§11.2.1memoriam quidam naturae modo esse munus existimaverunt, estque in ea non dubie plurimum, sed ipsa excolendo sicut alia omnia augetur; et totus, de quo diximus adhuc, inanis est labor, nisi ceterae partes hoc velut spiritu continentur.
Some have thought that memory is merely a gift of nature, and there is undoubtedly very much in it, but it is increased by cultivation just like all other things; and all the labor of which we have spoken so far is in vain, unless the other parts are held together by this, as it were, spirit.
nam et omnis disciplina memoria constat, frustraque docemur, si quidquid audimus praeterfluat; et exemplorum, legum, responsorum, dictorum denique factorumque velut quasdam copias, quibus abundare quasque in promptu semper habere debet orator, eadem illa vis praesentat.
For all discipline consists of memory, and we are taught in vain if whatever we hear flows away; and that same force presents, as it were, certain supplies of examples, laws, responses, and finally sayings and deeds, with which an orator must abound and which he must always have ready at hand.
neque immerito thesaurus hic eloquentiae dicitur.
Nor is this undeservedly called the treasury of eloquence.
§11.2.2sed non firme tantum continere, verum etiam cito percipere multa acturos oportet, nec quae scripseris modo iterata lectione complecti, sed in cogitatis quoque rerum ac verborum contextum sequi, et quae sint ab adversa parte dicta meminisse, nec utique ea, quo dicta sunt ordine, refutare, sed opportunis locis ponere.
But it is necessary for those who are to do many things not only to hold firmly, but also to perceive quickly, and not only to embrace what you have written by repeated reading, but also in thought to follow the context of things and words, and to remember what has been said by the opposing party, and not by all means to refute them in the order in which they were said, but to place them in convenient locations.
§11.2.3quid? extemporalis oratio non alio mihi videtur mentis vigore constare.
What? Extemporaneous speech seems to me to consist of no other vigor of mind.
nam dum alia dicimus, quae dicturi sumus intuenda sunt.
For while we are saying some things, those which we are about to say must be looked forward to.
ita, cum semper cogitatio ultra eat, id quod est longius quaerit, quidquid autem repperit quodam modo apud memoriam deponit; quod illa quasi media quaedam manus acceptum ab inventione tradit elocutioni.
Thus, since thought always goes beyond, it seeks that which is further, and whatever it finds, it deposits in some way in the memory; which, like a certain middle hand, hands over what is received from invention to elocution.
§11.2.4non arbitror autem mihi in hoc immorandum, quid sit quod memoriam faciat, quanquam plerique imprimi quaedam vestigia animo, velut in ceris anulorum signa serventur, existimant.
But I do not think I should dwell on this, what it is that makes memory, although most people think that certain impressions are imprinted on the mind, as the marks of rings are preserved in wax.
neque ero tam credulus, ut, qui habitu tardiorem firmioremque memoriam fieri videam, ei artem quoque audeam impertire.
Nor shall I be so credulous as to dare to impart an art also to that memory which I see, by natural disposition, becomes slower and firmer.
§11.2.5magis admirari naturam subit, tot res vetustas tanto ex intervallo repetitas reddere se et offerre, nec tantum requirentibus sed etiam sponte interim, nec vigilantibus sed etiam quiete compositis: §11.2.6eo magis, quod illa quoque animalia, quae carere intellectu videntur, meminerunt et agnoscunt et quamlibet longo itinere deducta ad adsuetas sibi sedes revertuntur.
Rather, it occurs to wonder at nature, that so many old things, recalled after so great an interval, return and offer themselves, not only to those who seek them, but also sometimes spontaneously, and not only to those who are awake, but also to those composed in quiet: so much the more, because those animals also, which seem to lack intellect, remember and recognize and, however long the journey after they are taken away, return to their accustomed dwellings.
quid? non haec varietas mira est, excidere proxima, vetera inhaerere? hesternorum immemores acta pueritiae recordari?
What? Is not this variety wonderful, that the nearest things slip away, while the old cling? That, forgetful of yesterday's things, we record the deeds of childhood?
§11.2.7quid quod quaedam requisita se occultant et eadem forte succurrunt? nec manet semper memoria, sed aliquando etiam redit? nesciretur tamen, quanta vis esset eius, quanta divinitas illa, nisi in hoc lumen vim orandi extulisset. non
What of the fact that certain things sought hide themselves, and the same by chance occur? Nor does memory always remain, but sometimes also returns? Yet it would not be known how great its force was, how great that divinity, unless the power of speaking had brought light into this.
§11.2.8enim rerum modo sed etiam verborum ordinem praestat, nec ea pauca contexit, sed durat prope in infinitum, et in longissimis actionibus prius audiendi patientia quam memoriae fides deficit.
For it presents the order not only of things but also of words, nor does it connect few of them, but endures almost to infinity, and in the longest actions the patience of hearing fails before the fidelity of memory.
§11.2.9quod et ipsum argumentum est subesse artem aliquam iuvarique ratione naturae, cum idem docti facere illud, indocti inexercitatique non possimus.
Which is itself a proof that some art underlies and that nature is helped by reason, since as the same learned we can do that, which unlearned and untrained we cannot.
quanquam invenio apud Platonem obstare memoriae usum litterarum, videlicet quoniam illa, quae scriptis reposuimus, §11.2.10velut custodire desinimus et ipsa securitate dimittimus.
Although I find in Plato that the use of letters is an obstacle to memory, namely because those things which we have deposited in writings, we cease, as it were, to guard, and let go through that very security.
nec dubium est quin plurimum in hac parte valeat mentis intentio et velut acies luminum a prospectu rerum, quas intuetur, non aversa.
Nor is there any doubt that the intention of the mind, and as it were the sharp edge of the eyes not turned away from the prospect of things which it behoves to gaze upon, has the greatest power in this part.
unde accidit, ut quae per plures dies scribimus ediscendi causa, cogitatione ipsa contineamus.
Whence it happens that those things which we write for several days for the sake of learning by heart, we retain by the thought itself.
§11.2.11artem autem memoriae primus ostendisse dicitur Simonides.
But Simonides is said to have first shown the art of memory.
cuius vulgata fabula est: cum pugili coronato carmen, quale componi victoribus solet, mercede pacta scripsisset, abnegatam ei pecuniae partem, quod more poetis frequentissimo digressus in laudes Castoris ac Pollucis exierat.
Whose common story is this: when he had written for a crowned boxer a poem, such as is accustomed to be composed for victors, for a bargained fee, a part of the money was denied to him, because, by a custom very frequent for poets, he had digressed into the praises of Castor and Pollux.
quapropter partem ab iis petere, quorum facta celebrasset, iubebatur.
Wherefore he was ordered to seek that part from those whose deeds he had celebrated.
§11.2.12et persolverunt, ut traditum est.
And they paid it, as it is handed down.
nam cum esset grande convivium in honorem eiusdem victoriae atque adhibitus ei cenae Simonides, nuntio est excitus, quod eum duo iuvenes equis advecti desiderare maiorem in modum dicebantur.
For when there was a great banquet in honor of the same victory, and Simonides was admitted to that dinner, he was summoned out by a message, because two young men who had arrived on horses were said to desire him in the greatest degree.
et illos quidem non invenit, fuisse tamen gratos erga se deos exitu comperit.
And those indeed he did not find, but he found by the outcome that the gods had been grateful toward him.