§10.7.1Maximus vero studiorum fructus est et velut primus quoddam amplissimum longi laboris ex tempore dicendi facultas, quam qui non erit consecutus, mea quidem sententia civilibus officiis renuntiabit et solam scribendi facultatem potius ad alia opera convertet.
But the greatest fruit of studies, and as it were the first and most ample reward of long labor, is the faculty of speaking on the sudden, which if anyone does not attain, in my opinion he should renounce civil duties, and rather turn his faculty of writing alone to other works.
vix enim bonae fidei viro convenit auxilium in publicum polliceri, quod praesentissimis quibusque periculis desit, intrare portum ad quem navis accedere nisi lenibus ventis vecta non possit,
For it hardly becomes a man of good faith to promise assistance in public which is lacking in the most immediate dangers, or to enter a harbor to which a ship cannot approach unless carried by gentle winds.
§10.7.2siquidem innumerabiles accidunt subitae necessitates vel apud magistratus vel repraesentatis iudiciis continuo agendi.
Since innumerable sudden necessities occur, either before magistrates or in trials brought on immediately, of pleading without delay.
quarum si qua, non dico cuicunque innocentium civium sed amicorum ac propinquorum alicui evenerit, stabitne mutus et salutarem petentibus uocem statimque, si non succurratur, perituris, moras et secessum et silentium quaeret, dum illa verba fabricentur et memoriae insidant et vox ac latus praeparetur?
If any of these should happen, I do not say to any innocent citizen whatsoever, but to some one of his friends or relatives, will he stand there dumb, and, while those who beg for a saving voice and will perish immediately if help is not given, seek delays and retreat and silence, until those words are being fabricated and settling in his memory, and his voice and lungs are prepared?
§10.7.3quae vero patitur hoc ratio, ut quisquam possit orator omittere aliquando casus Quid, cum adversario respondendum erit, fiet? nam saepe ea, quae opinati sumus et contra quae scripsimus, fallunt, ac tota subito causa mutatur; atque ut gubernatori ad incursus tempestatum, sic agenti ad varietatem causarum ratio mutando est.
What reason indeed allows this, that any orator should be able to ignore sudden emergencies? What will happen when he must reply to an opponent? For often those things which we have expected and against which we have written deceive us, and the whole case is suddenly changed; and as a pilot must change his course at the inrush of storms, so must the pleader change his plan to suit the variety of cases.
§10.7.4quid porro multus stilus et adsidua lectio et longa studiorum aetas facit, si manet eadem quae fuit incipientibus difficultas? perisse profecto confitendum est praeteritum laborem, cui semper idem laborandum est.
Moreover, what does much writing, constant reading, and a long period of study achieve, if the same difficulty remains which existed for beginners? Indeed, it must be confessed that past labor has been lost for him who must always undergo the same labor.
neque ego hoc ago ut ex tempore dicere malit, sed ut possit.
Nor is this my object, that he should prefer to speak ex tempore, but that he should be able to.
id autem maxime hoc modo consequemur.
This, however, we shall attain chiefly in this way.
§10.7.5nota sit primum dicendi via.
First, let the path of speaking be well known.
neque enim prius contingere cursus potest quam scierimus, quo sit et qua perveniendum.
For running cannot happen before we know where and by what way we must arrive.
nec satis est non ignorare quae sunt causarum iudicialium partes, aut quaestionum ordinem recte disponere, quanquam ista sunt praecipua, sed quid quoque loco primum sit ac secundum et deinceps; quae ita sunt natura copulata, ut mutari aut intervelli sine confusione non possint.
Nor is it enough not to be ignorant of what the parts of judicial cases are, or to arrange the order of questions rightly, although those are principal things, but what is first, second, and so on in each place; which are so joined by nature that they cannot be changed or torn apart without confusion.
§10.7.6quisquis autem via dicet, ducetur ante omnia rerum ipsa serie velut duce; propter quod homines etiam modice exercitati facillime tenorem in narrationibus servant.
But whoever speaks by a path will be led above all by the very sequence of things as a guide; because of which, even moderately practiced men very easily keep the flow in narratives.
deinde, quid quoque loco quaerant, scient.
Next, they will know what they are seeking in each place.
nec circumspectabunt nec offerentibus se aliunde sensibus turbabuntur nec confundent ex diversis orationem velut salientes huc illuc nec usquam insistentes.
Nor will they look around, nor be disturbed by thoughts presenting themselves from elsewhere, nor confuse their speech from diverse elements, as if leaping hither and thither and standing nowhere.
§10.7.7postremo habebunt modum et fine, qui esse citra divisionem nullus potest.
Finally they will have a limit and end, which can be none without division.
expletis pro facultate omnibus quae proposuerint, pervenisse se ad ultimum sentient.
Having filled, according to their ability, all things which they proposed, they will feel that they have arrived at the end.
et haec quidem ex arte, illa vero ex studio: ut copiam sermonis optimi, quemadmodum praeceptum est, comparemus: multo ac fideli stilo sic formetur oratio, ut scriptorum colorem etiam quae subito effusa sint reddant, ut, cum multa scripserimus, etiam multa dicamus.
And these things indeed are from art, but those from study: that we acquire an abundance of the best speech, as has been taught; let our speech be so formed by much and faithful writing, that even those things which are suddenly poured out may return the color of written works, so that when we have written much, we may also speak much.
§10.7.8nam consuetudo et exercitatio facilitatem maxime parit; quae si paulum intermissa fuerit, non velocitas illa modo tardatur, sed ipsum os coit atque concurrit.
For habit and practice chiefly produce facility; which if it is interrupted for a little, not only is that speed slowed down, but the mouth itself closes up and runs together.
quanquam enim opus est naturali quadam mobilitate animi ut, dum proxima dicimus, struere ulteriora possimus semperque nostram vocem provisa et formata cogitatio excipiat, §10.7.9vix tamen aut natura aut ratio in tam multiplex officium diducere animum queat, ut inventioni, dispositioni, elocutioni, ordini rerum verborumque, tum iis, quae dicit, quae subiuncturus est, quae ultra spectanda sunt, adhibita vocis, pronuntiationis, gestus observatione, una sufficiat.
For although there is need of a certain natural quickness of mind, so that while we are speaking the immediate things, we can construct the further ones, and a foreseen and formed reflection may always receive our voice, yet hardly can nature or method so divide the mind into so manifold a duty, that it should be sufficient at once for invention, arrangement, expression, the order of things and words, then to those things which it is saying, which it is about to subjoin, which are to be looked at beyond, while applying the observation of voice, pronunciation, and gesture.
§10.7.10longe enim praecedat oportet intentio ac prae se res agat, quantumque dicendo consumitur, tantum ex ultimo prorogetur; ut, donec perveniamus ad finem, non minus prospectu procedamus quam gradu, si non intersistentes offensantesque brevia illa atque concisa singultantium modo eiecturi sumus.
For attention must precede far ahead and drive the matter before itself, and as much as is consumed by speaking, so much must be extended from the end; so that, until we arrive at the end, we may proceed no less by outlook than by step, if we are not, stopping and stumbling, about to eject those brief and concise things in the manner of sobbing people.
§10.7.11est igitur usus quidam irrationalis, quem Graeci ἄλογον τριβήν vocant, qua manus in scribendo decurrit, qua oculi totos simul in lectione versus flexusque eorum et transitus intuentur, et ante sequentia vident quam priora dixerunt.
There is therefore a certain irrational practice, which the Greeks call ἄλογον τριβήν, by which the hand runs along in writing, by which the eyes in reading look at whole lines together, and their turns and transitions, and see the following things before they have spoken the prior ones.
quo constant miracula illa in scenis pilariorum ac ventilatorum, ut ea quae emiserint ultro venire in manus credas et qua iubentur decurrere.
By which consist those wonders in the scenes of ball-players and jugglers, so that you would believe that those things which they have thrown out come into their hands of their own accord and run down where they are bidden.