§91.1Liberalis noster nunc tristis est nuntiato incendio, quo Lugdunensis colonia exusta est.
Our friend Liberalis is now sad at the news of the fire by which the colony of Lugdunum was consumed.
Movere hic casus quemlibet posset, nedum hominem patriae suae amantissimum.
This disaster could move anyone, let alone a man most loving of his homeland.
Quae res effecit, ut firmitatem animi sui quaerat, quam videlicet ad ea, quae timeri posse putabat, exercuit.
This event has caused him to seek the firmness of his own mind, which he clearly had trained for those things which he thought could be feared.
Hoc vero tam inopinatum malum et paene inauditum non miror si sine metu fuit, cum esset sine exemplo.
But I do not wonder if he was without fear regarding this so unexpected and almost unheard-of evil, since it was without precedent.
Multas enim civitates incendium vexavit, nullam abstulit.
For fire has harassed many cities, but has destroyed none completely.
Nam etiam ubi hostili manu in tecta ignis inmissus est, multis locis deficit, et quamvis subinde excitetur, raro tamen sic cuncta depascitur, ut nihil ferro relinquat.
For even when fire is let loose upon buildings by a hostile hand, it dies out in many places, and although it is repeatedly kindled, yet it rarely devours everything in such a way as to leave nothing for the sword.
Terrarum quoque vix umquam tam gravis et perniciosus fuit motus, ut tota oppida everteret.
Even earthquakes have scarcely ever been so heavy and destructive as to overturn entire towns.
Numquam denique tam infestum ulli exarsit incendium, ut nihil alteri superesset incendio.
Finally, never did so fierce a fire break out for anyone that nothing was left for a second fire.
§91.2Tot pulcherrima opera, quae singula inlustrare urbes singulas possent, una nox stravit, et in tanta pace quantum ne bello quidem timeri potest accidit.
So many most beautiful works, each of which could have adorned a single city, a single night has laid low, and in such peace there has happened what could not be feared even in war.
Quis hoc credat? Ubique annis quiescentibus, cum toto orbe terrarum diffusa securitas sit, Lugudunum, quod ostendebatur in Gallia, quaeritur.
Who would believe this? Everywhere, while the years are at peace and security is spread over the whole world, Lugdunum, which used to be pointed out in Gaul, is now sought.
Omnibus fortuna, quos publice adflixit, quod passuri erant, timere permisit.
To all those whom fortune has afflicted publicly, she has permitted them to fear what they were going to suffer.
Nulla res magna non aliquod habuit ruinae suae spatium; in hac una nox interfuit inter urbem maximam et nullam.
No great thing has not had some interval for its ruin; in this case alone, a single night lay between a greatest city and none.
Denique diutius illam tibi perisse quam perit narro.
In short, I am telling you of its destruction longer than it took for it to perish.
§91.3Haec omnia Liberalis nostri adfectum inclinant adversus sua firmum et erectum.
All these things shake the mind of our Liberalis, which was firm and upright against his own trials.
Nec sine causa concussus est; inexpectata plus adgravant; novitas adicit calamitatibus pondus, nec quisquam mortalium non magis quod etiam miratus est, doluit.
Nor has he been shaken without cause; unexpected things oppress us more; novelty adds weight to calamities, and there is no mortal who has not grieved more at what he also wondered at.
§91.4Ideo nihil nobis inprovisum esse debet.
Therefore, nothing ought to be unforeseen by us.
In omnia praemittendus animus cogitandumque non quidquid solet, sed quicquid potest fieri.
The mind must be sent ahead into all things, and we must think not of what usually happens, but of whatever can happen.
Quid enim est, quod non fortuna, cum voluit, ex florentissimo detrahat? Quod non eo magis adgrediatur et quatiat, quo speciosius fulget? Quid illi arduum quidve difficile est?
For what is there that fortune, when she wills, does not drag down from its most flourishing state? What does she not attack and shake all the more, the more splendidly it shines? What is arduous or what is difficult for her?
§91.5Non una via semper, ne tota quidem incurrit, modo nostras in nos manus advocat, modo suis contenta viribus invenit pericula sine auctore.
She does not always attack by one path, nor even with her whole force; at one time she summons our own hands against us, at another time, content with her own strength, she finds dangers without an author.
Nullum tempus exceptum est; in ipsis voluptatibus causae doloris oriuntur.
No time is exempted; in the midst of pleasures themselves, the causes of pain arise.
Bellum in media pace consurgit et auxilia securitatis in metum transeunt; ex amico inimicus, hostis ex socio.
War rises up in the midst of peace, and the aids of security turn into fear; a foe is made from a friend, an enemy from an ally.
In subitas tempestates hibernisque maiores agitur aestiva tranquillitas.
Summer tranquility is driven into sudden tempests greater than those of winter.
Sine hoste patimur hostilia, et cladis causas, si alia deficiunt, nimia sibi felicitas invenit.
Without an enemy we suffer hostile things, and excessive prosperity, if other things fail, finds causes of ruin for itself.
Invadit temperantissimos morbus, validissimos phthisis, innocentissimos poena, secretissimos tumultus.
Disease invades the most temperate, tuberculosis the strongest, punishment the most innocent, tumult the most retired.
Eligit aliquid novi casus, per quod velut oblitis vires suas ingerat.
Misfortune chooses something new through which to thrust its strength upon us as if we had forgotten it.
§91.6Quidquid longa series multis laboribus, multa deum indulgentia struxit, id unus dies spargit ac dissipat.
Whatever a long series of years has built up with many labors and much indulgence of the gods, a single day scatters and dissipates.
Longam moram dedit malis properantibus, qui diem dixit; hora momentumque temporis evertendis imperiis sufficit.
He who specified a "day" gave a long delay to rushing evils; an hour and a moment of time is sufficient for overturning empires.
Esset aliquod inbecillitatis nostrae solacium rerumque nostrarum, si tam tarde perirent cuncta quam fiunt; nunc incrementa lente exeunt, festinatur in damnum.
It would be some consolation for our weakness and for our affairs if all things perished as slowly as they are made; now, growth goes on slowly, but ruin is rushed.