoliarium est) senatorum capita et passim vagantis per urbem percussorum greges et multa milia ciuium Romanorum uno loco post fidem, immo per ipsam fidem trucidata; videant ista qui exulare non possunt.'

VIII

Let those enjoy these scenes who cannot
Bear exile. What then! Is Sulla blithe
Because swords are brandished as a scythe
Through the concourse to make room for his entry
Into the Forum? Because he asks to see
The consuls’ severed heads, leaving the bloody affair,
at the Republic’s expense. in a quaestor’s own care?
It was he who did all these villainies, he
Who passed the Cornelian Law on Majesty!

Quid ergo? felix est L. Sulla quod illi descendenti ad forum gladio summovetur, quod capita sibi consularium virorum patitur ostendi et pretium caedis per quaestorem ac tabulas publicas numerat? Et haec omnia facit ille, ille qui legem Corneliam tulit.

IX

Let us come to Regulus: how
Did Fortune inflict injury to him as she
Made him a model of endurance and fealty?
Nails perforate his skin and now,
Wherever he leans, his suffering body
Rubs a wound. His eyes perpetually stare.
The greater the glory the greater the pain,
They say, but in case you would really care
To know if he valued his virtue in vain
Set him free and let him take his chair
In the Senate and you’ll find
He hasn’t changed at all his mind

Veniamus ad Regulum: quid illi fortuna nocuit quod illum documentum fidei, documentum patientiae fecit? Figunt cutem claui et quocumque fatigatum corpus reclinavit, vulneri incumbit; in perpetuam vigiliam suspensa sunt lumina: quanto plus tormenti tanto plus erit gloriae. Vis scire quam non paeniteat hoc pretio aestimasse virtutem? refige illum et mitte in senatum: eandem sententiam dicet.

X

You think Maecenas happier indeed
Who, made anxious by love and harried
Every day of the week by a nagging wife,
Seeks sleep at the sweet sound of a distant fife.
May he fall asleep drinking wine unmixed
And relieve his mind hearing waters fall
Or in the pleasures of the flesh transfixed.
His anxious head awaiting the call
Of sleep on a pillow padded with floss
Will after all remain as awake
As Regulus’ nailed down onto his cross.
Whose torments borne for honesty’s sake
Find solace in the aims of a good cause

Feliciorem ergo tu Maecenatem putas, cui amoribus anxio et morosae uxoris cotidiana repudia deflenti somnus per symphoniarum cantum ex longinquo lene resonantium quaeritur? Mero se licet sopiat et aquarum fragoribus avocet et mille voluptatibus mentem anxiam fallat, tam vigilabit in pluma quam ille in cruce; sed illi solacium est pro honesto dura tolerare et ad causam a patientia respicit, hunc voluptatibus marcidum et felicitate nimia laborantem magis iis quae patitur vexat causa patiendi.

XI

While it’s the source of his distress that gnaws
At Maecenas whose pleasures and fortune
Enervate him and are most importune.
Vice has not yet taken possession
Of mankind and there’s no shadow of a doubt
That if men could choose their predestination
Many more would rather a Regulus be
Than a Maecenas but in case it turned out
A man would rather with Maecenas agree
The same man, though not daring to unveil
His inner thoughts, would have taken a fancy
To have been born Terentia, a female

Non usque eo in possessionem generis humani vitia venerunt ut dubium sit an electione fati data plures nasci Reguli quam Maecenates velint; aut si quis fuerit qui audeat dicere Maecenatem se quam Regulum nasci maluisse, idem iste, taceat licet, nasci se Terentiam maluit.

XII

Do you think Socrates was ill-treated who
Drank the poisonous government brew
As another medicine for immortal fate
Turning death into a matter of debate
Up to the point it came upon him too.
Was he ill-used because his blood froze
And his veins lost their vitality
While the cold gradually rose

Male tractatum Socratem iudicas quod illam potionem publice mixtam non aliter quam medicamentum inmortalitatis obduxit et de morte disputavit usque ad ipsam? Male cum illo actum est quod gelatus est sanguis ac paulatim frigore inducto venarum vigor constitit?

XIII

It must be an object of envy
This man, more than those
Whose beverage is poured into a cup
Inlaid with gems where a pansy boy up
To all tricks melts snow out of a gold goblet.
They will remeasure in their puke the glut
Of all their drinking tasting their greenish bile
While Socrates will take poison with a smile.

Quanto magis huic invidendum est quam illis quibus gemma ministratur, quibus exoletus omnia pati doctus exsectae virilitatis aut dubiae suspensam auro nivem diluit! Hi quidquid biberunt vomitu remetientur tristes et bilem suam regustantes, at ille venenum laetus et libens hauriet.

XIV

Enough has been expressed about Cato
And the general public will admit
A great happiness was his benefit
After nature dealt him such a hard blow.
The enmity of the powerful is grievous
Says she, so let Caesar Crassus and Pompeius
Be opposed to him and all at the same time.
It’s a grievous thing to be put behind
Worthless men, so let his post be assigned
To Vatinius: Let Vatinius over him climb.
Is it grievous to be mired in civil war?
Let him struggle the world over, near and far,
For a good cause with lots of pluck
But never with as much good luck.
Is it grievous to take one’s own life? See
What will he get out of it? That all may know
These aren’t the woes I deem worthy of Cato

Quod ad Catonem pertinet, satis dictum est, summamque illi felicitatem contigisse consensus hominum fatebitur, quem sibi rerum natura delegit cum quo metuenda conlideret. 'Inimicitiae potentium graves sunt: opponatur simul Pompeio, Caesari, Crasso. Grave est a deterioribus honore anteiri: Vatinio postferatur. Graue est civilibus bellis interesse: toto terrarum orbe pro causa bona tam infeliciter quam pertinaciter militet. Grave est manus sibi adferre: faciat. Quid per haec consequar? ut omnes sciant non esse haec mala quibus ego dignum Catonem putavi

Section IV

I

By a well-known quirk, prosperity
Favours the commons and the lowbrow.
Only a magnanimous man will know how
To yoke together the mortals’ woes and fears
But a life of happiness with no tears
Means in fact ignoring nature’s seamy side

Prosperae res et in plebem ac vilia ingenia deveniunt; at calamitates terroresque mortalium sub iugum mittereproprium magni viri est. Semper vero esse felicem et sine morsu animi transire vitam ignorare est rerum naturae alteram partem.

II

The same, I say, applies in respect
Of an excellent man who really got no chance
To prove the strength of his intellect,
Sad for never going through a sad circumstance:
You went to Olympia but ran alone
You won the laurel but did not win
Congratulations! You’re no kingpin
But only a man to whom has been thrown
A praetor’s or a consul’s post to advance
His career. The same applies in respect

Magnus vir es: sed unde scio, si tibi fortuna non dat facultatem exhibendae virtutis? Descendisti ad Olympia, sed nemo praeter te: coronam habes, victoriam non habes; non gratulor tamquam viro forti, sed tamquam consulatum praeturamue adepto: honore auctus es.

III

Of any good man who indeed got no chance
To prove the power of his intellect:
“I deem you sad as you were never sad”
In the course of your life you had
No foe so no one will ever know
What you could actually achieve.
It takes experimenting to perceive
One’s own limits and nobody ever saw
Them without testing what he could or
Couldn’t do. Some voluntarily therefore
Offered themselves to belated injury
As a chance to let sparkle upon this earth
Valour unlikely to ever show its worth

Idem dicere et bono viro possum, si illi nullam occasionem difficilior casus dedit in qua [una] vim animi sui ostenderet: 'miserum te iudico, quod numquam fuisti miser. Transisti sine aduersario uitam; nemo sciet quid potueris, ne tu quidem ipse.' Opus est enim ad notitiam sui experimento; quid quisque posset nisi temptando non didicit. Itaque quidam ipsi ultro se cessantibus malis optulerunt et virtuti iturae in obscurum occasionem per quam enitesceret quaesierunt.

IV

Great men , I say, flourish in adversity
Just as soldiers-at-arms crave for,
If they are brave, the bells of war.
At the time of Tiberius Caesar though
I myself heard Triumph, a Mirmillo,
That is a well-armed gladiator,
Complain of the scarcity of games
“such a good time is over!” he exclaims.
Bravery with its strong appetite
For peril has only glory in sight.
Suffering is nothing but part of the deal
And has accordingly the strongest appeal.
Men in the military boast of their
Wounds and deem their fate a lot more than fair
If they can show how their blood freely flows.
The wounded are more honoured than their fellows
Who fought as bravely but remained unscathed

Gaudent, inquam, magni viri aliquando rebusaduersis, non aliter quam fortes milites bello; Triumphum ego murmillonem sub Ti. Caesare de raritate munerum audivi querentem: 'quam bella' inquit 'aetas perit!' Avida est periculi virtus et quo tendat, non quid passura sit cogitat, quoniam etiam quod passura est gloriae pars est. Militares viri gloriantur vulneribus, laeti fluentem meliori casu sanguinem ostentant: idem licet fecerint qui integri revertuntur ex acie, magis spectatur qui saucius redit.

V

That god, I say, looks after those he wishes
To be in splendid robes of honour swathed
Every time he offers them the chances
To do something vigorous and courageous
Which entails events burdensome and arduous:
You can see a helmsman perform
His duty well during a storm,
You can value a soldier’s mettle
Mainly in the thick of a battle.
How can I figure if poverty
Finds and shall find you unafraid
If you are just of money made?
How can I judge your solidity
In the face of ignominy
Infamy and popular enmity
If you have grown old amid applause
With favour steady and prone because
It’s backed by the will of the masses.
How would I know if you can blithely bear
The sight of your own children’s corpses
If still alive is every single heir
Of yours? I’ve heard you console others too
But I would have detected your virtue
If you had first consoled yourself making sure
To brace yourself better your grief to endure

Ipsis, inquam, deus consulit quos esse quam honestissimos cupit, quotiens illis materiam praebet aliquid animose fortiterque faciendi, ad quam rem opus est aliqua rerum difficultate: gubernatorem in tempestate, in acie militem intellegas. Unde possum scire quantum adversus paupertatem tibi animi sit, si divitiis diffluis? Unde possum scire quantum adversus ignominiam et infamiam odiumque populare constantiae habeas, si inter plausus senescis, si te inexpugnabilis et inclinatione quadam mentium pronus fauor sequitur? Unde scio quam aequo animo laturus sis orbitatem, si quoscumque sustulisti vides? Audivi te, cum alios consolareris: tunc conspexissem, si te ipse consolatus esses, si te ipse dolere vetuisses.

VI

I pray you not to fear these tests, these things
The gods apply to human souls like stings
Calamity is virtue’s opportunity.
One could call miserable those who
Get sluggish from a surfeit of felicity,
Those whom a tedious motionless tranquillity
Keeps immersed in a thalassic glue.
Whatsoever may befall them will
Seem to be falling out of the blue

Nolite, obsecro uos, expavescere ista quae di inmortales velut stimulos admovent animis: calamitas virtutis occasio est. Illos merito quis dixerit miseros qui nimia felicitate torpescunt, quos velut in mari lento tranquillitas iners detinet: quidquid illis inciderit, nouum veniet.

VII

Novel catastrophes loom large to chill
Numb all the inexperienced menfolk
As harsh to a frail neck is the yoke.
At the idea of seeing his own blood flow
Pale goes a recruit, a veteran though
Knows that bleeding oftentimes wins the day
And boldly looks at his gore after the fray.
Thus god strengthens tests and exercises
Those he loves and has in his good graces.
He preserves for future ills those he
Is lenient to and pretends to spare.
You’re wrong to think those who are too happy
Will be let go, they too will get their share

Magis urgent saeua inexpertos, grave est tenerae ceruici iugum; ad suspicionem vulneris tiro pallescit, audacter veteranus cruorem suum spectat, qui scit se saepe vicisse post sanguinem. Hos itaque deus quos probat, quos amat, indurat recognoscit exercet; eos autem quibus indulgere videtur, quibus parcere, molles venturis malis servat. Erratis enim si quem iudicatis exceptum: veniet et ad illum diu felicem sua portio; quisquis videtur dimissus esse dilatus est.

VIII

Why does god all the best people strike
With ill health bereavement and the like?
Because even in army encampments
It’s the best of his men the chief picks out
For the most perilous assignments
To nightly ambush attack or rout
The enemy entrenched in a redoubt
Or scout the paths of the battleground.
Not one of those valiant men outbound
Will say: “the boss dealt me a bad card”
But “I was treated with great regard”
The same is said by those who have to bear
Trials that to tears wimps and the timid scare.
God deemed us worthy to serve as a test
Of human nature’s limits when it’s stressed

Quare deus optimum quemque aut mala valetudine aut luctu aut aliis incommodis adficit? quia in castris quoque periculosa fortissimis imperantur: dux lectissimos mittit qui nocturnis hostes adgrediantur insidiis aut explorent iter aut praesidium loco deiciant. Nemo eorum qui exeunt dicit 'male de me imperator meruit', sed 'bene iudicavit'. Idem dicant quicumque iubentur pati timidis ignauisque flebilia: 'digni visi sumus deo in quibus experiretur quantum humana natura posset pati.'

IX

Shun delights and the nerve-racking happiness
Macerating the human soul which unless
Reminded of the way man’s life is fated
Will doze off in a perpetual drunkenness.
He who’s by panes from draughts always protected
Who warms his feet with poultice after poultice
And dines in banquet halls centrally heated
Might be from a bland breeze put out of business

Fugite delicias, fugite enervantem felicitatem qua animi permadescunt et, nisi aliquid intervenit quod humanae sortis admoneat, marcent velut perpetua ebrietate sopiti. Quem specularia semper ab adflatu uindicaverunt, cuius pedes inter fomenta subinde mutata tepuerunt, cuius cenationes subditus et parietibus circumfusus calor temperauit, hunc levis aura non sine periculo stringet.

X

If pernicious is every single excess,
Intemperance while the going is good
Is particularly dangerous and could
Upset the brain, open the door to vain
Fantasies and spread a caliginous hue
Right in the middle of what is false and true.
Shouldn’t it be rather better to bear
Endless misfortunes, and continue
To have them comforted by virtue,
Than croak in immoderate welfare?
Death goes gently her way with starvation but
Makes a burdened stomach burst with its own glut

Cum omnia quae excesserunt modum noceant, periculosissima felicitatis intemperantia est: movet cerebrum, in vanas mentem imagines euocat, multum inter falsum ac verum mediae caliginis fundit. Quidni satius sit perpetuam infelicitatem advocata virtute sustinere quam infinitis atque inmodicis bonis rumpi? lenior ieiunio mors est, cruditate dissiliunt.

XI

In their proceedings with virtuous men
The gods are like teachers who ask their best
Pupils - whom they see with certain hopes blessed -
For an extra effort. Have children
In Sparta mean fathers who put to the test
Their character and inborn quality
By means of whippings given publicly?
No wonder a god gives the hardest
Blows to high-spirited minds

Hanc itaque rationem di sequuntur in bonis viris quam in discipulis suis praeceptores, qui plus laboris ab iis exigunt in quibus certior spes est. Numquid tu invisos esse Lacedaemoniis liberos suos credis, quorum experiuntur indolem publice verberibus admotis? Ipsi illos patres adhortantur ut ictus flagellorum fortiter perferant, et laceros ac semianimes rogant, perseverent vulnera praebere vulneribus.

XII

If it’s fortune that lashes and grinds
Us, we can do nothing but endure.
It is not cruelty but only a battle
The more it lasts the better our mettle,
And the part of the human body that proves
To be all muscle is the part which often moves.
The hard knocks of fortune we must needs
Take to better bear her direst deeds.
With her inch by inch we shall be one
And recurrent dangers, met and won,
Will make us look upon them with scorn

Quid mirum, si dure generosos spiritus deus temptat? numquam virtutis molle documentum est. Verberat nos et lacerat fortuna: patiamur. Non est saevitia, certamen est, quod saepius adierimus, fortiores erimus: solidissima corporis pars est quam frequens usus agitavit. Praebendi fortunae sumus, ut contra illam ab ipsa duremur: paulatim nos sibi pares faciet, contemptum periculorum adsiduitas periclitandi dabit.

XIII

Sailors’ bodies are well waterworn
Farmers’ hands are callous indeed
Soldiers deliver spears with great speed
And sprinters’ limbs are licked into shape,
Their strongest part is such by exercise.
Endurance is the soul’s real escape
Only through misfortune you will size
Up its effects on us and also find
How poor naked folks are made strong by grind

Sic sunt nauticis corpora ferendo mari dura, agricolis manus tritae, ad excutienda tela militares lacerti valent, agilia sunt membra cursoribus: id in quoque solidissimum est quod exercuit. Ad contemnendam patientiam malorum animus patientia pervenit; quae quid in nobis efficere possit scies, si aspexeris quantum nationibus nudis et inopia fortioribus labor praestet.

XIV

Consider the vast area which lies
Outside the Roman peace and I mean
The Germans with all that migrant band
Wandering along the Danube strand
Vexed by perpetual winters and likewise
Fed by a barren soil under grey skies,
Protected from the rainfalls by a batch
Of straw or leaves piled up to form a thatch.
They roam with clogs on ice bound bogs
And hunt wild animals for nourishment

Omnes considera gentes in quibus Romana pax desinit, Germanos dico et quidquid circa Histrum vagarum gentium occursat: perpetua illos hiemps, triste caelum premit, maligne solum sterile sustentat; imbrem culmo aut fronde defendunt, super durata glacie stagna persultant, in alimentum feras captant.

XV

Do they seem to you to be less content?
Misery cannot really exist
When usage gives it nature’s own twist.
Things at first out of necessity done
Little by little can produce much fun.
Neither dwelling nor home have they
Save where they find rest day by day.
Poor is their fare and what’s more
It entails a manual chore.
Harsh is the climate and unfair
And their bodies are almost bare.
What looks like a calamity to you
Is the ordinary life of a slew

Miseri tibi videntur? nihil miserum est quod in naturam consuetudo perduxit; paulatim enim voluptati sunt quae necessitate coeperunt. Nulla illis domicilia nullaeque sedes sunt nisi quas lassitudo in diem posuit; uilis et hic quaerendus manu victus, horrenda iniquitas caeli, intecta corpora: hoc quod tibi calamitas videtur tot gentium vita est.

XVI

Of tribesmen so why do you wonder why
Good men are hit and grow stronger thereby?
There’s no tree solid and strong but the one
The wind has often tried to overrun
From that same torment a tree indeed
Has its roots all set and deeply buried
Unlike those which grow stunted and frail
Under the fierce sunshine in a dale.
It’s the good men’s own interest
In order to be free from fear
To experience the cruellest
Trials and tolerate with a clear
Mind what is never a disgrace
save when it’s dealt with a glum face

Quid miraris bonos viros, ut confirmentur, concuti? non est arbor solida nec fortis nisi in quam frequens ventus incursat; ipsa enim vexatione constringitur et radices certius figit: fragiles sunt quae in aprica valle creverunt. Pro ipsis ergo bonis viris est, ut esse interriti possint, multum inter formidolosa versari et aequo animo ferre quae non sunt mala nisi male sustinenti.

Section V

I

It’s then of common interest,
As one might say, that all the best
Citizens are assigned a place
In the army to be fully occupied.
In these things god takes a wise man’s side:
What the populace desires or fears
Is neither good nor bad as it appears:
Good if it’s the privilege of good guys
Bad if it’s only the wicked it strikes

Adice nunc quod pro omnibus est optimum quemque, ut ita dicam, militare et edere operas. Hoc est propositum deo quod sapienti viro, ostendere haec quae vulgus adpetit, quae reformidat, nec bona esse nec mala; apparebit autem bona esse, si illa non nisi bonis uiris tribuerit, et mala esse, si tantum malis inrogauerit.

II

Blindness will be vile if only the likes
Of those who deserve to have their eyes
Gouged will go blind, and therefore snuff out
The light of Appius and Metellus. No doubt
There lurks in riches an evil imp
So wealth is fit for Elius the pimp.
Men consecrate in temples the same loot
To be found in a house of ill repute.
God has indeed no better way to mock
Things men covet than treat them like schlock.
He’s prodigal of pearls with the worst churls
But leaves the virtuous with an empty hand

Detestabilis erit caecitas, si nemo oculos perdiderit nisi cui eruendi sunt; itaque careant luce Appius et Metellus. Non sunt diuitiae bonum; itaque habeat illas et Elius leno, ut homines pecuniam, cum in templis consecrauerint, uideant et in fornice. Nullo modo magis potest deus concupita traducere quam si illa ad turpissimos defert, ab optimis abigit.

III

It’s not fair to have a good man exhausted,
Run through or chained and let the wicked
In one piece to enjoy the freedom of the land.
What! Is it not unfair that tough men should
Be overnight in the camp arrayed
On guard in front of the palisade
Their wounds bandaged while the brotherhood
Of eunuchs and lechers are safe and unafraid.
What! Is it not unfair that for sacredness’ sake
The noblest virgins spend the night awake
While fallen women are deep in soundest sleep

'At iniquum est uirum bonum debilitari aut configi aut alligari, malos integris corporibus solutos ac delicatos incedere.' Quid porro? non est iniquum fortes uiros arma sumere et in castris pernoctare et pro uallo obligatis stare uulneribus, interim in urbe securos esse praecisos et professos inpudicitiam? Quid porro? non est iniquum nobilissimas uirgines ad sacra facienda noctibus excitari, altissimo somno inquinatas frui?

IV

Toil is for top men an encouragement.
The Senate is often in session for a whole
Day while crooks for their own entertainment
Go to the Field of Mars or to a club
Or hide themselves in some watering hole.
The same applies to Rome, the world’s hub,
Good men toil, expend and make intensive
Efforts and they sure are willingly active:
So fortune can never push them around
They follow it and cover the same ground.
They would indeed have passed it, had they known.

Labor optimos citat: senatus per totum diem saepe consulitur, cum illo tempore uilissimus quisque aut in campo otium suum oblectet aut in popina lateat aut tempus in aliquo circulo terat. Idem in hac magna re publica fit: boni uiri laborant, inpendunt, inpenduntur, et uolentes quidem; non trahuntur a fortuna, sequuntur illam et aequant gradus; si scissent, antecessissent.

V

These words I heard from that hurricane
Of a man called Demetrius “this alone
O immortal gods makes me complain:
That you didn’t disclose to me in advance
Your desire, not giving me the chance
To face such trials as to me pertain.
Is it my children for whom you yearn?
But I brought them up for you.
Do you want a limb of mine too?
Take it, it’s a thing of no concern
I’ll soon face death.
Do you want my breath?
But why should I linger to return
What you chose to give to me
Whatever you wish may be,
I’ll fulfil it willingly.
What! I would rather, as it were,
Give than be forced to deliver.
You had no need to take away
What was already yours, I say:
You can’t take anything from me
Which is already yours for free.
Never forced or having to endure
Anything against my inclination

Hanc quoque animosam Demetri fortissimi uiri uocem audisse me memini: 'hoc unum' inquit 'de uobis, di inmortales, queri possum, quod non ante mihi notam uoluntatem uestram fecistis; prior enim ad ista uenissem ad quae nunc uocatus adsum. Vultis liberos sumere? uobisillos sustuli. Vultis aliquam partem corporis? sumite: non magnam rem promitto, cito totum relinquam. Vultis spiritum? quidni nullam moram faciam quo minus recipiatis quod dedisti? A uolente feretis quidquid petieritis. Quid ergo est? maluissem offerre quam tradere. Quid opus fuit auferre? accipere potuistis; sed ne nunc quidem auferetis, quia nihil eripitur nisi retinenti

VI

I don’t serve god but I do agree
With him, the more so as I am sure
A law leads us with determination
Towards our eternal destiny

Nihil cogor, nihil patior inuitus, nec seruio deo sed assentior, eo quidem magis quod scio omnia certa et in aeternum dicta lege decurrere.

VII

The fates are our guides and the inception
Of a new life has all its days defined.
Every cause is with another entwined
In a long order giving a sense
Both to public and private events,
Therefore one must gallantly bear
Every single thing and affair
As they do not, as we surmise,
Occur but just materialize.
Once it is well established what you
Should rejoice at and what you should rue,
Though the life of man is marked by a great
Variety this is what really cuts us down to size:
We’re mortals and receive a mortal fate

Fata nos ducunt et quantum cuique temporis restat prima nascentium hora disposuit. Causa pendet ex causa, priuata ac publica longus ordo rerum trahit: ideo fortiter omne patiendum est quia non, ut putamus, incidunt cuncta sed ueniunt. Olim constitutum est quid gaudeas, quid fleas, et quamuis magna uideatur uarietate singulorum uita distingui, summa in unum uenit: accipimus peritura perituri.

VIII

We shouldn’t be incensed, we shouldn’t lament,
We’re serenely ready to face any event
And nothing, we firmly think and claim,
Will perish of our bodily frame.
What is a good man’s trait?
His submission to fate.
The consolation is great
To be one with the universe:
Whosoever can dictate
How we should live and die
Can likewise the gods coerce.
Things human and divine are thereby
Tied to an irrevocable course though
The founder and ruler of earth and sky
Has given laws himself is bound to follow.
What he once ordered he always obeys

Quid itaque indignamur? quid querimur? ad hoc parati sumus. Vtatur ut uult suis natura corporibus: nos laeti ad omnia et fortes cogitemus nihil perire de nostro. Quid est boni uiri? praebere se fato. Grande solacium est cum uniuerso rapi; quidquid est quod nos sic uiuere, sic mori iussit, eadem necessitate et deos alligat. Inreuocabilis humana pariter ac diuina cursus uehit: ille ipse omnium conditor et rector scripsit quidem fata, sed sequitur; semper paret, semel iussit.

IX

But why he’s been so unfair - I wonder why -
In the distribution of destiny
As to mete wounds and painful death always
To good people along with poverty?
His material the craftsman can’t reshape
As from this nature offers no escape.
There are things that bear no separation
And, being tied together, no division
Weak minds prone to sleep or a sleeplike wake
Are made of elements dull and opaque.
It requires a very substantial fate
For a man’s name to have a proper weight.
His life’s progress won’t be level but
Bob up and down as in a stormy sea.
He’ll have to steer his vessel to cut
Through the waves to circumvent misery.
Many hard rough events will ensue
He’ll have to soften and make smooth too
Gold is tried by fire, strong men by tragedy

'Quare tamen deus tam iniquus in distributione fati fuit ut bonis uiris paupertatem et uulnera et acerba funera adscriberet?' Non potest artifex mutare materiam: ~hoc passa est~. Quaedam separari a quibusdam non possunt, cohaerent, indiuidua sunt. Languida ingenia et in somnum itura aut in uigiliam somno simillimam inertibus nectuntur elementis: ut efficiatur uir cum cura dicendus, fortiore fato opus est. Non erit illi planum iter: sursum oportet ac deorsum eat, fluctuetur ac nauigium in turbido regat. Contra fortunam illi tenendus est cursus; multa accident dura, aspera, sed quae molliat et conplanet ipse. Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes uiros.

X

See how virtue climbs up straight and tall,
The path that leads to it isn’t safe at all
“Early in the morning my fresh horses find
That riding up a steep slope is a ride of grind.
When the slope reaches the top of the sky
Giving me a breath-taking bird’s eye
View of the earth and the sea I get stressed
And a cowardly terror invades my breast.
The last stage goes downhill and requires a sure
Hand. Then even Tethys lying deep in the azure
Waves fears I might head straight for the abyss”

Vide quam alte escendere debeat uirtus: scies illi non per secura uadendum. Ardua prima uia est et quam uix mane recentes enituntur equi; medio est altissima caelo, unde mare et terras ipsi mihi saepe uidere sit timor et pauida trepidet formidine pectus.ultima prona uia est et eget moderamine certo;tunc etiam quae me subiectis excipit undis,ne ferar in praeceps, Tethys solet ima uereri.

XI

When the generous young man heard all this
He said: I like the slope, the going is worth
The risk of falling. The father tries to
Have his son give it … a wide berth
“even though along the long hard way you
Manage to avoid every mistake
It’s through a bull’s horns you’ll have to break,
Through a bow and a wild lion’s maws too”
But the son asks his father to prepare
The chariot as his words cannot scare
Him at all as he points out “he’s one
Who likes to be where trembles the sun”
The safe way is the way of the weak
Virtue instead jumps from peak to peak

Haec cum audisset ille generosus adulescens, 'placet' inquit 'uia, escendo; est tanti per ista ire casuro.' Non desinit acrem animum metu territare:utque uiam teneas nulloque errore traharis,per tamen aduersi gradieris cornua auri Haemoniosque arcus uiolentique ora leonis.Post haec ait: 'iunge datos currus: his quibus deterreri me putas incitor; libet illic stare ubi ipse Sol trepidat.' Humilis et inertis est tuta sectari: per alta virtus it.

Section VI

I

But why is it that god does not disdain
To let good men be overwhelmed by pain?
But that’s not the case: he takes away
All evils, crimes, bad thoughts selfish options
Blind lust, greed that stalks/sees/views men as a prey.
He protects and defend their actions
Watching the good men’s luggage isn’t god’s affair

'Quare tamen bonis uiris patitur aliquid mali deus fieri?' Ille uero non patitur. Omnia mala ab illis remouit, scelera et flagitia et cogitationes inprobas et auida consilia et libidinem caecam et alieno imminentem auaritiam; ipsos tuetur ac uindicat: numquid hoc quoque aliquis a deo exigit, ut bonorum uirorum etiam sarcinas seruet? Remittunt ipsi hanc deo curam: externa contemnunt.

II

They would themselves fain relieve god of that care
They who snub all outward decorations
Democritus deemed his wealth unfit
For a wise man and got rid of it:
Why then wonder if god will permit
A good man to sometimes go through
What a good man hails to submit to?
Good men sometimes lose their children: why not
If they sometimes slay them too? They’re sent
Into exile: why not? Sometimes they went
Away from their own country and forgot
To return. They are killed: why not if they

Democritus diuitias proiecit, onus illas bonae mentis existimans: quid ergo miraris, si id deus bono uiro accidere patitur quod uir bonus aliquando uult sibi accidere? Filios amittunt uiri boni: quidni, cum aliquando et occidant? In exilium mittuntur: quidni, cum aliquando ipsi patriam non repetituri relinquant? Occiduntur: quidni, cum aliquando ipsi sibi manus adferant?

III

Themselves sometimes join the mutual fray?
Why do they certain harsh ordeals endure?
To teach others how to use the same cure
They were born to set an example you see
And therefore if god says “are you sure
You have something to complain about me
You who delighted in what is upright?

Quare quaedam dura patiuntur? ut alios pati doceant; nati sunt in exemplar. Puta itaque deum dicere: 'quid habetis quod de me queri possitis, uos quibus recta placuerunt? Aliis bona falsa circumdedi et animos inanes uelut longo fallacique somnio lusi: auro illos et argento et ebore adornaui, intus boni nihil est.

IV

I’ve heaped false gifts to put asleep the brain
Of other men whose minds were so vain.
To deceive them with a long sham make-believe
I ornamented with ebony
And gold and silver their vacuity.
These men who look contented to you
If you consider their seamy side
Are miserable mean and ugly too
Like their house walls they’re outwardly dyed.
Their happiness isn’t firm and sincere
It’s only a paper-thin veneer
When they stand and ostentatiously
Show themselves as they would like to be
They shine and cut a fine figure indeed,
As soon as something throws them off balance
There bobs up their truly hideous breed
Lying hidden beneath an alien brilliance

Isti quos pro felicibus aspicis, si non qua occurrunt sed qua latent uideris, miseri sunt, sordidi turpes, ad similitudinem parietum suorum extrinsecus culti; non est ista solida et sincera felicitas: crusta est et quidem tenuis. Itaque dum illis licet stare et ad arbitrium suum ostendi, nitent et inponunt; cum aliquid incidit quod disturbet ac detegat, tunc apparet quantum altae ac uerae foeditatis alienus splendor absconderit.

V

To you I’ve given material properties
sure, lasting, superior, in great quantities
No matter from what part one looks at them.
Fearsome things I permitted you to contemn
And likewise eager desires to despise.
Your properties have no outwards sheen
Being inwardly turned. The world disdains
Them and likes to show off on the scene.
Your inner self, I’ve decided, contains
Everything you need to be happy, as you see
Being free from happiness is your felicity

Vobis dedi bona certa mansura, quanto magis uersauerit aliquis et undique inspexerit, meliora maioraque; permisi uobis metuenda contemnere, cupiditates fastidire; non fulgetis extrinsecus, bona uestra introrsus obuersa sunt. Sic mundus exteriora contempsit spectaculo sui laetus. Intus omne posui bonum; non egere felicitate felicitas uestra est.

VI

But many sad grisly things alas
All hard to countenance come to pass.
As I couldn’t spare you these things
I armed your minds against all sufferings.
Patiently bear them as this is where
You can even be superior to
God who is beyond each worldly care.
To be above all cares is a virtue
Which is indeed left entirely to you.
Look down upon poverty,
Nobody can ever be
As poor as when he was born.
Disregard pain, it’s a thorn
You have to annihilate
Or it’ll annihilate you,
Then look down upon death too
Which will either terminate
Your life or send you someplace

"At multa incidunt tristia horrenda, dura toleratu." Quia non poteram uos istis subducere, animos uestros aduersus omnia armaui: ferte fortiter. Hoc est quo deum antecedatis: ille extra patientiam malorum est, uos supra patientiam. Contemnite paupertatem: nemo tam pauper uiuit quam natus est. Contemnite dolorem: aut soluetur aut soluet. Contemnite mortem: quae uos aut finit aut transfert.

VII

Else. Look down upon fortune
I never gave her a mace
To crush your soul. Above all
I did take good extra care that
Nobody should hold you in thrall
But there is an emergency exit
If you don’t want to fight you can beat it.
Therefore among the basic things you require
None is easier for you than to expire.
I placed the soul on a downward slope
Look at it carefully and you’ll see
Just how effortless it is to scope
The short path leading to liberty.
I decided the delays before you quit
Life to be shorter than when you enter it
So as to give fortune a very wide berth
In case dying were as slow as birth

Contemnite fortunam: nullum illi telum quo feriret animum dedi. Ante omnia cavi ne quis vos teneret invitos; patet exitus: si pugnare non vultis, licet fugere. Ideo ex omnibus rebus quas esse uobis necessarias uolui nihil feci facilius quam mori. Prono animam loco posui: ~trahitur~ adtendite modo et uidebitis quam breuis ad libertatem et quam expedita ducat uia. Non tam longas in exitu uobis quam intrantibus moras posui; alioqui magnum in uos regnum fortuna tenuisset, si homo tam tarde moreretur quam nascitur.

VIII

Thanks to time and place you’ll easily learn
To give up nature and its gift to spurn.
Between the same altars where one implores life’s breath
With solemn sacrificial rites you pray for death
Fat bulls are just knocked down by a sting
And man can slay beasts huge and strapping.
A thin blade is all one needs to cut
The nape’s juncture so as to shut
Out the link between head and neck
Turning that great mass into a wreck.
Life’s breath lies very close
To the skin and the sword fails
To root out and expose
The inscrutable entrails

Omne tempus, omnis uos locus doceat quam facile sit renuntiare naturae et munus illi suum inpingere; inter ipsa altaria et sollemnes sacrificantium ritus, dum optatur uita, mortem condiscite. Corpora opima taurorum exiguo concidunt uulnere et magnarum uirium animalia humanae manus ictus inpellit; tenui ferro commissura ceruicis abrumpitur, et cum articulus ille qui caput collumque committit incisus est, tanta illa moles corruit.

IX

Death is skin deep. I didn’t rule where to strike
You can draw blood wherever you like.
The moment when a man breathes his last
With which his soul turns a leaf
Leaving his body is much too brief
And can’t be felt as it is too fast
Whatever kind of death is your lot
Getting strangled by a knot
Breathing water and getting drowned
Falling and crashing to the ground
Eating fire burning your wick
Your demise will be so quick.
Blush you who forever and a day
Are scared of your brief passing away!

Non in alto latet spiritus nec utique ferro eruendus est; non sunt uulnere penitus inpresso scrutanda praecordia: in proximo mors est. Non certum ad hos ictus destinaui locum: quacumque uis peruium est. Ipsum illud quod uocatur mori, quo anima discedit a corpore, breuius est quam ut sentiri tanta uelocitas possit: siue fauces nodus elisit, siue spiramentum aqua praeclusit, siue in caput lapsos subiacentis soli duritia comminuit, siue haustus ignis cursum animae remeantis interscidit, quidquid est, properat. Ecquid erubescitis? quod tam cito fit timetis diu!'

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