§96.1Tamen tu indignans aliquid aut querens et non intellegis nihil esse in istis mali nisi hoc unum, quod indignans et querens? Si me interrogas, nihil puto viro miserum nisi aliquid esse in rerum natura, quod putet miserum.
Yet you are indignant at something or complaining, and you do not understand that there is nothing of evil in those things except this one thing, that you are indignant and complaining? If you ask me, I think nothing is wretched for a man except that there is something in the nature of things which he thinks is wretched.
Non feram me, quo die aliquid ferre non potero.
I will not endure myself on the day when I am unable to endure something.
Male valeo; pars fati est.
I am in bad health; it is part of fate.
Familia decubuit, faenus offendit, domus crepuit, damna, vulnera, labores, metus incucurrerunt; solet fieri.
My household has fallen ill, my investments have met with a setback, my house has creaked, losses, wounds, labors, fears have rushed in upon me; it is accustomed to happen.
Hoc parum est; debuit fieri.
This is too little; it ought to happen.
§96.2Decernuntur ista, non accidunt.
Those things are decreed, they do not happen by chance.
Si quid credis mihi, intimos adfectus meos tibi cum maxime detego; in omnibus, quae adversa videntur et dura, sic formatus sum: non pareo deo, sed adsentior.
If you believe me at all, I am disclosing my innermost feelings to you at this very moment; in all things which seem adverse and hard, I am so formed: I do not obey God, but I agree with Him.
Ex animo illum, non quia necesse est, sequor.
I follow Him from my heart, not because it is necessary.
Nihil umquam mihi incidet, quod tristis excipiam, quod malo vultu.
Nothing will ever happen to me which I will receive with sadness, or with a bad face.
Nullum tributum invitus conferam.
I will pay no tribute unwillingly.
Omnia autem, ad quae gemimus, quae expavescimus, tributa vitae sunt; horum, mi Lucili, nec speraveris immunitatem nec petieris.
But all things at which we groan, which we dread, are the tributes of life; of these, my Lucilius, you should neither hope for nor seek immunity.
§96.3Vesicae te dolor inquietavit, epistulae venerunt parum dulces, detrimenta continua, propius accedam, de capite timuisti.
Pain of the bladder has disquieted you, letters have arrived that are not very sweet, continuous losses—I will come closer—you feared for your life.
Quid, tu nesciebas haec te optare, cum optares senectutem? Omnia ista in longa vita sunt, quomodo in longa via et pulvis et lutum et pluvia.
What, did you not know that you were wishing for these things when you wished for old age? All those things are in a long life, just as both dust and mud and rain are in a long journey.
" §96.4Sed volebam vivere, carere tamen incommodis omnibus. "Tam effeminata vox virum dedecet.
"But I wanted to live, yet to be free from all discomforts." Such an effeminate voice is unbecoming to a man.
Videris, quemadmodum hoc votum meum excipias; ego illud magno animo, non tantum bono facio: neque di neque deae faciant, ut te fortuna in deliciis habeat.
You will see how you receive this wish of mine; I make it with a great mind, not merely with a good one: may neither gods nor goddesses allow fortune to keep you in luxury.
§96.5Ipse te interroga, si quis potestatem tibi deus faciat, utrum velis vivere in macello an in castris.
Ask yourself, if some god should give you the choice, whether you would wish to live in a market or in a camp.
Atqui vivere, Lucili, militare est.
And yet to live, Lucilius, is to do military service.
Itaque hi, qui iactantur et per operosa atque ardua sursum ac deorsum eunt et expeditiones periculosissimas obeunt, fortes viri sunt primoresque castrorum; isti, quos putida quies aliis laborantibus molliter habet, turturillae sunt, tuti contumeliae causa.
Therefore those who are tossed about and go up and down through painful and steep places and undergo the most dangerous expeditions, are brave men and the leaders of the camp; those whom a rotten ease holds softly while others labor, are turtle-doves, safe by reason of their ignominy.
Vale.
Farewell.
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA
THE EPISTLES OF SENECA