§2.3.1ne illorum quidem persuasio silentio transeunda est, qui, etiam cum idoneos rhetori pueros putaverunt, non tamen continuo tradendos eminentissimo credunt, sed apud minores aliquamdiu detinent, tanquam instituendis artibus magis sit apta mediocritas praeceptoris, cum ad intellectum atque ad imitationem facilior tum ad suscipiendas elementorum molestias minus superba. §2.3.2qua in re mihi non arbitror diu laborandum, ut ostendam, quanto sit melius optimis imbui, quanta in eluendis quae semel insederint vitiis difficultas consequatur, cum geminatum onus succedentes premat et quidem edocendi gravius ac prius quam docendi. §2.3.3propter quod Timotheum clarum in arte tibiarum ferunt duplices ab iis, quos alius instituisset, solitum exigere mercedes, quam si rudes traderentur.
Not even the belief of those must be passed over in silence, who, even when they have thought the boys fit for a rhetorician, do not however believe that they should be immediately handed over to the most eminent teacher, but retain them for some time with lesser teachers, as if the mediocrity of a teacher were more fit for instructing in the arts, being both easier for understanding and imitation and less proud for undertaking the troubles of the elements. In which matter I do not think I must labor long to show how much better it is to be imbued with the best, and how great a difficulty follows in washing away the vices that have once settled in, since a double burden presses upon the succeeding teachers, and indeed that of unteaching, which is heavier and prior than teaching. For which reason they say that Timotheus, famous in the art of the flute, was accustomed to demand double fees from those whom another had instructed, than if they were handed over raw.
error tamen est in re duplex: unus, quod interim sufficere illos minores existimant, et bono sane stomacho contenti sunt; §2.3.4quae quanquam est ipsa reprehensione digna securitas, tamen esset utcunque tolerabilis, si eiusmodi praeceptores minus docerent non peius; alter ille etiam frequentior, quod eos, qui ampliorem dicendi facultatem sint consecuti, non putant ad minora descendere, idque interim fieri, quia fastidiant praestare hanc inferioribus curam, §2.3.5interim quia omnino non possint.
Yet there is a double error in this matter: one, that they think those lesser teachers are sufficient for the meantime, and are content with a quite easy-going attitude; which complacency, although itself worthy of reprehension, would yet be somehow tolerable if teachers of that kind taught less, not worse; the other, which is even more common, that they do not think those who have attained a more ample capacity of speaking descend to lesser things, and that this happens sometimes because they disdain to offer this care to inferior students, sometimes because they cannot do so at all.
ego porro eum qui nolit in numero praecipientium non habeo, posse autem maxime, si velit, optimum quemque contendo; primum, quod eum, qui eloquentia ceteris praestet, illa quoque, per quae ad eloquentiam pervenitur, diligentissime percepisse credibile est; §2.3.6deinde, quia plurimum in praecipiendo valet ratio, quae doctissimo cuique plenissima est; postremo, quia nemo sic in maioribus eminet, ut eum minora deficiant.
I, furthermore, do not hold him who is unwilling in the number of teachers, but I contend that every best teacher is highly able, if he wishes; first, because it is credible that he who surpasses others in eloquence has also most diligently grasped those things through which one arrives at eloquence; secondly, because method has the greatest power in teaching, which is most complete in every most learned man; lastly, because no one stands out in greater things in such a way that lesser things fail him.
nisi forte Iovem quidem Phidias optime fecit, illa autem, quae in ornamentum operis eius accedunt, alius melius elaborasset, aut orator loqui nesciet aut leviores morbos curare non poterit praestantissimus medicus.
Unless perhaps Phidias indeed made Jupiter excellently, but another would have worked out better those things which are added for the decoration of his work, or an orator will not know how to speak, or the most excellent physician will not be able to cure lighter diseases. What then?
§2.3.7quid ergo? non est quaedam eloquentia maior quam ut eam intellectu consequi puerilis infirmitas possit? ego vero confiteor: sed hunc disertum praeceptorem prudentem quoque et non ignarum docendi esse oportebit summittentem se ad mensuram discentis; ut velocissimus quoque, si forte iter cum parvulo faciat, det manum et gradum suum minuat nec procedat ultra quam comes possit.
Is there not a certain eloquence too great for childish weakness to follow with understanding? I indeed confess it; but it will be necessary that this eloquent teacher be also wise and not ignorant of teaching, lowering himself to the measure of the learner; just as the swiftest man also, if perchance he should make a journey with a little child, gives his hand and shortens his pace, nor proceeds further than his companion is able. What?
§2.3.8quid? si plerumque accidit ut faciliora sint ad intelligendum et lucidiora multo, quae a doctissimo quoque dicuntur? nam et prima est eloquentiae virtus perspicuitas, et quo quis ingenio minus valet, hoc se magis attollere et dilatare conatur, ut statura breves in digitos eriguntur et plura infirmi minantur. §2.3.9nam tumidos et corruptos et tinnulos et quocunque alio cacozeliae genere peccantes certum habeo non virium sed infirmitatis vitio laborare, ut corpora non robore sed valetudine inflantur et recto itinere lassi plerumque devertunt. erit ergo etiam obscurior, quo quisque deterior.
If it often happens that those things which are said by every most learned man are much easier to understand and much clearer? For clarity is the primary virtue of eloquence, and by how much less anyone is strong in talent, by so much more he endeavors to raise and expand himself, just as those short in stature raise themselves onto their toes and the weak threaten more things. For I hold for certain that those who are turgid, corrupt, jingling, and offending in any other kind of bad taste suffer from the defect not of strength but of weakness, just as bodies are swollen not by strength but by disease, and those weary of the straight path usually turn aside.
§2.3.10non excidit mihi, scripsisse me in libro priore, cum potiorem in scholis eruditionem esse quam domi dicerem, libentius se prima studia tenerosque profectus ad imitationem condiscipulorum, quae facilior esset, erigere; quod a quibusdam sic accipi potest, tanquam haec, quam nunc tueor, §2.3.11sententia priori diversa sit.
Therefore, each one will be the more obscure, the worse he is. It has not escaped me that I wrote in the previous book, when I said that education in schools is preferable to that at home, that initial studies and tender progress more willingly raise themselves to the imitation of fellow students, which is easier; which can be so received by some as if this opinion, which I now defend, were different from the former.
id a me procul aberit; namque ea causa vel maxima est, cur optimo cuique praeceptori sit tradendus puer, quod apud eum discipuli quoque melius instituti aut dicent, quod inutile non sit imitari, aut si quid erraverint, statim corrigentur; §2.3.12at indoctus ille etiam probabit fortasse vitiosa et placere audientibus iudicio suo coget.
That is far from me; for that is indeed the greatest cause why a boy should be handed over to every best teacher, because with him, the disciples also, being better instructed, will either speak what is not useless to imitate, or if they make any mistake, they will be corrected immediately; whereas that unlearned teacher will perhaps even approve faulty things and compel them to please the hearers by his own judgment.
sit ergo tam eloquentia quam moribus praestantissimus, qui ad Phoenicis Homerici exemplum dicere ac facere doceat.
Let him, therefore, be most excellent both in eloquence and in character, who, after the example of the Homeric Phoenix, teaches to speak and to act.