§124.17Quomodo ergo potest eorum videri perfecta natura, quibus usus perfecti temporis non est? Tempus enim tribus partibus constat, praeterito, praesente, venturo.
How then can the nature of those seem perfected, who do not have the use of perfected time? For time consists of three parts: past, present, and future.
Animalibus tantum quod gravissimum est intra cursum datum, praesens.
To animals, only that which is most significant within its course is given, the present.
Praeteriti rara memoria est nec umquam revocatur nisi praesentium occursu.
Memory of the past is rare and is never recalled except by the encounter with present things.
§124.18Non potest ergo perfectae naturae bonum in inperfecta esse natura, aut si natura talis hoc habet, habent et sata.
Therefore, the good of a perfected nature cannot exist in an imperfect nature, or if such a nature has this, planted things have it too.
Nec illud nego, ad ea, quae videntur secundum naturam, magnos esse mutis animalibus impetus et concitatos, sed inordinatos ac turbidos.
Nor do I deny that mute animals have great and excited impulses toward those things that seem according to nature, but they are inordinate and troubled.
Numquam autem inordinatum est bonum aut turbidum,
However, the good is never inordinate or troubled.
§124.19"Quid ergo? "inquis, "muta animalia perturbate et indisposite moventur? "Dicerem illa perturbate et indisposite moveri, si natura illorum ordinem caperet; nunc moventur secundum naturam suam.
"What then?" you say, "do mute animals move in a troubled and disordered way?" I would say that they moved in a troubled and disordered way if their nature admitted of order; as it is, they move according to their own nature.
Perturbatum enim id est, quod esse aliquando et non perturbatum potest; sollicitum est, quod potest esse securum.
For that is troubled which can at some time also be untroubled; that is anxious which can be secure.
Nulli vitium est, nisi cui virtus potest esse; mutis animalibus talis ex natura sua motus est.
Vice belongs to no one except him to whom virtue can belong; to mute animals, such movement is according to their own nature.
§124.20Sed ne te diu teneam, erit aliquod bonum in muto animali, erit aliqua virtus, erit aliquid perfectum, sed nec bonum absolute nec virtus nec perfectum.
But not to hold you long, there will be some good in a mute animal, some virtue, something perfected, but neither good absolutely, nor virtue, nor perfected.
Haec enim rationalibus solis contingunt, quibus datum est scire quare, quatenus, quemadmodum.
For these fall to the lot of rational beings alone, to whom it is given to know why, to what extent, and how.
Ita bonum in nullo est, nisi in quo ratio.
Thus, the good is in nothing except that in which reason is.
§124.21Quo nunc pertineat ista disputatio quaeris, et quid animo tuo profutura sit? Dico: et exercet illum et acuit et utique aliquid acturum occupatione honesta tenet.
You ask where that dispute of yours now points, and how it will profit your mind? I say: it both exercises it and sharpens it, and at any rate keeps it occupied with an honorable activity when it is about to do something.
Prodest autem etiam quo moratur ad prava properantes.
Moreover, it is also useful in that it delays those rushing toward what is depraved.
Sed et illud dico: nullo modo prodesse possum magis, quam si tibi bonum tuum ostendo, si te a mutis animalibus separo, si cum deo pono.
But I also say this: in no way can I profit you more than if I show you your good, if I separate you from mute animals, if I place you with God.
§124.22Quid, inquam, vires corporis alis et exerces? Pecudibus istas maiores ferisque natura concessit.
Why, I say, do you nourish and exercise the strength of your body? Nature has granted greater strength to beasts of burden and wild beasts.
Quid excolis formam? Cum omnia feceris, a mutis animalibus decore vinceris.
Why do you cultivate your beauty? When you have done all, you are surpassed in beauty by mute animals.
Quid capillum ingenti diligentia comis? Cum illum vel effuderis more Parthorum vel Germanorum modo vinxeris vel, ut Scythae solent, sparseris, in quolibet equo densior iactabitur iuba, horrebit in leonum cervice formonsior.
Why do you comb your hair with immense diligence? Whether you let it flow in the manner of the Parthians, or tie it in the German fashion, or scatter it as the Scythians are accustomed to do, a thicker mane will toss on any horse, and a more beautiful one will bristle on the neck of lions.
Cum te ad velocitatem paraveris, par lepusculo non eris.
When you have prepared yourself for speed, you will not be equal to a little hare.
vis tu relictis, in quibus vinci te necesse est, dum in aliena niteris, ad bonum reverti tuum?
Will you not, leaving behind those things in which you must be surpassed while you strive in what belongs to another, return to your own good?
§124.23Quod est hoc? Animus scilicet emendatus ac purus, aemulator dei, super humana se extollens, nihil extra se sui ponens.
What is this? A mind, of course, corrected and pure, an imitator of God, raising itself above human things, placing nothing of its own outside of itself.
Rationale animal es.
You are a rational animal.
Quod ergo in te bonum est? Perfecta ratio.
What then is the good in you? Perfected reason.
An tu ad suum finem hanc evocas, in quantum potest plurimum crescere? Tunc beatum esse te iudica, cum tibi ex ea gaudium omne nascetur, cum visis, quae homines eripiunt, optant, custodiunt, nihil inveneris, non dico quod malis, sed quod velis.
Do you call this forth to its own end, so that it can grow as much as possible? Then judge yourself to be happy, when all joy shall rise for you from it, when, having seen those things which men snatch, wish for, and guard, you find nothing—I do not say that you prefer, but even that you want.
§124.24Brevem tibi formulam dabo, qua te metiaris, qua perfectum esse iam sentias: tunc habebis tuum, cum intelleges infelicissimos esse felices.
I will give you a brief rule by which to measure yourself, by which you may already feel that you are perfected: you will then have your own, when you understand that the happy are most unhappy.
VALE.
FAREWELL.