§79.1Expecto epistulas tuas, quibus mihi indices, circuitus Siciliae totius quid tibi novi ostenderit, et ante omnia de ipsa Charybdi certiora.
I am waiting for your letters, in which you may inform me what new things the circuit of all Sicily has shown to you, and above all, more certain details about Charybdis itself.
Nam Scyllam saxum esse et quidem non terribile navigantibus optime scio; Charybdis an respondeat fabulis, perscribi mihi desidero et, si forte observaveris, dignum est autem quod observes, fac nos certiores, utrum uno tantum vento agatur in vertices an omnis tempestas aeque mare illud contorqueat, et an verum sit, quicquid illo freti turbine abreptum est, per multa milia trahi conditum et circa Tauromenitanum litus emergere.
For I know very well that Scylla is a rock and indeed not terrible to sailors; but whether Charybdis responds to the fables, I desire to be written to me in detail, and, if you happen to have observed it—and indeed it is worthy of your observation—make us more certain whether it is driven into whirlpools by only one wind or if every tempest equally twists that sea, and whether it is true that whatever is snatched away by that whirlpool of the strait is dragged concealed for many miles and emerges around the Tauromenitan shore.
§79.2Si haec mihi perscripseris, tunc tibi audebo mandare, ut in honorem meum Aetnam quoque ascendas, quam consumi et sensim subsidere ex hoc colligunt quidam, quod aliquando longius navigantibus solebat ostendi.
If you write these things to me in detail, then I shall dare to charge you, for my sake, to ascend Etna as well, which some people infer to be consuming itself and gradually sinking from this fact: that formerly it used to be shown to those sailing further away.
Potest hoc accidere, non quia montis altitudo descendit, sed quia ignis evanuit et minus vehemens ac largus effertur, ob eandem causam fumo quoque per diem segniore.
This can happen, not because the height of the mountain is descending, but because the fire has vanished and is cast out less violently and less abundantly, for the same reason that the smoke also is more sluggish during the day.
Neutrum autem incredibile est, nec montem, qui devoretur cotidie, minui, nec manere eundem, quia non ipsum exest, sed in aliqua inferna valle conceptus exaestuat et aliis pascitur.
However, neither is incredible, neither that the mountain, which is daily devoured, is diminished, nor that it remains the same, because it is not the mountain itself that is eaten away, but the fire, conceived in some subterranean valley, boils up and feeds on other things.
In ipso monte non alimentum habet, sed viam.
In the mountain itself, the fire does not have its nourishment, but its path.
§79.3In Lycia regio notissima est, Hephaestion incolae vocant, foratum pluribus locis solum, quod sine ullo nascentium damno ignis innoxius circumit.
In Lycia, there is a very well-known region, which the inhabitants call Hephaestion, where the soil is pierced in several places, which an innocuous fire circles without any damage to growing things.
Laeta itaque regio est et herbida nihil flammis adurentibus, sed tantum vi remissa ac languida refulgentibus.
Therefore, the region is fertile and grassy, with the flames burning nothing, but only shining with a relaxed and gentle force.
§79.4Sed reservemus ista tunc quaesituri, cum tu mihi scripseris, quantum ab ipso ore montis nives absint, quas ne aestas quidem solvit; adeo tutae sunt ab igne vicino.
But let us reserve those matters to be investigated then, when you write to me how far the snows are from the very mouth of the mountain, which not even summer melts; so safe are they from the neighboring fire.
Non est autem quod istam curam imputes mihi.
However, there is no reason why you should credit this care to me.
Morbo enim tuo daturus eras, etiam si nemo mandaret.
For you were going to devote this to your disease, even if no one commanded it.
§79.5Quid tibi do, ne Aetnam describas in tuo carmine, ne hunc sollemnem omnibus poetis locum adtingas? Quem quo minus Ovidius tractaret, nihil obstitit, quod iam Vergilius impleverat.
What shall I give you not to describe Etna in your poem, not to touch upon this topic that is customary to all poets? Nothing prevented Ovidius from treating it, because Virgilius had already filled it.
Ne Severum quidem Cornelium uterque deterruit.
Not even both of them deterred Cornelius Severus.
Omnibus praeterea feliciter hic locus se dedit et qui praecesserant, non praeripuisse mihi videntur, quae dici poterant, sed aperuisse.
Moreover, this topic has yielded successfully to everyone, and those who went before seem to me not to have snatched away what could be said, but to have opened it up.
§79.6M ultum interest, utrum ad consumptam materiam an ad subactam accedas; crescit in dies et inventuris inventa non obstant.
It makes a great difference whether you approach a consumed material or one that is tilled; it grows day by day, and what has been found does not stand in the way of those who will find more.
Praeterea condicio optima est ultimi; parata verba invenit, quae aliter instructa novam faciem habent.
Moreover, the condition of the lastcomer is best; he finds words ready-made, which, when arranged differently, have a new face.
Nec illis manus inicit tamquam alienis.
Nor does he lay hands on them as if they were someone else's.
§79.7Sunt enim publica.
For they are public property.
Aut ego te non novi aut Aetna tibi salivam movet.
Either I do not know you, or Etna makes your mouth water.
Iam cupis grande aliquid et par prioribus scribere.
Already you desire to write something grand and equal to your predecessors.
Plus enim sperare modestia tibi tua non permittit, quae tanta in te est, ut videaris mihi retracturus ingenii tui vires, si vincendi periculum sit; tanta tibi priorum reverentia est.
For your modesty does not allow you to hope for more, which is so great in you that you seem to me about to draw back the strength of your talent if there should be a danger of winning; so great is your reverence for your predecessors.
§79.8Inter cetera hoc habet boni sapientia: nemo ab altero potest vinci, nisi dum ascenditur.
Among other things, wisdom has this good: no one can be surpassed by another, except while ascending.
Cum ad summum perveneris, paria sunt, non est incremento locus, statur.
When you have reached the summit, things are equal, there is no place for increase, one stands still.
Numquid sol magnitudini suae adicit? Numquid ultra quam solet, luna procedit? Maria non crescunt.
Does the sun add to its size? Does the moon proceed beyond what it is accustomed to? The seas do not grow.
Mundus eundem habitum ac modum servat.
The universe preserves the same appearance and measure.
§79.9Extollere se, quae iustam magnitudinem implevere, non possunt.
Those things which have filled their proper magnitude cannot exalt themselves.
Quicumque fuerint sapientes, pares erunt et aequales.
Whoever are wise will be equal and peerless.
Habebit unusquisque ex iis proprias dotes: alius erit adfabilior, alius expeditior, alius promptior in eloquendo, alius facundior; illud, de quo agitur, quod beatum facit, aequalest in omnibus.
Each of them will have his own gifts: one will be more affable, another more agile, another more prompt in speaking, another more eloquent; but that which is under discussion, which makes one happy, is equal in all.