§8.2.14plus tamen est obscuritatis in contextu et continuatione sermonis et plures modi.
Yet there is more obscurity in the context and connection of speech, and in more ways.
quare nec sit tam longus, ut eum prosequi non possit intentio, nec traiectione vel ultra modum hyperbato finis eius differatur.
Therefore, let it not be so long that the attention cannot follow it, nor let its end be deferred by transposition or by hyperbaton beyond measure.
quibus adhuc peior est mixtura verborum, qualis in illo versu. "
saxa vacant Itali, mediis quae in fluctibus, aras.
Even worse than these is the mixing of words, such as in that verse: "saxa vacant Itali, mediis quae in fluctibus, aras.
" §8.2.15etiam interiectione (qua et oratores et historici frequenter utuntur, ut medio sermone aliquem inserant sensum) impediri solet intellectus, nisi quod interponitur breve est.
"Understanding is also accustomed to be hindered by interposition (which both orators and historians frequently use, so that they may insert some meaning in the middle of their speech), unless what is interposed is brief.
nam Vergilius illo loco, quo pullum equinum describit, cum dixisset,
"
nec vanos horret strepitus,
"
compluribus insertis alia figura quinto demum versu redit,
"
tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere,
stare loco nescit.
For Virgil in that passage where he describes a colt, when he had said: "nec vanos horret strepitus, "with several things inserted in another figure, returns only in the fifth verse: "tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere, stare loco nescit.
"
Vitanda in primis ambiguitas, §8.2.16non haec solum, de cuius genere supra dictum est, quae incertum intellectum facit, ut Chremetem audivi percussisse Demean, sed illa quoque, quae, etiamsi turbare non potest sensum, in idem tamen verborum vitium incidit, ut si quis dicat, visum a se hominem libram scribentem. nam etiamsi librum ab homine scribi patet, male tamen composuerit feceritque ambiguum, quantum in ipso fuit.
"Ambiguity is to be avoided above all, not only this one, of whose kind has been spoken above, which makes the understanding uncertain, such as "I heard that Chremes struck Demea," but also that other, which, although it cannot disturb the sense, nevertheless falls into the same fault of words, as if someone should say that "he saw a man writing a balance." For although it is clear that a book is written by a man, he has nevertheless put it together badly and made it ambiguous, as far as was in his power.
§8.2.17est etiam in quibusdam turba inanium verborum, qui, dum communem loquendi more reformidant, ducti specie nitoris circumeunt omnia copiosa loquacitate, eo quod dicere nolunt ipsa; deinde illam seriem cum alia simili iungentes miscentesque, ultra quam ullus spiritus durare possit, extendunt.
There is also in some a crowd of empty words, who, while they dread the common manner of speaking, led by the appearance of elegance, go around everything with a copious loquacity, because they do not wish to say the things themselves; then, joining and mixing that series with another similar one, they extend it beyond what any breath can endure.
§8.2.18in hoc malum a quibusdam etiam laboratur; neque id novum vitium est, cum iam apud Titum Livium inveniam fuisse praeceptorem aliquem, qui discipulos obscurare quae dicerent iuberet, Graeco verbo utens σκότισον.
Some even labor at this evil; nor is this a new fault, since I find already in Titus Livius that there was a certain teacher who ordered his pupils to obscure what they said, using the Greek word σκότισον.
unde illa scilicet egregia laudatio: tanto melior; §8.2.19ne ego quidem intellexi. alii brevitatem aemulati necessaria quoque orationi subtrahunt verba et, velut satis sit scire ipsos quid dicere velint, quantum ad alios pertineat, nihil putant.
Whence, of course, that excellent praise: "So much the better; even I did not understand." Others, emulating brevity, subtract even necessary words from their speech, and, as if it were enough that they themselves know what they want to say, think nothing of how far it concerns others.
at ego otiosum sermonem dixerim, quem auditor suo ingenio intelligit.
But I would call that a lazy speech which the hearer understands by his own ingenuity.
quidam, emutatis in perversum dicendi figuris, idem vitium consequuntur.
Some, by changing the figures of speech to the perverse, attain the same fault.
§8.2.20pessima vero sunt ἀδιανόητα, hoc est, quae verbis aperta occultos sensus habent, ut cum dictus est caecus secundum viam stare, et, qui suos artus morsu lacerasset, fingitur in scholis supra se cubasse. §8.2.21ingeniosa haec et fortia et ex ancipiti diserta creduntur, pervasitque iam multos ista persuasio, ut id iam demum eleganter atque exquisite dictum putent, quod interpretandum sit.
But the worst are the ἀδιανόητα, that is, things which, while open in words, have hidden meanings, as when a blind man is said "to stand according to the road," and he who had torn his own limbs with his teeth is imagined in the schools "to have lain above himself." These are believed to be ingenious, strong, and eloquent from ambiguity, and that persuasion has already pervaded many, so that they think that only then has something been elegantly and exquisitely spoken when it has to be interpreted.
sed auditoribus etiam nonnullis grata sunt haec, quae cum intellexerunt acumine suo delectantur et gaudent, non quasi audierint sed quasi invenerint.
But these are pleasing also to some hearers, who, when they have understood them, are delighted and rejoice in their own acumen, not as if they had heard it, but as if they had found it.
§8.2.22nobis prima sit virtus perspicuitas, propria verba, rectus ordo, non in longum dilata conclusio, nihil neque desit neque superfluat: ita sermo et doctis probabilis et planus imperitis erit.
For us, let perspicuity be the first virtue, proper words, correct order, a conclusion not deferred to length, and let nothing be lacking nor superfluous: thus speech will be approved by the learned and plain to the unlearned.
haec eloquendi observatio.
This is the observation of speaking.
nam rerum perspicuitas quo modo praestanda sit, diximus in praeceptis narrationis.
For how the perspicuity of things is to be provided, we have said in the rules of narration.
§8.2.23similis autem ratio est in omnibus.
But there is a similar reason in all things.
nam si neque pauciora quam oportet neque plura neque inordinata aut indistincta dixerimus, erunt dilucida et negligenter quoque audientibus aperta; quod et ipsum in consilio est habendum, non semper tam esse acrem iudicis intentionem, ut obscuritatem apud se ipse discutiat et tenebris orationis inferat quoddam intelligentiae suae lumen, sed multis eum frequenter cogitationibus avocari, nisi tam clara fuerint, quae dicemus, ut in animum eius oratio, ut sol in oculos, etiamsi in eam non intendatur, incurrat.
For if we say neither fewer words than are proper, nor more, nor disordered or indistinct ones, they will be clear and open even to those who listen carelessly; which itself must be kept in mind, that the attention of a judge is not always so sharp that he can disperse obscurity by himself and bring a certain light of his own intelligence into the darkness of speech, but that he is frequently distracted by many thoughts, unless what we say is so clear that our speech, like the sun into the eyes, runs into his mind, even if it is not directed to it.
§8.2.24quare non, ut intelligere possit, sed, ne omnino possit non intelligere, curandum.
Therefore, care must be taken not that he can understand, but that he cannot possibly not understand.
propter quod etiam repetimus saepe, quae non satis percepisse eos qui cognoscunt putamus: quae causa utique nostra culpa dicta obscurius est: ad planiora et communia magis verba descendimus; cum id ipsum optime fiat, quod nos aliquid non optime fecisse simulamus.
For which reason also we often repeat what we think those who try the case have not sufficiently perceived: which cause has indeed been spoken more obscurely by our own fault; we descend to plainer and more common words; while that itself is done best when we pretend that we have not done something in the best way.