§5.16.1etsi unus ex omnibus minime sum ad te consolandum accommodatus, quod tantum ex tuis molestiis cepi doloris, ut consolatione ipse egerem, tamen, cum longius a summi luctus acerbitate meus abesset dolor quam tuus, statui nostrae necessitudinis esse meaeque in te benevolentiae non tacere tanto in tuo maerore tam diu, sed adhibere aliquam modicam consolationem, quae levare dolorem tuum posset, si minus sanare potuisset.
Although I am of all men the least suited to console you, because I have taken so much grief from your troubles that I myself stand in need of consolation, yet, since my grief was further removed from the bitterness of the deepest mourning than yours, I decided that it was the duty of our intimacy and of my benevolence toward you not to remain silent for so long in your great sorrow, but to offer some moderate consolation which, if it could not cure, might at least alleviate your pain.
§5.16.2est autem consolatio pervulgata quidem illa maxime, quam semper in ore atque in animo habere debemus, homines nos ut esse meminerimus ea lege natos, ut omnibus telis fortunae proposita sit vita nostra, neque esse recusandum quo minus ea, qua nati sumus, condicione vivamus, neve tam graviter eos casus feramus, quos nullo consilio vitare possimus, eventisque aliorum memoria repetendis nihil accidisse novi nobis cogitemus.
But that consolation is indeed most widely known, which we ought always to have on our lips and in our minds: namely, that we should remember that we were born as human beings under this law, that our life is exposed to all the darts of fortune; and that we must not refuse to live under the condition under which we were born, nor bear those misfortunes so heavily which we can avoid by no counsel, and that, by recalling to memory the events of others, we should think that nothing new has happened to us.
§5.16.3neque hae neque ceterae consolationes, quae sunt a sapientissimis viris usurpatae memoriaeque litteris proditae, tantum videntur proficere debere, quantum status ipse nostrae civitatis et haec 'perturbatio temporum perditorum, cum beatissimi sint qui liberos non susceperunt, minus autem miseri qui his temporibus amiserunt quam si eosdem bona aut denique aliqua re p. perdidissent.
Neither these nor other consolations, which have been used by the wisest men and handed down to memory in literature, seem to be as of much avail as the very state of our commonwealth and this confusion of ruined times; since those who have not begotten children are most happy, while those who have lost them in these times are less miserable than if they had lost the same when the commonwealth was prosperous, or indeed in any commonwealth at all.
§5.16.4quod si tuum te desiderium movet, aut si tuarum rerum cogitatione maeres, non facile exhauriri tibi istum dolorem posse universum puto; sin illa te res cruciat, quae magis amoris est, ut eorum, qui occiderunt, miserias lugeas, ut ea non dicam, quae saepissime et legi et audivi, nihil mali esse in morte, ex qua si resideat sensus, immortalitas illa potius quam mors ducenda sit, sin sit amissus, nulla videri miseria debeat quae non sentiatur, hoc tamen non dubitans confirmare possum, ea misceri, parari, impendere rei p. , quae qui reliquerit nullo modo mihi quidem deceptus esse videatur.
But if your own longing moves you, or if you mourn from the contemplation of your own affairs, I do not think that that grief can easily be drained from you entirely; but if that matter tortures you, which is more of love, namely, that you lament the miseries of those who have died,—not to mention those things which I have very often read and heard, that there is no evil in death, from which if sense remains, that is to be esteemed immortality rather than death, but if it is lost, no misery should seem to exist which is not felt,—yet this I can affirm without doubting: such things are being mixed, prepared, and impending over the commonwealth, that he who has left it seems to me by no means to have been deceived.
quid est enim iam non modo pudori, probitati, virtuti, rectis studiis, bonis artibus, sed omnino libertati ac saluti loci? non me hercule quemquam audivi hoc gravissimo et pestilentissimo anno adulescentulum aut puerum mortuum, qui mihi non a dis immortalibus ereptus ex his miseriis atque ex iniquissima condicione vitae videretur.
For what place is there now left, not only for shame, honesty, virtue, upright pursuits, and good arts, but at all for liberty and safety? By Hercules, I have heard of no young man or boy who died in this most heavy and pestilential year, who did not seem to me to have been snatched by the immortal gods from these miseries and from a most unjust condition of life.
§5.16.5qua re, si tibi unum hoc detrahi potest, ne quid iis, quos amasti, mali putes contigisse, permultum erit ex maerore tuo deminutum.
Therefore, if this one thing can be taken away from you, so that you do not think that any evil has happened to those whom you loved, a great deal will have been diminished from your grief.
relinquetur enim simplex illa iam cura doloris tui, quae non cum illis communicabitur sed ad te ipsum proprie referetur; in qua non est iam gravitatis et sapientiae tuae, quam tu a puero praestitisti, ferre immoderatius casum incommodorum tuorum, qui sit ab eorum, quos dilexeris, miseria maloque seiunctus.
For there will remain only that simple concern for your own pain, which will not be shared with them, but will refer properly to yourself; in which it is no longer consistent with your gravity and wisdom, which you have displayed since boyhood, to bear too immoderately the misfortune of your troubles, which is separated from the misery and evil of those whom you loved.
etenim eum semper te et privatis in rebus et publicis praestitisti, tuenda tibi ut sit gravitas et constantiae serviendum.
Indeed, you have always shown yourself to be such a person, both in private and public affairs, that you must maintain your gravity and serve your constancy.
nam, quod adlatura est ipsa diuturnitas, quae maximos luctus vetustate tollit, id nos praecipere consilio prudentiaque debemus.
For, that which length of time itself will bring, which removes the greatest griefs by passage of time, we ought to anticipate by counsel and prudence.
§5.16.6etenim, si nulla fuit umquam liberis amissis tam imbecillo mulier. animo quae non aliquando lugendi modum fecerit, certe nos, quod est dies adlatura, id consilio anteferre debemus neque exspectare temporis medicinam, quam repraesentare ratione possimus.
For, if there was ever any woman of so weak a mind who, having lost her children, did not at some time put an end to her mourning, surely we ought to anticipate by counsel that which time is bound to bring, and not to wait for the remedy of time which we can make present by reason.
his ego litteris si quid profecissem, existimabam optandum quiddam me esse adsecutum; sin minus forte valuissent, officio tamen esse functum viri benevolentissimi atque amicissimi.
If I had accomplished anything by this letter, I should think that I had attained something to be wished for; but if by chance it has had less power, yet I have discharged the duty of a most benevolent and friendly man.
quem me tibi et fuisse semper existimes velim et futurum esse confidas.
I would have you believe that I have always been such a man to you, and trust that I shall be so in the future.