§1.24De natura autem (id enim sequebatur) ita dicebant ut eam dividerent in res duas, ut altera esset efficiens, altera autem quasi huic se praebens, eaque efficeretur aliquid.
And on the subject of nature (for that was next in order), they spoke in such a way as to divide it into two things, so that one was the efficient cause, while the other, as it were, presented itself to this, and by it something was made.
in eo quod efficeret vim esse censebant, in eo autem quod efficeretur tantum modo materiam quandam; in utroque tamen utrumque: neque enim materiam ipsam cohaerere potuisse si nulla vi contineretur, neque vim sine aliqua materia; nihil est enim quod non alicubi esse cogatur.
In that which made, they held there was force; but in that which was made, only a certain matter; yet in both, both: for neither could matter itself hold together if it were contained by no force, nor force without some matter; for there is nothing which is not forced to be somewhere.
sed quod ex utroque, id iam corpus et quasi qualitatem quandam nominabant—dabitis enim profecto ut in rebus inusitatis, quod Graeci ipsi faciunt a quibus haec iam diu tractantur, utamur verbis interdum inauditis.
But that which was from both, they now called body and a certain quality, as it were—for you will surely grant that in unusual things, as the Greeks themselves do, by whom these things have been treated for a long time, we may sometimes use unheard-of words.
' §1.25"Nos vero"
inquit Atticus; "quin etiam Graecis licebit utare cum voles, si te Latina forte deficient. "
"Bene sane facis; sed enitar ut Latine loquar, nisi in huiusce modi verbis ut philosophiam aut rhetoricam aut physicam aut dialecticam appellem, quibus ut aliis multis consuetudo iam utitur pro Latinis.
"Indeed," said Atticus, "nay, you may even use Greek words when you wish, if Latin should happen to fail you." "You do very well indeed; but I will strive to speak in Latin, except in words of this kind, such as to call it philosophy or rhetoric or physics or dialectic, which, like many other words, usage now uses instead of Latin.
qualitates igitur appellavi quas poio/thtas Graeci vocant, quod ipsum apud Graecos non est vulgi verbum sed philosophorum, atque id in multis; dialecticorum vero verba nulla sunt publica, suis utuntur.
Therefore, I have called 'qualities' those which the Greeks call poio/thtas, which itself among the Greeks is not a word of the common people, but of philosophers, and that in many cases; but of dialecticians indeed, no words are public, they use their own.
et id quidem commune omnium fere est artium; aut enim nova sunt rerum novarum facienda nomina aut ex aliis transferenda.
And that indeed is common to almost all arts; for either new names must be made for new things, or transferred from others.
quod si Graeci faciunt qui in his rebus tot iam saecla versantur, quanto id nobis magis concedendum est, qui haec nunc primum tractare conamur. " §1.26'Tu vero' inquam
"Varro bene etiam meriturus mihi videris de tuis civibus, si eos non modo copia rerum auxeris, ut effecisti, sed etiam verborum. "
"Audebimus ergo"
inquit 'novis verbis uti te auctore, si necesse erit. —earum igitur qualitatum sunt aliae principes aliae ex his ortae.
And if the Greeks do this, who have been engaged in these things for so many ages, how much more should this be granted to us, who are now attempting to treat these things for the first time." "Indeed, Varro," I said, "you seem to me to be about to deserve well of your citizens, if you increase them not only in the abundance of things, as you have done, but also of words." "We will dare then," he said, "to use new words by your authority, if it is necessary.—Of those qualities, therefore, some are primary, others arisen from these.
principes sunt unius modi et simplices; ex his autem ortae variae sunt et quasi multiformes.
The primary are of one kind and simple; but those arisen from these are various and, as it were, multiform.
itaque aer (hoc quoque utimur enim pro Latino) et ignis et aqua et terra prima sunt; ex his autem ortae animantium formae earumque rerum quae gignuntur e terra.
Therefore, air (for we use this also instead of Latin) and fire and water and earth are primary; but those arisen from these are the forms of living creatures and of those things which are produced from the earth.
ergo illa initia et ut e Graeco vertam elementa dicuntur; e quibus aer et ignis movendi vim habent et efficiendi, reliquae partes accipiendi et quasi patiendi, aquam dico et terram.
Therefore, those are called beginnings, and, to translate from Greek, elements; of which air and fire have the force of moving and effecting, the remaining parts of receiving and, as it were, suffering—I mean water and earth.
quintum genus, e quo essent astra mentesque, singulare eorumque quattuor quae supra dixi dissimile Aristoteles quoddam esse rebatur.
Aristotle thought that there was a certain fifth kind, from which the stars and minds were, singular and unlike those four which I said above.
§1.27Sed subiectam putant omnibus sine ulla specie atque carentem omni illa qualitate (faciamus enim tractando usitatius hoc verbum et tritius) materiam quandam, ex qua omnia expressa atque effecta sint, quae tota omnia accipere possit omnibusque modis mutari atque ex omni parte eoque etiam interire, non in nihilum sed in suas partes, quae infinite secari ac dividi possint, cum sit nihil omnino in rerum natura minimum quod dividi nequeat.
But they think that there is subjected to all things, without any appearance and lacking all that quality (for let us make this word more common and worn-out by treating it), a certain matter from which all things are expressed and made, which can receive all things as a whole, and be changed in all ways, and perish from every part, and therefore even perish, not into nothing, but into its own parts, which can be cut and divided infinitely, since there is nothing at all in the nature of things so small that it cannot be divided.
quae autem moveantur omnia intervallis moveri, quae intervalla item infinite dividi possint.
And that all things which are moved, are moved by intervals, which intervals likewise can be divided infinitely.
§1.28et cum ita moveatur illa vis quam qualitatem esse diximus, et cum sic ultro citroque versetur, et materiam ipsam totam penitus commutari putant et illa effici quae appellant qualia; e quibus in omni natura cohaerente et continuata cum omnibus suis partibus unum effectum esse mundum, extra quem nulla pars materiae sit nullumque corpus.
And when that force, which we have said is quality, is so moved, and when it is so turned hither and thither, they think that the matter itself is totally and thoroughly changed, and those things are made which they call qualia; from which, in the whole of nature holding together and continuous with all its parts, one world has been made, outside of which there is no part of matter and no body.
Partis autem esse mundi omnia quae insint in eo, quae natura sentiente teneantur, in qua ratio perfecta insit, quae sit eadem sempiterna (nihil enim valentius esse a quo intereat);
But they think that all things that are in it are parts of the world, which are held together by a sentient nature, in which perfect reason is present, which is the same and eternal (for there is nothing more powerful from which it might perish);