§8.5.24alia vana, ut suadentis purpuratis, ut Alexandrum Babylonis incendio sepeliant, Alexandrum sepelio; hoc quisquam spectabit a tecto? quasi vero id sit in re tota indignissimum.
Others are empty, as of one advising the king's courtiers to bury Alexander in the fire of Babylon: "I bury Alexander; will anyone watch this from the roof?" as if indeed that were the most shameful thing in the whole affair.
alia nimia ut de Germanis dicentem quendam audivi, caput nescio ubi impositum; et de viro forti, bella umbone propellit. sed finis non erit, §8.5.25si singulas corruptorum persequar formas.
Others are excessive, as I heard someone saying of the Germans: "A head placed I know not where"; and of a brave man: "He repels wars with his shield-boss." But there will be no end, if I pursue the individual forms of corrupted expressions.
illud potius, quod est magis necessarium.
Let us turn rather to that which is more necessary.
duae sunt diversae opiniones, aliorum sententias solas paene spectantium, aliorum omnino damnantium; quorum mihi neutrum admodum placet.
There are two opposite opinions: of those who look almost solely for sententiae, and of those who condemn them entirely; of which neither pleases me very much.
densitas earum obstat invicem; §8.5.26ut in satis omnibus fructibusque arborum nihil ad iustam magnitudinem adolescere potest, quod loco in quem crescat caret, nec pictura, in qua nihil circumlitum est, eminet; — ideoque artifices etiam, cum plura in unam tabulam opera contulerunt, spatiis distinguunt, ne umbrae in corpora cadant.
Their density obstructs one another; just as in all crops and the fruits of trees, nothing can grow to its proper size because it lacks a place into which to grow, nor does a picture stand out in which nothing is shaded around; and therefore artists also, when they have brought several works into one panel, separate them with spaces, lest shadows fall on the bodies.
§8.5.27facit res eadem concisam quoque orationem; subsistit enim omnis sententia, ideoque post eam utique aliud est initium.
The same thing also makes the style concise; for every sententia stops, and therefore after it there is always another beginning.
unde soluta fere oratio et e singulis non membris sed frustis collata structura caret, cum illa rotunda et undique circumcisa insistere invicem §8.5.28nequeant.
Hence, a style that is almost loose and composed not of members but of individual fragments lacks structure, since those rounded and on all sides cut-short expressions cannot rest upon one another in turn.
praeter hoc etiam color ipse dicendi quamlibet claris, multis tamen ac variis velut maculis conspergitur.
Besides this, also the very color of speaking, however bright, is sprinkled with many and various, as it were, spots.
porro, ut adfert lumen clavus purpurae in loco insertus, ita certe neminem deceat intertexta pluribus notis vestis. quare,
Furthermore, as the purple stripe inserted in the proper place brings light, so certainly a garment interwoven with many marks would suit no one.
§8.5.29licet haec et nitere et aliquatenus exstare videantur, tamen et lumina illa non flammae, sed scintillis inter fumum emicantibus similia dixeris (quae ne apparent quidem, ubi tota lucet oratio, ut in sole sidera ipsa desinunt cerni); et, quae crebris parvisque conatibus se attollunt, inaequalia tantum et velut confragosa nec admirationem consequuntur eminentium et planorum gratiam perdunt.
Wherefore, although these may seem both to shine and to stand out to some extent, yet you would say those lights are not like flames, but like sparks flashing among smoke (which do not even appear where the whole speech is luminous, just as under the sun the stars themselves cease to be seen); and those things which raise themselves by frequent and small efforts, being only unequal and, as it were, rugged, neither attain the admiration of the outstanding nor keep the grace of the smooth.
§8.5.30hoc quoque accedit quod solas captanti sententias multas dicere necesse est leves, frigidas, ineptas.
To this also is added that for one who chases solely after sententiae, it is necessary to speak many that are light, cold, and silly.
non enim potest esse dilectus, ubi numero laboratur.
For there cannot be choice where one labors for number.
itaque videas et divisionem pro sententia poni et argumentum; sit tantum in clausula nec male pronuntietur. occidisti uxorem ipse adulter; §8.5.31non ferrem te, etiamsi repudiasses, divisio est.
And so you may see both division put for a sententia, and argument; let it only be in the clausula and not badly pronounced: "You killed your wife, yourself an adulterer;" "I would not tolerate you, even if you had divorced her," is a division.
vis scire, venenum esse amatorium? viveret homo, nisi illud bibisset, argumentum est.
"Do you want to know that the poison was a love potion? The man would be alive, if he had not drunk it," is an argument.
Nec multas plerique sententias dicunt, sed omnia tanquam sententias.
Nor do most people speak many sententiae, but everything as if it were a sententia.
§8.5.32huic quibusdam contrarium studium, qui fugiunt ac reformidant omnem hanc in dicendo voluptatem, nihil probantes nisi planum et humile et sine conatu.
Opposed to this is the zeal of certain men, who flee and dread all this pleasure in speaking, approving nothing unless it is plain and low and without effort.
ita, dum timent, ne aliquando cadant, semper iacent.
Thus, while they fear lest they should sometime fall, they always lie on the ground.
quod enim tantum in sententia bona crimen est? non causae prodest? non iudicem movet? non dicentem commendat?
For what so great crime is there in a good sententia? Does it not benefit the case? Does it not move the judge? Does it not commend the speaker?
§8.5.33est quoddam genus, quo veteres non utebantur.
There is a certain kind, they say, which the ancients did not use.
ad quam usque nos vocatis vetustatem? nam si illam extremam, multa Demosthenes, quae ante eum nemo.
To what antiquity indeed do you call us back? For if to that most extreme, Demosthenes did many things which no one before him did.
quomodo potest probare Ciceronem, qui nihil putet ex Catone Gracchisque mutandum? sed ante hos simplicior adhuc ratio loquendi fuit.
How can he approve Cicero, who thinks nothing is to be changed from Cato and the Gracchi? But before these, the method of speaking was still simpler.
§8.5.34ego vero haec lumina orationis velut oculos quosdam esse eloquentiae credo.
Indeed, I believe these lights of speech to be, as it were, the eyes of eloquence.
sed neque oculos esse toto corpore velim, ne cetera membra officium suum perdant; et, si necesse sit, veterem illum horrorem dicendi malim quam istam novam licentiam.
But I would not wish eyes to be in the whole body, lest the other members lose their function; and, if it were necessary, I would prefer that old roughness of speaking to that modern license.
sed patet media quaedam via, sicut in cultu victuque accessit aliquis citra reprehensionem nitor.
But a certain middle way is open, just as in dress and living a certain elegance has been added without blame.
quare, sicut possumus, adiiciamus virtutibus; prius tamen sit vitiis carere, ne, dum volumus esse meliores veteribus, simus tantum dissimiles.
Wherefore, as we can, let us add to virtues; yet let it first be to be free from vices, lest, while we wish to be better than the ancients, we are only unlike them.
§8.5.35reddam nunc, quam proximam partem dixeram esse de tropis, quos modos clarissimi nostrorum auctores vocant.
I will now deliver what I had said was the next part, concerning tropes, which the most famous authors of our people call modes.
horum tradere praecepta et grammatici solent.
The grammarians also are accustomed to deliver the rules of these.
sed a me, cum de illorum officio loquerer, dilata pars haec est, quia de ornatu orationis gravior videbatur locus et maiori operi reservandus.
But by me, when I was speaking of their duty, this part was deferred, because the topic concerning the ornament of speech seemed more serious and to be reserved for a larger work.