§11.2.42difficiliora enim debent esse, quae exercent, quo sit levius ipsum illud, in quod exercent, ut athletae ponderibus plumbeis adsuefaciunt manus, quibus vacuis et nudis in certamine utendum est.
For those things which train us ought to be more difficult, so that that very thing for which they train us may be lighter, just as athletes accustom their hands to leaden weights, which must be used empty and bare in the contest.
non omittam etiam, quod cotidianis experimentis deprehenditur, minime fidelem esse paulo tardioribus ingeniis recentem memoriam.
Nor shall I omit also what is discovered by daily experiences, that the fresh memory is least reliable to talents that are a little slower.
§11.2.43mirum dictu est nec in promptu ratio, quantum nox interposita adferat firmitatis, sive requiescit labor ille, cuius sibi ipsa fatigatio obstabat, sive maturatur atque concoquitur, quae firmissima eius pars est, recordatio; quae statim referri non poterant, contexuntur postera die, confirmatque memoriam illud tempus, quod esse in causa solet oblivionis.
It is a wonder to say, nor is the reason ready at hand, how much firmness an intervening night brings, whether that labor rests, whose fatigue itself was standing in its own way, or whether recollection, which is its firmest part, is matured and digested; what could not be recalled immediately is woven together the next day, and that time, which is accustomed to be the cause of forgetfulness, strengthens the memory.
§11.2.44etiam illa praevelox fere cito effluit, et, velut praesenti officio functa nihil in posterum debeat, tanquam dimissa discedit.
Even that very rapid memory usually flows away quickly, and, as if having performed its present duty it owes nothing for the future, departs as if dismissed.
nec est mirum, magis haerere animo quae diutius adfixa sint.
Nor is it a wonder that those things stick more in the mind which have been fixed for a longer time.
ex hac ingeniorum diversitate nata dubitatio est, ad verbum sit ediscendum dicturis, an vim modo rerum atque ordinem complecti satis sit; de quo sine dubio non potest in universum pronuntiari.
From this diversity of talents arose the doubt whether those who are to speak should learn by heart word for word, or whether it is enough to grasp only the substance and the order of things; concerning which, without doubt, it cannot be pronounced universally.
§11.2.45nam si memoria suffragatur, tempus non defuit, nulla me velim syllaba effugiat; alioqui etiam scribere sit supervacuum.
For if memory assists and time was not lacking, I should wish that not a single syllable escape me; otherwise even to write would be superfluous.
idque praecipue a pueris obtinendum, atque in hanc consuetudinem memoria exercitatione redigenda, ne nobis discamus ignoscere.
And this must be obtained especially from boys, and the memory must be reduced to this habit by practice, lest we learn to excuse ourselves.
ideoque et admoneri et ad libellum respicere vitiosum, quod libertatem negligentiae facit, nec quisquam se parum tenere iudicat, quod, ne sibi excidat, non timet.
And therefore both to be prompted and to look back at the notebook is faulty, because it makes freedom for negligence, nor does anyone judge that he holds too little because he does not fear lest it slip away from him.
§11.2.46inde interruptus actionis impetus et resistens ac salebrosa oratio; et qui dicit ediscenti similis, etiam omnem bene scriptorum gratiam perdit vel hoc ipso, quod scripsisse se confitetur.
Thence arises the interrupted impulse of delivery and a halting and rough speech; and he who speaks like one learning by heart loses even all the grace of well-written things by this very fact, that he confesses that he wrote them.
memoria autem facit etiam prompti ingenii famam, ut illa, quae dicimus, non domo attulisse sed ibi protinus sumpsisse videamur; quod et oratori et ipsi causae plurimum confert.
Memory, however, also produces the reputation of a ready talent, so that we seem not to have brought from home those things which we speak, but to have taken them up right there; which contributes most both to the orator and to the case itself.
§11.2.47nam et magis miratur et minus timet iudex, quae non putat adversus se praeparata.
For the judge both wonders more and fears less what he does not think was prepared against him.
idque in actionibus inter praecipua servandum est, ut quaedam etiam, quae optime vinximus, velut soluta enuntiemus et cogitantibus nonnunquam et dubitantibus similes quaerere videamur quae attulimus.
And this must be observed in deliveries among the principal things, so that we may pronounce some things, even those which we have bound most excellently, as if loose, and seem sometimes like those thinking and doubting to seek those things which we have brought.
§11.2.48ergo quid sit optimum, neminem fugit.
Therefore what is best escapes no one.
si vero aut memoria natura durior erit aut non suffragabitur tempus, etiam inutile erit ad omnia se verba adligare, cum oblivio unius eorum cuiuslibet aut deformem haesitationem aut etiam silentium inducat, tutiusque multo comprehensis animo rebus ipsis libertatem sibi eloquendi relinquere.
But if either memory is by nature harder or time will not assist, it will even be useless to bind oneself to all words, since the forgetfulness of any single one of them brings on either a shameful hesitation or even silence, and it is much safer, after grasping the things themselves in the mind, to leave to oneself the freedom of speaking.
§11.2.49nam et invitus perdit quisque id quod elegerat verbum, nec facile reponit aliud, dum id, quod scripserat, quaerit.
For everyone loses unwillingly that word which he had chosen, nor does he easily replace it with another, while he seeks that which he had written.
sed ne hoc quidem infirmae memoriae remedium est nisi in iis, qui sibi facultatem aliquam dicendi ex tempore paraverunt.
But not even this is a remedy for a weak memory, except in those who have prepared for themselves some facility of speaking offhand.
quodsi cui utrumque defuerit, huic omittere omnino totum actionum laborem ac, si quid in litteris valet, ad scribendum potius suadebo convertere.
But if both are lacking to anyone, I shall advise him to omit entirely the whole labor of deliveries and, if he is of any worth in letters, to turn rather to writing.
sed haec rara infelicitas erit.
But this will be a rare unhappiness.
§11.2.50ceterum quantum natura studioque valeat memoria, vel Themistocles testis, quem unum intra annum optime locutum esse Persice constat; vel Mithridates, cui duas et viginti linguas, quot nationibus imperabat, traditur notas fuisse; vel Crassus ille Dives, qui, cum Asiae praeesset, quinque Graeci sermonis differentias sic tenuit ut, qua quisque apud eum lingua postulasset, eadem ius sibi redditum ferret; vel Cyrus, quem omnium militum tenuisse creditum est nomina.
For the rest, how much memory is worth by nature and study, even Themistocles is witness, who alone within a year is established to have spoken Persian excellently; or Mithridates, to whom twenty-two languages, as many as the nations he ruled, are handed down to have been known; or that Crassus the Rich, who, when he was in charge of Asia, held five differences of the Greek tongue so well that, in whatever tongue anyone had petitioned before him, he carried away justice rendered in the same; or Cyrus, who is believed to have held the names of all his soldiers.
§11.2.51quin semel auditos quamlibet multos versus protinus dicitur reddidisse Theodectes.
Indeed, Theodectes is said to have returned immediately however many verses he had heard but once.
dicebantur etiam nunc esse, qui facerent, sed mihi nunquam, ut ipse interessem, contigit; habenda tamen fides est vel in hoc ut, qui crediderit, et speret.
They were said even now to be those who did so, but it never happened to me that I myself was present; yet faith must be held even in this, so that he who believes may also hope.