§1.1.13non tamen hoc adeo superstitiose fieri velim, ut diu tantum Graece loquatur aut discat, sicut plerisque moris est.
I would not, however, wish this to be done so superstitiously that he should for a long time speak or learn only Greek, as is the custom with most.
hoc enim accidunt et oris plurima vitia in peregrinum sonum corrupti et sermonis; cui cum Graecae figurae assidua consuetudine haeserunt, in diversa quoque loquendi ratione pertinacissime durant.
For from this there happen very many defects both of pronunciation, corrupted into a foreign sound, and of language; to which when Greek idioms have clung by constant habit, they persist most tenaciously even in a different manner of speaking.
§1.1.14non longe itaque Latina subsequi debent et cito pariter ire.
Therefore, Latin ought to follow not far behind, and soon go abreast with it.
ita fiet, ut, cum aequali cura linguam utramque tueri coeperimus, neutra alteri officiat.
Thus it will come to pass that, when we begin to care for both languages with equal attention, neither will hinder the other.
§1.1.15quidam litteris instituendos, qui minores septem annis essent, non putaverunt, quod illa primum aetas et intellectum disciplinarum capere et laborem pati posset.
Some have thought that those who are under seven years of age should not be instructed in letters, because that age first could receive the understanding of disciplines and endure labor.
in qua sententia Hesiodum esse plurimi tradunt qui ante grammaticum Aristophanen fuerunt; nam is primus ὑποθήκας, in quo libro scriptum hoc invenitur, negavit esse huius poëtae.
That Hesiod was of this opinion very many of those who were before the grammarian Aristophanes hand down; for he was the first to deny that the "Precepts," in which book this is found written, belonged to this poet.
§1.1.16sed alii quoque auctores, inter quos Eratosthenes, idem praeceperunt.
But other authors also, among whom is Eratosthenes, have directed the same.
melius autem, qui nullum tempus vacare cura volunt, ut Chrysippus.
Those, however, are better who wish no time to be vacant from care, as Chrysippus.
nam is, quamvis nutricibus triennium dederit, tamen ab illis quoque iam formandam quam optimis institutis mentem infantium iudicat.
For although he has given a triennium to the nurses, yet he judges that even by them the minds of infants should already be formed with the best habits.
§1.1.17cur autem non pertineat ad litteras aetas, quae ad mores iam pertinet? neque ignoro, toto illo, de quo loquor, tempore vix tantum effici, quantum conferre unus postea possit annus; sed tamen mihi, qui dissenserunt, videntur non tam discentibus in hac parte quam docentibus pepercisse.
But why should an age which already belongs to morals not belong to letters? Nor am I ignorant that during all that time of which I speak, scarcely as much is effected as one year afterwards can contribute; yet those who have dissented seem to me to have spared in this part not so much the learners as the teachers.
§1.1.18quid melius alioqui facient, ex quo loqui poterunt? faciant enim aliquid necesse est.
What else indeed will they do better, from the time they are able to speak? For they must do something.
aut cur hoc, quantulumcunque est, usque ad septem annos lucrum fastidiamus? nam certe quamlibet parvum sit, quod contulerit aetas prior, maiora tamen aliqua discet puer ipso illo anno, quo minora didicisset.
Or why should we disdain this gain, however small, up to seven years? For certainly, however small it may be which the earlier age has contributed, yet the boy will learn some greater things in that very year in which he would otherwise have learned smaller.
§1.1.19hoc per singulos prorogatum in summam proficit, et quantum in infantia praesumptum est temporis, adolescentiae adquiritur.
This, being prolonged through each year, profits in the sum, and whatever time is anticipated in infancy is gained for adolescence.
idem etiam de sequentibus annis praeceptum sit, ne, quod cuique discendum est, sero discere incipiat.
Let the same also be directed concerning the following years, lest anyone should begin to learn late what he must learn.
non ergo perdamus primum statim tempus, atque eo minus, quod initia litterarum sola memoria constant, quae non modo iam est in parvis sed tum etiam tenacissima est.
Let us not, therefore, lose the very first time, and so much the less because the beginnings of letters consist in memory alone, which not only is already in little ones but is then also most tenacious.
§1.1.20nec sum adeo aetatum imprudens, ut instandum protinus teneris acerbe putem exigendamque plane operam.
Nor am I so unmindful of ages as to think that we should immediately press sharply upon the tender ones and demand full labor.
nam id in primis cavere oportebit, ne studia, qui amare nondum potest, oderit et amaritudinem semel perceptam etiam ultra rudes annos reformidet.
For this we must especially guard against, lest he who cannot yet love studies should hate them, and dread the bitterness once tasted even beyond his untrained years.
lusus hic sit; et rogetur et laudetur et numquam non fecisse se gaudeat, aliquando ipso nolente doceatur alius, cui invideat; contendat interim et saepius vincere se putet; praemiis etiam, quae capit illa aetas, evocetur.
Let this be play; let him be questioned, and praised, and let him always rejoice that he has done something; sometimes let another, whom he may envy, be taught while he himself is unwilling; let him compete at times, and let him think that he more often wins; let him also be enticed by rewards such as that age accepts.
§1.1.21parva docemus oratorem instituendum professi, sed est sua etiam studiis infantia; et ut corporum mox fortissimorum educatio a lacte cunisque initium ducit, ita futurus eloquentissimus edidit aliquando vagitum et loqui primum incerta voce temptavit et haesit circa formas litterarum.
We teach small things, having professed to train an orator, but studies also have their own infancy; and as the rearing of bodies that will soon be very strong derives its beginning from milk and cradles, so the future most eloquent man once uttered a cry, and first attempted to speak with an uncertain voice, and hesitated around the shapes of letters.
nec si quid discere satis non est, ideo nec necesse est.
Nor, if to learn something is not sufficient, is it therefore not necessary.
§1.1.22quodsi nemo reprehendit patrem, qui haec non negligenda in suo filio putet, cur improbetur, si quis ea, quae domi suae recte faceret, in publicum promit? atque eo magis, quod minora etiam facilius minores percipiunt, et ut corpora ad quosdam membrorum flexus formari nisi tenera non possunt, sic animos quoque ad pleraque duriores robur ipsum facit.
But if no one blames a father who thinks that these things should not be neglected in his own son, why should he be disapproved of if he brings out into public those things which he would do rightly in his own home? And so much the more, because the younger ones perceive even smaller things more easily, and just as bodies cannot be formed to certain bendings of limbs unless they are tender, so also robustness itself makes minds harder to most things.
§1.1.23an Philippus Macedonum rex Alexandro filio suo prima litterarum elementa tradi ab Aristotele, summo eius aetatis philosopho, voluisset, aut ille suscepisset hoc officium, si non studiorum initia et a perfectissimo quoque optime tractari et pertinere ad summam credidisset?
Or would Philip, king of the Macedonians, have wished the first elements of letters to be delivered to his son Alexander by Aristotle, the greatest philosopher of that age, or would that philosopher have undertaken this office, if he had not believed that the beginnings of studies are both best treated by the most perfect and concern the whole sum?
§1.1.24fingamus igitur Alexandrum dari nobis impositum gremio, dignum tanta cura infantem (quanquam suus cuique dignus est): pudeatne me in ipsis statim elementis etiam brevia docendi monstrare compendia? neque enim mihi illud saltem placet, quod fieri in plurimis video, ut litterarum nomina et contextum prius quam formas parvuli discant.
Let us imagine, therefore, that Alexander is given to us, placed upon our lap, an infant worthy of so great care (although his own child is worthy to everyone). Should I be ashamed, in the very elements themselves immediately, to point out even short compendia of teaching? For indeed, that at least does not please me, which I see done in most, that little ones learn the names and sequence of letters before their shapes.