§120.16Nunc de capite, nunc ' de ventre, nunc de pectore ac faucibus querimur.
\nNow we complain of the head, now of the belly, now of the chest and throat.
Alias nervi nos, alias pedes vexant, nunc deiectio, nunc destillatio, aliquando superest sanguis, aliquando deest; hinc atque illinc temptamur et expellimur; hoc evenire solet in alieno habitantibus. §120.17At nos corpus tam putre sortiti nihilominus aeterna proponimus et in quantum potest aetas humana protendi, tantum spe occupamus, nulla contenti pecunia, nulla potentia.
At one time our nerves, at another our feet vex us, now diarrhea, now catarrh; sometimes blood is in excess, sometimes it is lacking; from this side and that we are assailed and driven out; this is accustomed to happen to those who dwell in another's house.\n\nBut we, having been allotted a body so perishable, nevertheless propose eternal things and, as far as human life can be extended, so far do we occupy it with hope, content with no money, with no power.
Quid hac re fieri inpudentius, quid stultius potest? Nihil satis est morituris, immo morientibus; cotidie enim propius ab ultimo stamus, et illo, unde nobis cadendum est, hora nos omnis inpellit.
What can be more shameless, what more foolish than this thing? Nothing is enough for those who are about to die, nay rather, who are dying; for daily we stand closer to the end, and every hour drives us toward that place from which we must fall.
vide in quanta caecitate mens nostra sit! §120.18Hoc quod futurum dico, cum maxime fit, et pars eius magna iam facta est, nam quod viximus.
See in how great blindness our mind is!\n\nThis which I say is to come, even as it is happening, and a great part of it is already done; for that which we have lived [belongs to death].
Erramus autem qui ultimum timemus diem, cum tantumdem in mortem singuli conferant.
But we err who fear the last day, since each of us daily contributes just as much to death.
Non ille gradus lassitudinem facit, in quo deficimus, sed ille profitetur.
Not that step on which we collapse makes the fatigue, but it declares it.
Ad mortem dies extremus pervenit, accedit omnis.
The last day arrives at death, every day approaches it.
Carpit nos illa, non corripit. Ideo magnus animus conscius sibi melioris naturae dat quidem operam, ut in hac statione qua positus est, honeste se atque industrie gerat, ceterum nihil horum, quae circa sunt, suum iudicat, sed ut commodatis utitur, peregrinus et properans. §120.19Cum aliquem huius videremus constantiae, quidni subiret nos species non usitatae indolis? Utique si hanc, ut dixi, magnitudinem veram esse ostendebat aequalitas.
Death plucks us away, it does not seize us all at once.\nTherefore, a great soul conscious of its own superior nature indeed makes an effort to conduct itself honorably and industriously in this post where it has been placed, but judges none of these things which are around it to be its own, but uses them as things lent, as a foreigner and one in haste.\n\nWhen we saw someone of this constancy, why should there not come upon us the appearance of an uncommon character? Especially if, as I said, consistency showed this greatness to be true.
vero tenor permanet, falsa non durant.
Indeed, consistency remains in true things, false things do not last.
Quidam alternis Vatinii, alternis Catones sunt; et modo parum illis severus est Curius, parum pauper Fabricius, parum frugi et contentus vilibus Tubero; modo Licinum divitiis, Apicium cenis, Maecenatem deliciis provocant. §120.20Maximum indicium est malae mentis fluctuatio et inter simulationem virtutum amoremque vitiorum adsidua iactatio.
Some are by turns Vatiniuses, by turns Catos; and now Curius is not strict enough for them, Fabricius not poor enough, Tubero not frugal enough and content with cheap things; now they challenge Licinus in wealth, Apicius in dinners, Maecenas in delicacies.\n\nThe greatest proof of a bad mind is fluctuation, and the constant tossing between the simulation of virtues and the love of vices.
Aliquis
"
habebat saepe ducentos,
Saepe decem servos; modo reges atque tetrarchas,
Omnia magna loquens, modo "sit mihi mensa tripes et
Concha salis puri, toga quae defendere frigus
Quamvis crassa queat"; decies centena dedisses
Huic parco, paucis contento; quinque diebus
Nil erat. " §120.21Homines isti tales sunt, qualem hunc describit Horatius Flaccus, numquam eundem, ne similem quidem sibi;
Someone\n"\noften had two hundred,\noften ten slaves; now speaking of kings and tetrarchs,\nall things grand, now saying: 'let me have a three-legged table and\n\na shell of pure salt, and a toga which, however coarse, can keep\nout the cold'; if you had given ten hundred thousand to this\nfrugal man, content with few things; in five days there was\nnothing.\n"\n\nThose men of yours are such as Horatius Flaccus describes this one, never the same, not even like himself; so far does he wander into opposite directions.
adeo in diversum aberrat. Multos dixi? Prope est, ut omnes sint.
Did I say many? It is close to being all of them.
Nemo non cotidie et consilium mutat et votum.
There is no one who does not change both his plan and his wish daily.
Modo uxorem vult habere, modo amicam, modo regnare vult, modo id agit, ne quis sit officiosior servus, modo dilatat se usque ad invidiam, modo subsidit et contrahitur infra humilitatem vere iacentium, nunc pecuniam spargit, nunc rapit. §120.22Sic maxime coarguitur animus inprudens; alius prodit atque alius et, quo turpius nihil iudico, impar sibi est.
Now he wants to have a wife, now a mistress; now he wants to rule, now he acts so that no slave may be more dutiful; now he expands himself even to envy, now he sinks down and contracts himself below the humility of those who are truly prostrate; now he scatters money, now he snatches it.\n\nIn this way especially is the unwise mind convicted; now one person comes forward, now another, and—than which I judge nothing to be more shameful—he is unequal to himself.
Magnam rem puta unum hominem agere.
Deem it a great thing to act as one single man.
Praeter sapientem autem nemo unum agit, ceteri multiformes sumus.
But except for the wise man, no one acts as one; the rest of us are multiform.
Modo frugi tibi videbimur et graves, modo prodigi et vani.
Now we shall seem to you frugal and serious, now wasteful and empty.
Mutamus subinde personam et contrariam ei sumimus, quam exuimus.
We continually change our mask and assume one opposite to that which we have stripped off.
Hoc ergo a te exige, ut, qualem institueris praestare te, talem usque ad exitum serves.
Demand this therefore of yourself, that, such as you have resolved to present yourself, such you preserve yourself even to the end.
Effice ut possis laudari, si minus, ut adgnosci.
Bring it about that you can be praised; if less than that, at least that you can be recognized.
De aliquo, quem here vidisti, merito dici potest: "hic qui est? "Tanta mutatio est.
Of someone whom you saw yesterday, it can be said with merit: "Who is this man?" So great is the change.
VALE.
Farewell.