§2.4.11quod etiam rusticis notum est, qui frondibus teneris non putant adhibendam esse falcem, quia reformidare ferrum videntur et nondum cicatricem pati posse.
This is known even to husbandmen, who do not think that the sickle should be applied to tender shoots, because they seem to dread the iron and to be not yet able to bear a scar.
§2.4.12iucundus ergo tum maxime debet esse praeceptor, ut remedia, quae alioqui natura sunt aspera, molli manu leniantur; laudare aliqua, ferre quaedam, mutare etiam, reddita cur id fiat ratione, illuminare interponendo aliquid sui.
Therefore, the teacher should then be especially agreeable, so that remedies, which otherwise are harsh by nature, may be softened by a gentle hand; he should praise some parts, tolerate others, and alter some, giving a reason why it is done, and illuminate them by interposing something of his own.
nonnunquam hoc quoque erit utile, ipsum totas dictare materias, quas et imitetur puer et interim tanquam suas amet.
Sometimes this also will be useful, to dictate whole materials himself, which the boy may both imitate and in the meantime love as if they were his own.
§2.4.13at si tam negligens ei stilus fuerit, ut emendationem non recipiat; expertus sum prodesse, quotiens eandem materiam rursus a me tractatam scribere de integro iuberem; posse enim adhuc eum melius, quatenus nullo magis studia quam spe gaudent.
But if his style is so negligent that it does not admit of correction, I have found by experience that it is useful as often as I ordered him to write from the beginning the same material treated again by me; for he is still able to do better, since studies rejoice in nothing more than in hope.
§2.4.14aliter autem alia aetas emendanda est, et pro modo virium et exigendum et corrigendum opus.
But one age is to be corrected in one way, and another in another, and the work must be both demanded and corrected according to the measure of their strength.
solebam ego dicere pueris aliquid ausis licentius aut laetius, laudare illud me adhuc, venturum tempus, quo idem non permitterem; ita et ingenio gaudebant et iudicio non fallebantur.
I was accustomed to say to boys who had ventured on something rather free or exuberant, that I praised it for the present, but that a time would come when I would not permit the same; thus they both rejoiced in their talent and were not deceived in their judgment.
§2.4.15sed ut eo revertar, unde sum digressus: narrationes stilo componi quanta maxima possit adhibita diligentia volo.
But to return to the point from which I digressed: I wish narratives to be composed with the pen, with the greatest possible diligence applied.
nam ut primo, cum sermo instituitur, dicere quae audierint utile est pueris ad loquendi facultatem, ideoque et retro agere expositionem et a media in utramque partem discurrere sane merito cogantur, sed ad gremium praeceptoris, et dum aliud non possunt et dum res ac verba connectere incipiunt, ut protinus memoriam firment: ita cum iam formam rectae atque emendatae orationis accipient, extemporalis garrulitas nec exspectata cogitatio et vix surgendi mora circulatoriae vere iactationis est.
For as at first, when speech is being formed, it is useful for boys to say what they have heard in order to acquire the faculty of speaking, and therefore they may indeed with good reason be compelled both to tell the story backward and to run from the middle to either end—but this at the knee of the teacher, and while they can do nothing else and while they begin to connect things and words, so that they may immediately strengthen their memory—so when they now receive the form of correct and corrected speech, extemporaneous loquacity and unconsidered thought, with scarcely the delay of standing up, belongs to truly mountebank ostentation.
§2.4.16hinc parentium imperitorum inane gaudium, ipsis vero contemptus operis et inverecunda frons et consuetudo pessime dicendi et malorum exercitatio et, quae magnos quoque profectus frequenter perdidit, arrogans de se persuasio innascitur.
From this arises the empty joy of ignorant parents, but in the boys themselves contempt for work, a shameless brow, a habit of speaking very badly, the practice of faults, and—what has frequently ruined even great progress—an arrogant self-confidence.
§2.4.17erit suum parandae facilitati tempus, nec a nobis negligenter locus iste transibitur.
There will be a proper time for acquiring readiness of speech, nor will that topic be passed over by us carelessly.
interim satis est, si puer omni cura et summo, quantum illa aetas capit, labore aliquid probabile scripserit; in hoc assuescat, huius sibi rei naturam faciat.
In the meantime, it is enough if the boy, with all care and the greatest labor that that age can receive, writes something commendable; let him accustom himself to this, and make this habit his nature.
ille demum in id, quod quaerimus, aut ei proximum poterit evadere, qui ante discet recte dicere quam cito.
He alone will at length be able to turn out to be what we seek, or very near to it, who learns to speak correctly before he learns to speak quickly.
§2.4.18narrationibus non inutiliter subiungitur opus destruendi confirmandique eas, quod ἀνασκευή et κατασκευή vocatur.
To narratives is not uselessly subjoined the task of refuting and confirming them, which is called anaskeue and kataskeue.
id porro non tantum in fabulosis et carmine traditis fieri potest, verum etiam in ipsis annalium monumentis; ut, si quaeratur, an sit credibile super caput Valeri pugnantis sedisse corvum, qui os oculosque hostis Galli rostro atque alis everberaret, sit in utramque partem ingens ad dicendum materia; §2.4.19aut de serpente, quo Scipio traditur genitus, et lupa Romuli et Egeria Numae.
Furthermore, this can be done not only in things handed down in fables and poetry, but even in the very monuments of annals; as, if it should be inquired whether it is credible that a raven sat upon the head of Valerius as he fought, to strike the face and eyes of the Gallic enemy with its beak and wings, there would be vast matter for speaking on either side; or concerning the serpent from which Scipio is said to have been begotten, and the she-wolf of Romulus, and the Egeria of Numa.
nam Graecis historiis plerumque poeticae similis licentia est.
For in Greek histories there is for the most part a license similar to poetry.
Saepe etiam quaeri solet de tempore, de loco quo gesta res dicitur, nonnunquam de persona quoque; sicut Livius frequentissime dubitat, et alii ab aliis historici dissentiunt.
Often also inquiry is wont to be made concerning the time, concerning the place in which a deed is said to have been done, and sometimes even concerning the person; just as Livy very frequently doubts, and historians dissent from one another.
§2.4.20inde paulatim ad maiora tendere incipiet, laudare claros viros et vituperare improbos, quod non simplicis utilitatis opus est.
From there he will begin by degrees to advance to greater things, to praise famous men and to censure the wicked, which is a task of no single utility.
namque et ingenium exercetur multiplici variaque materia, et animus contemplatione recti pravique formatur, et multa inde cognitio rerum venit exemplisque, quae sunt in omni genere causarum potentissima, iam tum instruit, cum res poscet, usurum.
For both the talent is exercised by manifold and varied material, and the mind is formed by the contemplation of right and wrong, and much knowledge of things comes from there, and he already equips himself with examples, which are most powerful in every kind of cause, to be used when the occasion demands.