§114.21Quod vides istos sequi, qui aut vellunt barbam aut intervellunt, qui labra pressius tondent et adradunt servata et summissa cetera parte, qui lacernas coloris improbi sumunt, qui perlucentem togam, qui nolunt facere quicquam, quod hominum oculis transire liceat; inritant illos et in se advertunt; volunt vel reprehendi, dum conspici. Talis est oratio Maecenatis omniumque aliorum, qui non casu errant sed scientes volentesque.
That which you see those men pursue—who either pluck their beard or pluck it in patches, who shave and scrape their lips very closely while keeping and letting grow the rest, who put on cloaks of scandalous color, who put on a transparent toga, who are unwilling to do anything that might allow them to pass unnoticed by the eyes of men; they provoke them and turn them upon themselves; they wish even to be censured, as long as they are looked at—all this is because the speech of Maecenas and of all others is of such a kind, who do not err by chance but knowingly and willingly.
§114.22Hoc a magno animi malo oritur.
This arises from a great disease of the mind.
Quomodo in vino non ante lingua titubat quam mens cessit oneri et inclinata vel prodita est, ita ista orationis quid aliud quam ebrietas nulli molesta est, nisi animus labat? Ideo ille curetur;
Just as in the case of wine, the tongue does not trip before the mind has yielded to the burden and has inclined or been betrayed, so does that of speech—which is nothing other than drunkenness—trouble anyone, unless the mind is wavering?
ab illo sensus, ab illo verba exeunt, ab illo nobis est habitus, vultus, incessus.
Therefore, let the mind be cured; from it go out our thoughts, from it our words, from it we have our posture, our expression, our gait.
Illo sano ac valente oratio quoque robusta, fortis, virilis est; si ille procubuit, et cetera ruinam sequuntur.
While it is healthy and strong, speech also is robust, powerful, and manly; if it has fallen, the rest also follow its ruin.
§114.23"
Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est; Amisso rupere fidem.
"While the king is safe, all have one mind; When he is lost, they break their faith.
"
Rex noster est animus.
"Our king is the mind.
Hoc incolumi cetera manent in officio, parent, optemperant; cum ille paulum vaccillavit, simul dubitant.
While this is safe, the rest remain in their duty, they obey, they comply; when it has wavered even a little, they hesitate at the same time.
Cum vero cessit voluptati, artes quoque eius actusque marcent et omnis ex languido fluidoque conatus es.
But when it has yielded to pleasure, its arts and actions also wither, and every effort is born of a sluggish and fluid state.
§114.24Quoniam hac similitudine usus sum, perseverabo: animus noster modo rex est, modo tyrannus.
Since I have used this comparison, I will continue: our mind is sometimes a king, sometimes a tyrant.
Rex, cum honesta intuetur, salutem commissi sibi corporis curat, et illi nihil imperat turpe, nihil sordidum.
It is a king when it looks upon honorable things, cares for the safety of the body committed to its charge, and commands it to do nothing shameful, nothing sordid.
Ubi vero inpotens, cupidus, delicatus est, transit in nomen detestabile ac dirum et fit tyrannus; tunc illum excipiunt adfectus inpotentes et instant, qui initio quidem gaudent, ut solet populus largitione nocitura frustra plenus, et quae non potest haurire, contrectat.
But when it is powerless, greedy, and self-indulgent, it passes into a detestable and dire name and becomes a tyrant; then powerless passions capture it and press upon it, which indeed rejoice at first, as is the custom of a populace vainly filled with a harmful largess, and handle what they cannot drain.
§114.25Cum vero magis ac magis vires morbus exedit et in medullas nervosque descendere deliciae, conspectu eorum, quibus se nimia aviditate inutilem reddidit, laetus, pro suis voluptatibus habet alienarum spectaculum, sumministrator libidinum festisque, quarum usum sibi ingerendo abstulit.
But when disease eats away its strength more and more, and self-indulgence has descended into the marrow and nerves, the mind, rejoicing in the sight of those things for which it has rendered itself useless by excessive greed, regards the spectacle of others' pleasures in place of its own, becoming the provider of lusts and banquets, the enjoyment of which it took away from itself by over-indulgence.
Nec illi tam gratum est abundare iucundis quam acerbum, quod non omnem illum apparatum per gulam ventremque transmittit, quod non cum omni exoletorum feminarumque turba convolutatur, maeretque, quod magna pars suae felicitatis exclusa corporis angustiis cessat.
Nor is it so pleasing to it to abound in delightful things as it is bitter that it cannot transmit all that preparation through its throat and belly, and that it cannot roll about with the whole crowd of pathics and women, and it mourns because a great part of its happiness, shut out by the narrowness of the body, lies idle.
§114.26Numquid enim, mi Lucili, in hoc furor est, quod nemo nostrum mortalem se cogitat, quod nemo imbecillum? In illo, quod nemo nostrum unum esse se cogitat! Aspice culinas nostras et concursantis inter tot ignes cocos; unum videri putas ventrem, cui tanto tumultu comparatur cibus? Aspice veteraria nostra et plena multorum saeculorum vindemiis horrea; unum putas videri ventrem, cui tot consulum regionumque vina cluduntur? Aspice, quot locis terra vertatur, quot millia colonorum arent, fodiant; unum videri putas ventrem, cui et in Sicilia et in
For is the madness in this, my Lucilius, that none of us thinks himself mortal, that none thinks himself weak? It is in this, that none of us thinks himself to be just one person! Look at our kitchens and the cooks running about among so many fires; do you think that the belly appears to be just one, for which food is prepared with such great tumult? Look at our old wine-cellars and storehouses filled with the vintages of many generations; do you think that the belly appears to be just one, for which the wines of so many consuls and regions are shut up? Look in how many places the earth is turned, how many thousands of husbandmen plow and dig; do you think that the belly appears to be just one, for which sowing is done both in Sicily and in Africa?
§114.27Africa seritur? Sani erimus et modica concupiscemus, si unusquisque se numeret, metiatur simul corpus, sciat, quam nec multum capere nec diu possit.
We shall be healthy and desire moderate things, if each one counts himself, measures his body at the same time, and knows how it can neither hold much nor for a long time.
Nihil tamen aeque tibi profuerit ad temperantiam omnium rerum quam frequens cogitatio brevis aevi et huius incerti; quidquid facies, respice ad mortem.
Yet nothing will profit you so much toward moderation in all things as the frequent thought of a short and uncertain life; whatever you do, look back at death.
VALE.
FAREWELL.