§4.3#2φέρεται τὸ πῦρ ἄνω καὶ ἡ γῆ κάτω, τὸ αὐτό ἐστι καὶ διὰ τί το ὑγιαστὸν ἂν κινῆται καὶ μεταβάλλῃ ᾗ ὑγιαστόν, εἰς ὑγίειαν ἔρχεται ἀλλʼ οὐκ εἰς λευκότητα.
fire is carried upward and earth downward is the same as seeking why the healable, if it is moved and changes insofar as it is healable, goes to health and not to whiteness.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τἆλλα πάντα τὰ ἀλλοιωτά.
And likewise for all other things that can be altered.
ἀλλά μὴν καὶ τὸ αὐξητὸν ὅταν μεταβάλλῃ ᾗ αὐξητόν, οὐκ εἰς ὑγίειαν ἔρχεται ἀλλʼ εἰς μεγέθους ὑπεροχήν.
Moreover, when that which can be increased changes insofar as it can be increased, it does not go to health but to an excess of magnitude.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τούτων ἕκαστον τὸ μὲν ἐν τῷ ποιῷ τὸ δʼ ἐν τῷ ποσῷ μεταβάλλει, καὶ ἐν τόπῳ τὰ μὲν κοῦφα ἄνω τὰ δὲ βαρέα κάτω, πλὴν ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἐν αὑτοῖς δοκεῖ ἔχειν ἀρχὴν τῆς μεταβολῆς, λέγω δὲ τὸ βαρὺ καὶ τὸ κοῦφον, τὰ δʼ οὔ, ἀλλʼ ἔξωθεν, οἷον τὸ ὑγιαστὸν καὶ αὐξητόν.
And likewise each of these changes, the one in quality, the other in quantity, and in place, the light things change upward and the heavy things downward, except that some seem to have the principle of change in themselves—I mean the heavy and the light—while others do not, but from without, as the healable and the increasable.
καίτοι ἐνίοτε καὶ ταῦτα ἐξ οὑτῶν μεταβάλλει, καὶ μικρᾶς γενομένης ἐν τοῖς ἔξω κινήσεως τὸ μὲν εἰς ὑγίειαν ἔρχεται τὸ δʼ εἰς αὔξην·
And yet sometimes these also change from themselves, and when a small motion occurs in external things, the one goes to health and the other to increase.
καὶ ἐπεὶ ταὐτὸν τὸ ὑγιαστὸν καὶ τὸ νόσου δεκτικόν, ἐὰν μὲν κινηθῇ ᾗ ὑγιαστόν, εἰς ὑγίειαν φέρεται, ἐάν δʼ ᾗ νοσερόν, εἰς νόσον.
And since the healable and the receptive of disease are the same, if indeed it is moved insofar as it is healable, it is carried to health, but if insofar as it is diseased, to disease.
μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ βαρὺ καὶ τὸ κοῦφον τούτων ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἔχειν φαίνεται τὴν ἀρχὴν διὰ τὸ ἐγγύτατα τῆς οὐσίας εἶναι τὴν τούτων ὕλην·
But the heavy and the light seem to have the principle in themselves more than these, because their matter is closest to substance.
σημεῖον δʼ ὅτι ἡ φορὰ ἀπολελυμένων ἐστί, καὶ γενέσει ὑστάτη τῶν κινήσεων, ὥστε πρώτη ἂν εἴη κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν αὕτη κίνησις.
The sign is that locomotion belongs to things that are released, and is the last of movements in generation, so that this would be the first movement according to substance.
ὅταν μὲν οὖν γίγνηται ἐξ ὕδατος ἀὴρ καὶ ἐκ βαρέος κοῦφον, ἔρχεται εἰς τὸ ἄνω.
Therefore, when air comes to be from water, and light from heavy, it goes to the upward.
ἄμα δʼ ἐστὶ κοῦφον, καὶ οὐκέτι γίνεται, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖ ἐστίν.
And at the same time it is light, and no longer comes to be, but is there.
φανερὸν δὴ ὅτι δυνάμει ὄν, εἰς ἐντελέχειαν ἰὸν ἔρχεται ἐκεῖ καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον καὶ τοιοῦτον, οὗ ἡ ἐντελέχεια καὶ ὅσου καὶ οἴου καὶ ὅπου.
It is clear, then, that what is potentially, in going to actuality, goes there where its actuality is, and to such quantity, quality, and place as its actuality is.
τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ αἴτιον καὶ τοῦ ἤδη ὑπάρχοντα καὶ ὄντα γῆν καὶ πῦρ κινεῖσθαι εἰς τοὺς οὑτῶν τόπους μηδενὸς ἐμποδίζοντος.
And the same is the cause of earth and fire, which already exist and are, moving to their own places when nothing prevents them.
καὶ γὰρ ἡ τροφή, ὅταν τὸ κωλῦον, καὶ τὸ ὑγιαστόν, ὅταν τὸ ἐπίσχον μὴ ἡ, φέρεται εὐθύς·
For indeed food, when that which prevents is absent, and the healable, when that which restrains is not present, are carried immediately.
καὶ κινεῖ b 16. δὲ] δὴ Alex. apud Simpl. 22. τούτων] τῶν ἄλλων Alex. apud Simpl. 26. καὶ] καὶ τὸ al. δὲ τό τε ἐξ ἀρχῆς ποιῆσαν καὶ τὸ ὑποσπάσαν ἢ ὅθεν ἀπεπήδησεν, καθάπερ εἴρηται ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις λόγοις, ἐν οἷς διωρίζομεν ὅτι οὐθὲν τούτων αὐτὸ ἑαυτὸ κινεῖ.
And (b 16. δὲ] δὴ Alex. apud Simpl. 22. τούτων] τῶν ἄλλων Alex. apud Simpl. 26. καὶ] καὶ τὸ al.) that which made it from the beginning and that which pulled away the obstacle, or that from which it glanced off, move it, just as has been said in our first discussions, in which we defined that none of these things moves itself.
διὰ τίνα μὲν οὖν αἰτίαν φέρεται τῶν φερομένων ἕκαστον, καὶ τὸ φέρεσθαι εἰς τὸν αὑτοῦ τόπον τί ἐστιν, εἴρηται.
Therefore, for what cause each of the things carried is carried, and what it is to be carried to one's own place, has been said.