§10.1.10haec ut sciamus atque eorum non significationem modo sed formas etiam mensurasque norimus, ut, ubicunque erunt posita, conveniant, nisi multa lectione atque auditione assequi nullo modo possumus, cum omnem sermonem auribus primum accipiamus.
In order that we may know these things and be acquainted not only with their meaning but also with their forms and measures, so that they may fit wherever they are placed, we can in no way attain this except by much reading and hearing, since we receive all speech first with our ears.
propter quod infantes a mutis nutricibus iussu regum in solitudine educati, etiamsi verba quaedam emisisse traduntur, §10.1.11tamen loquendi facultate caruerunt.
For this reason, infants brought up in solitude by mute nurses by order of kings, although they are said to have uttered certain words, nevertheless lacked the faculty of speech.
sunt autem alia huius naturae, ut idem pluribus vocibus declarent, ita ut nihil significationis, quo potius utaris, intersit, ut ensis et gladius; alia vero, etiamsi propria rerum aliquarum sint nomina, τροπικῶς quasi tamen ad eundem intellectum feruntur, ut ferrum et mucro.
But there are other words of this nature, that they declare the same thing in several terms, so that it makes no difference to meaning which you prefer to use, such as 'ensis' and 'gladius'; others, however, even if they are proper names of some things, are nevertheless carried metaphorically, as it were, to the same understanding, such as 'ferrum' and 'mucro'.
§10.1.12nam per abusionem sicarios etiam omnes vocamus, qui caedem telo quocunque commiserint.
For by catachresis we even call all those 'sicarii' (assassins) who have committed a slaughter with any weapon whatever.
alia circuitu verborum plurium ostendimus, quale est et pressi copia lactis.
Others we show by a circumlocution of several words, such as 'and a store of pressed milk'.
Plurima vero mutatione figuramus: Scio non ignoro et non me fugit et non me praeterit et quis nescit? et nemini dubium est.
But very many things we shape by variation: 'I know', 'I am not ignorant', 'it does not escape me', 'it does not pass me by', 'who does not know?', and 'it is doubtful to no one'.
§10.1.13sed etiam ex proximo mutuari libet.
But it is also pleasing to borrow from what is nearest.
nam et intelligo et sentio et video saepe idem valent quod scio.
For 'I understand', 'I perceive', and 'I see' often have the same force as 'I know'.
quorum nobis ubertatem ac divitias dabit lectio, ut non solum quomodo occurrent sed etiam quomodo oportet utamur.
Of these, reading will give us the abundance and wealth, so that we may use them not only as they occur, but also as is proper.
§10.1.14non semper enim haec inter se idem faciunt; nec sicut de intellectu animi recte dixerim video ita de visu oculorum intelligo, nec ut mucro gladium sic mucronem gladius ostendit.
For these do not always have the same effect among themselves; nor, just as I might rightly say 'I see' of the understanding of the mind, can I say 'I understand' of the sight of the eyes, nor does 'gladius' show 'mucro' in the same way as 'mucro' shows 'gladius'.
§10.1.15sed ut copia verborum sic paratur, ita non uerborum tantum gratia legendum vel audiendum est.
But although a store of words is thus prepared, we must read and hear not for the sake of words alone.
nam omnium, quaecunque docemus, hoc sunt exempla potentiora etiam ipsis quae traduntur artibus, cum eo qui discit perductus est, ut intelligere ea sine demonstrate et sequi iam suis viribus possit, quia, quae doctor praecepit, orator ostendit.
For of all the things that we teach, these are examples more powerful than even the rules themselves which are handed down, when the learner has been led to the point where he can understand them without a demonstrator and follow them now by his own strength, because what the teacher has prescribed, the orator exhibits.
§10.1.16alia vero audientes, alia legentes magis adiuvant.
But some things help more those who hear, others those who read.
excitat qui dicit spiritu ipso, nec imagine et ambitu rerum sed rebus incendit.
He who speaks excites by his very spirit, and inflames not by the image and circuit of things, but by the things themselves.
vivunt omnia enim et moventur, excipimusque nova ilia velut nascentia cum favore ac sollicitudine.
For all things live and move, and we receive those new words, as it were, at their birth, with favor and anxiety.
nec fortuna modo iudicii sed etiam ipsorum qui orant periculo adficimur.
Nor are we affected only by the fortune of the judgment, but also by the danger of those who plead.
§10.1.17praeter haec vox, actio decora, accommodata, ut quisque locus postulabit, pronuntiandi vel potentissima in dicendo ratio et, ut semel dicam, pariter omnia docent.
In addition to these, the voice, graceful action, adapted as each place shall demand, the delivery which is indeed the most powerful method in speaking, and, to say it once, all teach together.
in lectione certius iudicium, quod audienti frequenter aut suus cuique favor aut ille laudantium clamor extorquet.
In reading, judgment is more certain, which either his own favor or that clamor of those who praise frequently extorts from the hearer.
§10.1.18pudet enim dissentire, et velut tacita quadam verecundia inhibemur plus nobis credere, cum interim et vitiosa pluribus placent, et a conrogatis laudantur etiam quae non placent.
For it is shameful to dissent, and we are inhibited, as if by a certain silent modesty, from believing ourselves more, while in the meantime even faulty things please many, and those things which do not please are praised even by those who are hired.
§10.1.19sed e contrario quoque accidit, ut optime dictis gratiam prava iudicia non referant.
But on the contrary it also happens that perverse judgments do not return gratitude to the best-spoken things.
lectio libera est nec actionis impetu transcurrit; sed repetere saepius licet, sive dubites sive memoriae penitus adfigere velis.
Reading is free and does not run past with the impetus of action; but it is permitted to repeat more often, whether you doubt or wish to fix it deeply in the memory.
repetamus autem et retractemus, et ut cibos mansos ac prope liquefactos demittimus, quo facilius digerantur, ita lectio non cruda, sed multa iteratione mollita et velut confecta, memoriae imitationique tradatur.
Let us, however, repeat and review, and just as we swallow food that is chewed and almost liquefied, so that it may be more easily digested, so let reading, not raw, but softened and, as it were, digested by much repetition, be handed over to memory and imitation.
§10.1.20ac diu non nisi optimus quisque et qui credentem sibi minime fallat legendus est, sed diligenter ac paene ad scribendi sollicitudinem; nec per partes modo scrutanda omnia, sed perlectus liber utique ex integro resumendus, praecipueque oratio, cuius virtutes frequenter ex industria quoque occultantur.
And for a long time, only the very best author, and one who will least deceive the person trusting him, should be read, and that diligently and almost with the solicitude of writing; nor should all things be scrutinized only by parts, but the read book should by all means be taken up again from the beginning, and especially an oration, whose virtues are frequently also concealed on purpose.