§2.5.13neque solum haec ipse debebit docere praeceptor sed frequenter interrogare et iudicium discipulorum experiri.
And the preceptor will have to not only teach these things himself, but also to ask questions frequently and test the judgment of his pupils.
sic audientibus securitas aberit nec quae dicentur superfluent aures, simulque ad id perducentur, quod ex hoc quaeritur, ut inveniant ipsi et intelligant.
In this way, carelessness will be absent from those who listen, nor will what is said overflow their ears, and at the same time they will be led to that which is sought from this: that they themselves may find out and understand.
nam quid aliud agimus docendo eos, quam ne semper docendi sint?
For what else do we do by teaching them, than that they should not always have to be taught?
§2.5.14hoc diligentiae genus ausim dicere plus collaturum discentibus quam omnes omnium artes, quae iuvant sine dubio multum; sed latiore quadam comprehensione per omnes quidem species rerum cotidie paene nascentium ire qui possunt?
I would venture to say that this kind of diligence will contribute more to learners than all the textbooks of all men, which without doubt help much; but by a certain wider comprehension, how can they go through all the species of things that are born almost daily?
§2.5.15sicut de re militari, quanquam sunt tradita quaedam praecepta communia, magis tamen proderit scire, qua ducum quisque ratione, in quali re, tempore, loco sit sapienter usus aut contra.
Just as concerning military affairs, although certain common precepts have been handed down, it will nevertheless be more useful to know by what plan, in what kind of situation, time, and place, each of the leaders used wisdom or the contrary.
nam in omnibus fere minus valent praecepta quam experimenta.
For in almost all things, precepts have less force than experience.
§2.5.16an vero declamabit quidem praeceptor, ut sit exemplo suis auditoribus;
Or indeed, while the preceptor will declaim in order to be an example to his listeners, will not Cicero or Demosthenes, when read, contribute more?
non plus contulerint lecti Cicero aut Demosthenes? corrigetur palam, si quid in declamando discipulus erraverit; non potentius erit emendare orationem, quin immo etiam iucundius? aliena enim vitia reprehendi quisque mavult quam sua.
A pupil will be corrected openly if he errs in anything while declaiming; but will it not be more powerful to correct a speech, or rather even more pleasant? For everyone prefers that the faults of others be blamed rather than their own.
§2.5.17nec deerant plura, quae dicerem; sed neminem haec utilitas fugit, atque utinam tam non pigeat facere istud quam non displicebit.
Nor were there lacking more things for me to say; but this utility escapes no one, and would that it were as little irksome to do that as it will not be displeasing.
§2.5.18quod si potuerit obtineri, non ita difficilis supererit quaestio, qui legendi sint incipientibus.
But if this can be obtained, there will not remain so difficult a question as to who are to be read by beginners.
nam quidam illos minores, quia facilior intellectus videbatur, probaverunt; alii floridius genus, ut ad alenda primarum aetatum ingenia magis accommodatum.
For some have approved of those minor authors, because their understanding seemed easier; others a more florid style, as more suited to nourishing the talents of early ages.
§2.5.19ego optimos quidem et statim et semper sed tamen eorum candidissimum quemque et maxime expositum velim, ut Livium a pueris magis quam Sallustium, etsi hic historiae maior est auctor, §2.5.20ad quem tamen intelligendum iam profectu opus sit.
For my part, I would wish for the best both immediately and always, but yet the clearest and most accessible of them, such as Livy for boys rather than Sallust, although the latter is a greater authority of history, for understanding whom, however, there is already need of progress.
Cicero, ut mihi quidem videtur, et iucundus incipientibus quoque et apertus est satis, nec prodesse tantum sed etiam amari potest, tum (quemadmodum Livius praecipit) ut quisque erit Ciceroni simillimus.
Cicero, as it indeed seems to me, is both pleasant even to beginners and sufficiently clear, and can not only be useful but also loved, and then (just as Livy prescribes) according as each shall be most similar to Cicero.
§2.5.21duo autem genera maxime cavenda pueris puto: unum, ne quis eos antiquitatis nimius admirator in Gracchorum Catonisque et aliorum similium lectione durescere velit; fient enim horridi atque ieiuni; nam neque vim eorum adhuc intellectu consequentur et elocutione, quae tum sine dubio erat optima, sed nostris temporibus aliena est, contenti, quod est pessimum,
But I think two kinds must be especially avoided by boys: one, lest anyone, too great an admirer of antiquity, should wish them to harden in the reading of the Gracchi, Cato, and others like them; for they will become rough and dry; since they will not yet grasp their force by understanding, and being content with their expression, which then without doubt was best but is foreign to our times, which is worst, they will seem to themselves similar to great men.
§2.5.22similes sibi magnis viris videbuntur Alterum, quod huic diversum est, ne recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti voluptate prava deleniantur, ut praedulce illud genus et puerilibus ingeniis hoc gratius, quo propius est, adament.
The other, which is different from this, is lest, captured by the flowery ornaments of this recent wantonness, they should be enticed by depraved pleasure, so that they love that excessively sweet style, which is more pleasing to boyish talents the closer it is.
§2.5.23firmis autem iudiciis iamque extra periculum positis suaserim et antiquos legere, ex quibus si assumatur solida ac virilis ingenii vis, deterso rudis saeculi squalore, tum noster hic cultus clarius enitescet, et novos, §2.5.24quibus et ipsis multa virtus adest.
But to those with firm judgments and already placed outside danger, I would advise reading also the ancients, from whom if the solid and manly force of talent is assumed, after the filth of a rude age has been wiped away, then this polish of ours will shine more brightly; and also the moderns, in whom themselves also much virtue is present.
neque enim nos tarditatis natura damnavit, sed dicendi mutavimus genus et ultra nobis quam oportebat indulsimus; ita non tam ingenio illi nos superarunt quam proposito.
For nature has not condemned us to dullness, but we have changed our style of speaking and indulged ourselves more than we ought; thus they surpassed us not so much in talent as in purpose.
§2.5.25multa ergo licebit eligere; sed curandum erit, ne iis, quibus permixta sunt, inquinentur.
Therefore, it will be permitted to choose many things; but care must be taken lest they be contaminated by those things with which they are mixed.
quosdam vero etiam, quos totos imitari oporteat, et fuisse nuper et nunc esse, §2.5.26quidni libenter non modo concesserim, verum etiam contenderim? sed hi qui sint, non cuiuscunque est pronuntiare.
But that there both were recently and are now certain writers whom one ought to imitate entirely, why should I not gladly not only grant but even contend? But who these are is not for just anyone to declare.
tutius circa priores vel erratur, ideoque hanc novorum distuli lectionem, ne imitatio iudicium antecederet.
It is safer to err concerning the former, and therefore I have deferred this reading of the moderns, lest imitation should precede judgment.