§85.33Ego aliter respondendum iudico: nec artem gubernatoris deteriorem ulla tempestate fieri nec ipsam administrationem artis.
I judge that we should respond differently: that neither the art of the pilot is made worse by any storm, nor the actual administration of the art.
Gubernator tibi non felicitatem promisit, sed utilem operam et navis regendae scientiam.
The pilot did not promise you success, but useful effort and the knowledge of steering a ship.
Haec eo magis apparet, quo illi magis aliqua fortuita vis obstitit.
This appears the more, the more some fortuitous force has opposed him.
Qui hoc potuit dicere "Neptune, numquam hanc navem nisi rectam," arti satis fecit; tempestas non opus gubernatoris impedit, sed successum.
He who could say this, "Neptune, never except upright this ship," has done enough for his art; the storm does not hinder the pilot's work, but his success.
" §85.34Quid ergo? "inquit, "non nocet gubernatori ea res, quae illum tenere portum vetat, quae conatus eius inritos efficit, quae aut refert illum aut detinet et exarmat? "Non tamquam gubernatori, sed tamquam naviganti nocet;
"What then?" he says, "does not that thing harm the pilot which forbids him to reach harbor, which makes his attempts fruitless, which either drives him back or detains and disables him?" It harms him not as a pilot, but as a voyager; otherwise, he is no pilot.
alioqui gubernator ille non est. Gubernatoris artem adeo non inpedit, ut ostendat; tranquillo enim, ut aiunt, quilibet gubernator est.
It is so far from hindering the pilot's art that it actually reveals it; for in a calm, as they say, anyone is a pilot.
Navigio ista obsunt, non rectori eius, qua rector est.
Those things obstruct the vessel, not its director, insofar as he is a director.
§85.35Duas personas habet gubernator: alteram communem cum omnibus, qui eandem conscenderunt navem: ipse quoque vector est; alteram propriam: gubernator est.
A pilot has two roles: one common to all who have embarked on the same ship, as he too is a passenger; the other proper to himself, as he is the pilot.
Tempestas tamquam vectori nocet, non tamquam gubernatori.
The storm harms him as a passenger, not as a pilot.
§85.36Deinde gubernatoris ars alienum bonum est: ad eos, quos vehit, pertinet, quomodo medici ad eos, quos curat.
Furthermore, the pilot's art is another's good: it belongs to those whom he carries, just as the physician's art belongs to those whom he cures.
Commune bonum est sapientis: est et eorum, cum quibus vivit, et proprium ipsius.
The wise man's good is common: it belongs both to those with whom he lives and is proper to himself.
Itaque gubernatori fortasse noceatur, cuius ministerium aliis promissum tempestate inpeditur; sapienti non nocetur a paupertate, non a dolore, non ab aliis tempestatibus vitae.
Therefore, the pilot, whose service promised to others is hindered by a storm, might perhaps be harmed; but the wise man is not harmed by poverty, nor by pain, nor by other storms of life.
§85.37Non enim prohibentur opera eius omnia, sed tantum ad alios pertinentia; ipse semper in actu est, in effectu tunc maximus, cum illi fortuna se opposuit.
For not all of his works are prevented, but only those pertaining to others; he himself is always in action, and greatest in effect when fortune has opposed him.
Tunc enim ipsius sapientiae negotium agit, quam diximus et alienum bonum esse et suum.
For then he is doing the business of wisdom itself, which we have said is both another's good and his own.
§85.38Praeterea ne aliis quidem tunc prodesse prohibetur, cum illum aliquae necessitates premunt.
Moreover, he is not even prevented from benefiting others when some necessities press upon him.
Propter paupertatem prohibetur docere, quemadmodum tractanda res publica sit, at illud docet, quemadmodum sit tractanda paupertas.
Because of poverty he is prevented from teaching how the commonwealth should be managed, yet he teaches how poverty itself should be managed.
Per totam vitam opus eius extenditur.
His work is extended through his whole life.
Ita nulla fortuna, nulla res actus sapientis excludit.
Thus no fortune, no circumstance excludes the wise man's action.
Id enim ipsum agit, quo alia agere prohibetur.
For he is doing that very thing by which he is prevented from doing other things.
Ad utrosque casus aptus est: bonorum rector est, malorum victor.
He is fit for both outcomes: he is the guide of good things, the conqueror of bad.
§85.39Sic, inquam, se exercuit, ut virtutem tam in secundis quam in adversis exhiberet nec materiam eius, sed ipsam intueretur.
In this way, I say, he has trained himself to show virtue as much in prosperity as in adversity, and to look not at its material but at virtue itself.
Itaque nec paupertas illum nec dolor nec quicquid aliud imperitos avertit et praecipites agit, prohibet.
Therefore, neither poverty, nor pain, nor anything else that turns away the inexperienced and drives them headlong, prevents him.
Tu illum premi putas malis?
Do you think he is oppressed by evils?
§85.40Utitur.
He uses them.
Non ex ebore tantum Phidias sciebat facere simulacra; faciebat ex aere.
Phidias did not know how to make statues only from ivory; he made them from bronze.
Si marmor illi, si adhuc viliorem materiam obtulisses, fecisset, quale ex illa fieri optimum posset.
If you had offered him marble, or an even cheaper material, he would have made the best thing that could be made from it.
Sic sapiens virtutem, si licebit, in divitiis explicabit, si minus, in paupertate; si poterit, in patria, si minus, in exilio; si poterit, imperator, si minus, miles; si poterit, integer, si minus, debilis.
So the wise man will display virtue, if it is allowed, in riches, if not, in poverty; if he can, in his country, if not, in exile; if he can, as a general, if not, as a soldier; if he can, healthy, if not, weak.
Quamcumque fortunam acceperit, aliquid ex illa memorabile efficiet.
Whatever fortune he receives, he will make something memorable out of it.
§85.41Certi sunt domitores ferarum, qui saevissima animalia et ad occursum expavescenda hominem pati subigunt nec asperitatem excussisse contenti usque in contubernium mitigant.
There are skilled tamers of wild beasts, who subdue the fiercest animals, which are terrifying even to meet, to tolerate man, and not content with having shaken off their wildness, they tame them even to the point of sharing their quarters.
Leonibus magister manum insertat, osculatur tigrim suus custos, elephantum minimus Aethiops iubet subsidere in genua et ambulare per funem.
The master inserts his hand into the lions' mouths, his keeper kisses the tiger, the smallest Ethiopian orders the elephant to sink to its knees and to walk upon a rope.
Sic sapiens artifex est domandi mala.
So the wise man is an artist at taming evils.
Dolor, egestas, ignominia, carcer, exilium ubique horrenda, cum ad hunc pervenere, mansueta sunt.
Pain, poverty, disgrace, prison, exile, everywhere terrifying, become gentle when they come to him.
VALE.
FAREWELL.