§12.1Quocumque me verti, argumenta senectutis meae video.
Wherever I turn, I see the proofs of my old age.
Veneram in suburbanum meum et querebar de inpensis aedificii dilabentis.
I had gone to my suburban estate and was complaining about the expenses of the dilapidated building.
Ait vilicus mihi non esse neglegentiae suae vitium, omnia se facere, sed villam veterem esse.
The bailiff told me that it was not the fault of his negligence, that he was doing everything he could, but that the villa was old.
Haec villa inter manus meas crevit; quid mihi futurum est, si tam putria sunt aetatis meae saxa?
This villa grew up under my hands; what is to become of me, if stones of my own age are so decayed?
§12.2Iratus illi proximam occasionem stomachandi arripio.
Angry with him, I seized the next opportunity to express my resentment.
"Apparet," inquam, "has platanos neglegi; nullas habent frondes.
"It is obvious," I said, "that these plane trees are being neglected; they have no leaves.
Quam nodosi sunt et retorridi rami, quam tristes et squalidi trunci! Hoc non accideret, si quis has circumfoderet, si inrigaret. "Iurat per genium meum se omnia facere, in nulla re cessare curam suam, sed illas vetulas esse.
How knotty and dried-up the branches are, how sad and squalid the trunks! This would not have happened if anyone had dug around them, if anyone had watered them." He swore by my genius that he was doing everything, that his care was not lacking in any respect, but that they were very old.
Quod intra nos sit, ego illas posueram, ego illarum primum videram folium.
Between you and me, I had planted them myself, I had seen their very first leaf.
§12.3Conversus ad ianuam "Quis est iste? "inquam, "iste decrepitus et merito ad ostium admotus? Foras enim spectat.
Turning to the door, I said, "Who is that person? That decrepit fellow, and rightly moved to the door? For he is looking outwards.
Unde istunc nactus es? Quid te delectavit alienum mortuum tollere? "At ille "Non cognoscis me?" inquit.
Where did you get that fellow? Why did it please you to carry away someone else's corpse?" But he said, "Don't you recognize me?
"Ego sum Felicio, cui solebas sigillaria adferre.
I am Felicio, to whom you used to bring clay figurines.
Ego sum Philositi vilici filius, deliciolum tuum. ""Perfecte," inquam, "iste delirat.
I am the son of Philositus the bailiff, your little pet." "Perfectly," I said, "that fellow is delirious.
Pupulus etiam delicium meum factus est? Prorsus potest fieri;
Has that little baby actually become my pet?
dentes illi cum maxime cadunt. " §12.4Debeo hoc suburbano meo, quod mihi senectus mea, quocumque adverteram, apparuit.
It is absolutely possible; his teeth are falling out just now." I owe this to my suburban estate, that my old age appeared to me, wherever I turned.
Conplectamur illam et amemus; plena est voluptatis, si illa scias uti.
Let us embrace and love it; it is full of pleasure, if you know how to use it.
Gratissima sunt poma, cum fugiunt; pueritiae maximus in exitu decor est; deditos vino potio extrema delectat, illa quae mergit, quae ebrietati summam manum inponit.
Fruits are most agreeable when they are passing away; the greatest beauty of childhood is at its end; the last drink delights those devoted to wine, that which submerges them, which puts the finishing touch on their drunkenness.
§12.5Quod in se iucundissimum omnis voluptas habet, in finem sui differt.
Whatever is most pleasant in itself, every pleasure postpones to its own end.
Iucundissima est aetas devexa iam, non tamen praeceps.
The most pleasant age is that which is already sloping downwards, yet not headlong.
Et illam quoque in extrema tegula stantem iudico habere suas voluptates.
And even that which is standing on the outermost tile, I judge to have its own pleasures.
Aut hoc ipsum succedit in locum voluptatum, nullis egere.
Or this very thing succeeds to the place of pleasures: to need nothing.
Quam dulce est cupiditates fatigasse ac reliquisse!"
How sweet it is to have exhausted and left behind one's desires!
§12.6Molestum est," inquis, "mortem ante oculos habere. "Primum ista tam seni ante oculos debet esse quam iuveni.
"It is troublesome," you say, "to have death before one's eyes." First of all, that ought to be as much before the eyes of a young man as of an old man.
Non enim citamur ex censu.
For we are not summoned according to the census.
Deinde nemo tam senex est, ut inprobe unum diem speret.
Secondly, no one is so old that he improperly hopes for one day.
Unus autem dies gradus vitae est.
Moreover, a single day is a step of life.
Tota aetas partibus constat et orbes habet circumductos maiores minoribus.
The whole of life consists of parts and has larger circles drawn around smaller ones.
Est aliquis, qui omnis conplectatur et cingat; hic pertinet a natali ad diem extremum.
There is one which embraces and surrounds all; this extends from birth to the last day.
Est alter, qui annos adulescentiae cludit.
There is another which closes the years of youth.
Est qui totam pueritiam ambitu suo adstringit.
There is one which binds the whole of childhood within its circuit.
Est deinde per se annus in se omnia continens tempora, quorum multiplicatione vita conponitur.
Then there is the year by itself, containing within itself all seasons, by the multiplication of which life is composed.
Mensis artiore praecingitur circulo.
A month is girt by a tighter circle.
Angustissimum habet dies gyrum, sed et hic ab initio ad exitum venit, ab ortu ad occasum.
A day has the narrowest turn, but even this goes from its beginning to its end, from sunrise to sunset.
§12.7Ideo Heraclitus, cui cognomen fecit orationis obscuritas, "Unus," inquit, "dies par omni est. "Hoc alius aliter excepit.
Therefore Heraclitus, to whom the obscurity of his speech gave his nickname, said, "One day is equal to every day." Different people have taken this in different ways.
Dixit enim parem esse horis, nec mentitur; nam si dies est tempus viginti et quattuor horarum, necesse est omnes inter se dies pares esse, quia nox habet, quod dies perdidit.
For one said that it is equal in hours, and he does not lie; for if a day is a time of twenty-four hours, it is necessary that all days be equal among themselves, because the night has what the day lost.
Alius ait parem esse unum diem omnibus similitudine; nihil enim habet longissimi temporis spatium, quod non et in uno die invenias, lucem et noctem, et in aeternum dies vices plures facit istas, non alias contractior, alias productior.
Another says that one day is equal to all in likeness; for the longest space of time has nothing which you may not find also in a single day, light and night, and into eternity the day makes these same alternating turns many times, not otherwise than being at one time more contracted, at another more prolonged.
§12.8Itaque sic ordinandus est dies omnis, tamquam cogat agmen et consummet atque expleat vitam.
Therefore, every day must be so ordered as if it brings up the rear and completes and fills up life.
Pacuvius, qui Syriam usu suam fecit, cum vino et illis funebribus epulis sibi parentaverat, sic in cubiculum ferebatur a cena, ut inter plausus exoletorum hoc ad symphoniam caneretur: βεβίωται, βεβίωται.
Pacuvius, who made Syria his own by possession, when he had performed a funeral sacrifice for himself with wine and those banquet feasts, was carried from the dinner table to his bedchamber in such a way that, among the applause of his favorites, this was sung to music: βεβίωται, βεβίωται.
§12.9Nullo non se die extulit.
There was no day on which he did not carry himself out to burial.
Hoc, quod ille ex mala conscientia faciebat, nos ex bona faciamus et in somnum ituri laeti hilaresque dicamus:
"
Vixi et quem dederat cursum fortuna, peregi. "
Crastinum si adiecerit deus, laeti recipiamus.
What he used to do from a bad conscience, let us do from a good one, and when we are about to go to sleep, let us say joyful and cheerful: "I have lived, and I have completed the course which fortune had given." If God adds tomorrow, let us receive it joyfully.
Ille beatissimus est et securus sui possessor, qui crastinum sine sollicitudine expectat.
That man is happiest and a secure possessor of himself, who expects tomorrow without anxiety.
Quisquis dixit "vixi," cotidie ad lucrum surgit.
Whoever has said "I have lived," rises daily to a profit.
§12.10Sed iam debeo epistulam includere.
But now I must close my letter.
"Sic," inquis, "sine ullo ad me peculio veniet?" Noli timere; aliquid secum fert.
"Is it coming to me thus," you say, "without any gift?" Do not fear; it brings something with it.
Quare aliquid dixi? Multum.
Why did I say "something"? Much.
Quid enim hac voce praeclarius, quam illi trado ad te perferendam? "Malum est in necessitate vivere; sed in necessitate vivere necessitas nulla est.
For what is more illustrious than this voice, which I hand over to it to be carried to you? "It is an evil to live in necessity, but to live in necessity is no necessity." Why should there be none?
"Quidni nulla sit? Patent undique ad libertatem viae multae breves, faciles.
On all sides, many short and easy paths lie open to liberty.
Agamus deo gratias, quod nemo in vita teneri potest.
Let us give thanks to God that no one can be kept in life.
Calcare ipsas necessitates licet. "
It is permitted to trample upon necessity itself.
§12.11Epicurus," inquis, "dixit.
"Epicurus said this," you say.
Quid tibi cum alieno?" Quod verum est, meum est.
"What have you to do with what belongs to another?" What is true is mine.
Perseverabo Epicurum tibi ingerere, ut isti, qui in verba iurant, nec quid dicatur aestimant, sed a quo, sciant, quae optima sunt, esse communia.
I shall persist in thrusting Epicurus upon you, so that those who swear by the words of a master, and do not estimate what is said, but by whom, may know that the best things are common property.
VALE.
FAREWELL.