§8.6.44allegoria, quam inversionem interpretantur, aut aliud verbis aliud sensu ostendit aut etiam interim contrarium.
Allegory, which they translate as "inversion," shows either one thing in words and another in sense, or even sometimes the contrary.
prius fit genus plerumque continuatis translationibus, ut
"
O navis, referent id mare te novi
fluctus; o quid agis? fortiter occupa
portum,
"
totusque ille Horatii locus, quo navem pro re publica, fluctus et tempestates pro bellis civilibus, portum pro pace atque concordia dicit. §8.6.45tale Lucretii
"
avia Pieridum peragro loca,
"
et Vergilii
"
sed nos immensum spatiis confecimus aequor,
et iam tempus equum fumantia solvere colla. " §8.6.46sine translatione vero id Bucolicis
"
certe equidem audieram, qua se subducere colles
incipient mollique iugum demittere clivo
usque ad aquam et ueteris iam fracta cacumina fagi,
omnia carminibus vestrum servasse Menalcan. " §8.6.47hoc enim loco praeter nomen cetera propriis decisa sunt verbis, verum non pastor Menalcas, sed Vergilius est intelligendus.
The former kind is produced mostly by continuous metaphors, as: "O navis, referent id mare te novi fluctus; o quid agis? fortiter occupa portum," and that whole passage of Horace, in which he means the state by the ship, civil wars by waves and tempests, and peace and concord by the port. Similar is that of Lucretius: "avia Pieridum peragro loca," and of Vergil: "sed nos immensum spatiis confecimus aequor, et iam tempus equum fumantia solvere colla." But without metaphor, indeed, in the Bucolics: "certe equidem audieram, qua se subducere colles incipient mollique iugum demittere clivo usque ad aquam et ueteris iam fracta cacumina fagi, omnia carminibus vestrum servasse Menalcan." For in this place, except for the name, all other things are expressed in proper words, but not the shepherd Menalcas, but Vergil must be understood.
habet usum talis allegoriae frequenter oratio, sed raro totius; plerumque apertis permixta est.
Oratory frequently has the use of such allegory, but rarely of an entire one; mostly it is mixed with plain language.
tota apud Ciceronem talis est: hoc miror, hoc queror, quemquam hominem ita pessumdare alterum velle, ut etiam narem perforet, id qua ipse naviget. illud commixtum frequentissimum: §8.6.48equidem celeras tempestates et procellas id illis dumtaxat fluctibus contionum semper Miloni putavi esse subeundas. nisi adiecisset dumtaxat fluctibus contionum, esset allegoria; nunc eam miscuit.
An entire one in Cicero is such: "At this I wonder, at this I complain, that any man should wish so to ruin another as even to bore a hole in the ship in which he himself is sailing." That mixed one is very frequent: "Indeed, I always thought that other tempests and storms had to be undergone by Milo, at least in those waves of public assemblies." If he had not added "at least in the waves of public assemblies," it would have been allegory; now he has mixed it.
quo id genere et species ex arcessitis verbis venit et intellectus ex propriis. §8.6.49illud vero longe speciosissimum genus orationis, id quo trium permixta est gratia, similitudinis, allegoriae, translationis: quod fretum, quem Euripum, tot motus, tantas, tam varias habere creditis agitationes, commutationes, fluctus, quantas perturbationes et quantos aestus habet ratio comitiorum? dies intermissus unus aut nox interposita saepe et perturbat omnia et totam opinionem parva nonnunquam commutat aura rumoris. nam id quoque id primis est custodiendum ut, §8.6.50quo ex genere coeperis translationis, hoc desinas.
In which kind both the beauty comes from borrowed words and the understanding from proper ones. But that indeed is by far the most splendid kind of speech, in which the grace of three things is mixed: simile, allegory, and metaphor: "What strait, what Euripus, do you believe to have so many movements, so great and so various agitations, changes, waves, as many disturbances and as great tides as the system of elections has? A single day intermitted or a night interposed often both throws everything into confusion and a small breeze of rumor sometimes changes the whole opinion." For this also must be guarded among the first, that, from whatever kind of metaphor you began, with this you should end.
multi autem, cum initium a tempestate sumpserunt, incendio aut ruina finiunt; quae est inconsequentia rerum foedissima. §8.6.51ceterum allegoria parvis quoque ingeniis et cotidiano sermoni frequentissime servit.
But many, when they have taken their beginning from a tempest, end with a fire or a collapse; which is a most foul inconsistency of things. Moreover, allegory serves also small talents and daily speech very frequently.
nam illa id agendis causis iam detrita, pedem conferre et iugulum petere et sanguinem mittere, inde sunt, nec offendunt tamen.
For those terms now worn out in pleading cases, "to cross swords," "to aim at the throat," and "to let blood," are from there, and yet they do not offend.
est enim grata id eloquendo novitas et emutatio, et magis inopinata delectant.
For novelty and change in expression are pleasing, and unexpected things delight more.
ideoque iam id his amisimus modum et gratiam rei nimia captatione consumpsimus. §8.6.52est id exemplis allegoria, si non praedicta ratione ponantur.
And therefore we have already lost moderation in these, and we have consumed the grace of the thing by too much capturing. Allegory is also in examples, if they are placed not in the aforesaid manner.
nam ut Dionysium Corinthi esse, quo Graeci omnes utuntur, ita plurima similia dici possunt.
For as "Dionysius is at Corinth," which all Greeks use, so very many similar things can be said.
sed allegoria, quae est obscurior, aenigma dicitur; vitium meo quidem iudicio, si quidem dicere dilucide virtus; quo tamen et poetae utuntur:
"
dic, quibus id ferris, et eris mihi magnus Apollo,
tres pateat caeli spatium non amplius ulnas?
"
et oratores nonnunquam, §8.6.53ut Caelius quadrantariam Clytaemnestram, et in triclinio Coam, in cubiculo Nolam. namque et nunc quidem solvuntur et tum erant notiora, cum dicerentur; aenigmata sunt tamen, nam et cetera si quis interpretetur, intelligas.
But allegory, which is more obscure, is called an "enigma"; a fault, in my judgment indeed, if indeed to speak clearly is a virtue; which, however, both poets use: "dic, quibus id ferris, et eris mihi magnus Apollo, tres pateat caeli spatium non amplius ulnas?" and orators sometimes, as Caelius, "the quadrantarian Clytemnestra," and "Coan in the dining room, Nola in the bedroom." For indeed these are both solved now and were better known then, when they were spoken; yet they are enigmas, for the rest also, if anyone should interpret them, you would understand.
| eo vero genere, §8.6.54quo contraria ostenduntur, ironia est; illusionem vocant.
But in that kind, in which contraries are shown, it is irony; they call it illusion.
quae aut pronuntiatione intelligitur aut persona aut rei natura; nam, si qua earum verbis dissentit, apparet diversam esse orationi voluntatem.
Which is understood either by delivery, or by character, or by the nature of the thing; for if any of these dissents from the words, it is apparent that the will of the speech is different.