§1Oblatrantem te et aduersus Deum qui unus et uerus est ore sacrilego et uerbis impiis obstrepentem frequenter, Demetriane, contempseram uerecundius et melius existimans errantis inperitiam silentio spernere quam loquendo dementis insaniam prouocare.
For a long time, Demetrianus, I had disregarded you as you frequently barked against us and clamored with sacrilegious mouth and impious words against the God who is one and true, thinking it more modest and better to despise the ignorance of an erring man in silence than to provoke the madness of a lunatic by speaking.
nec hoc sine magisterii diuini auctoritate faciebam, cum scriptum sit: in aures inprudentis noli quicquam dicere, ne quando audierit inrideat sensatos sermones tuos, et iterum: noli respondere inprudenti ad inprudentiam eius ne similis fias illi, et sanctum quoque iubeamur intra conscientiam nostram tenere nec inculcandum porcis et canibus exponere loquente Domino et dicente: ne dederitis sanctum canibus neque miseritis margaritas uestras ante porcos, ne inculcent eas pedibus suis.
Nor did I do this without the authority of the divine teaching, since it is written: Do not speak anything into the ears of an imprudent man, lest when he hears he mock your wise words; and again: Do not answer an imprudent man according to his imprudence, lest you become like him; and we are also commanded to keep what is holy within our conscience and not expose it to be trampled upon by pigs and dogs, as the Lord speaks and says: Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them under their feet.
nam cum ad me saepe studio magis contradicendi quam uoto discendi uenires et clamosis uocibus personans malles tua inpudenter ingerere quam nostra patienter audire, ineptum uidebatur congredi tecum, quando facilius esset et leuius turbulenti maris concitos fluctus clamoribus retundere quam tuam rabiem tractatibus coercere.
For since you often came to me rather with a zeal for contradicting than with a desire for learning, and, sounding with clamorous voices, preferred to impudently thrust in your own views rather than patiently listen to ours, it seemed unsuitable to engage with you, since it would be easier and lighter to blunt the stirred waves of a turbulent sea with shouts than to restrain your madness with arguments.
certe et labor inritus et nullus effectus offerre lumen caeco, sermonem surdo, sapientiam bruto, cum nec sentire brutus possit nec caecus lumen admittere nec surdus audire.
Certainly, it is both a fruitless labor and of no effect to offer light to the blind, speech to the deaf, wisdom to the brute, since the brute cannot perceive, nor can the blind admit light, nor the deaf hear.
§2Haec considerans saepe conticui et inpatientem patientia uici, cum nec docere indocilem possem nec impium religione comprimere nec furentem lenitate cohibere.
Considering these things, I often remained silent and conquered the impatient man with patience, since I could neither teach the unteachable, nor restrain the impious with religion, nor check the raging with gentleness.
sed enim cum dicas plurimos conqueri et quod bella crebrius surgant, quod lues, quod fames saeuiant, quodque imbres et pluuias serena longa suspendant nobis imputari, tacere ultra non oportet, ne iam non uerecundiae, sed diffidentiae esse incipiat quod tacemus, et dum criminationes falsas contemnimus refutare, uideamur crimen agnoscere.
But indeed, since you say that very many people complain, and that it is imputed to us that wars arise more frequently, that pestilence and famine rage, and that long droughts suspend rain and showers, it is no longer proper to keep silent, lest what we keep silent about begin to be ascribed not to modesty, but to diffidence, and while we neglect to refute false accusations, we seem to acknowledge the charge.
respondeo igitur et tibi, Demetriane, pariter et ceteris quos tu forsitan concitasti et aduersum nos odia tuis maledicis uocibus seminando comites tibi plures radicis adque originis tui pullulatione fecisti: quos tamen sermonis nostri admittere credo rationem.
Therefore, I answer both you, Demetrianus, and likewise the others whom you have perhaps stirred up and, by sowing hatred against us with your abusive words, have made many companions to yourself by the budding of your root and origin; whom, however, I believe will admit the reason of our discourse.
nam qui ad malum motus est mendacio fallente multo magis ad bonum mouebitur ueritate.
For he who has been moved to evil by a deceiving falsehood will be much more moved to good by the truth.
§3Dixisti per nos fieri et quod nobis debeant inputari omnia ista quibus nunc mundus quatitur et urguetur, quod dii uestri a nobis non colantur.
You said that all these troubles with which the world is now shaken and distressed are caused by us and must be imputed to us, because your gods are not worshiped by us.
qua in parte qui ignarus diuinae cognitionis et ueritatis alienus es illud primo in loco scire debes senuisse iam saeculum, non illis uiribus stare quibus prius steterat nec uigore et robore ipso ualere quo antea praeualebat.
In this matter, you who are ignorant of divine knowledge and estranged from the truth must know in the first place that the world has already grown old, and does not stand with those strengths with which it previously stood, nor does it prevail with that very vigor and robustness with which it formerly excelled.
hoc etiam nobis tacentibus et nulla de scripturis sanctis praedicationibusque diuinis documenta promentibus mundus ipse iam loquitur et occasum sui rerum labentium probatione testatur.
This, even while we keep silent and bring forward no proofs from the Holy Scriptures and divine preaching, the world itself already speaks, and witnesses its own downfall by the proof of failing things.
non hieme nutriendis seminibus tanta imbrium copia est, non frugibus aestate torrendis solita flagrantia est nec sic uerna de temperie sua laeta sunt nec adeo arboreis fetibus autumna fecunda sunt.
There is not such a great abundance of rain in winter for nourishing the seeds, nor is there the usual heat in summer for ripening the crops, nor are the springtimes so joyful with their temperate climate, nor are the autumns so fruitful with tree products.
minus de ecfossis et fatigatis montibus eruuntur marmorum crustae, minus argenti et auri opes suggerunt exhausta iam metalla et pauperes uenae breuiantur in dies singulos.
Fewer slabs of marble are dug out from the excavated and exhausted mountains, less wealth of gold and silver is supplied by the now depleted mines, and the impoverished veins are shortened day by day.
et decrescit ac deficit in aruis agricola, in mari nauta, miles in castris, innocentia in foro, iustitia in iudicio, in amicitiis concordia, in artibus peritia, in moribus disciplina.
And there decreases and fails in the fields the husbandman, on the sea the sailor, the soldier in the camp, innocence in the forum, justice in the court, concord in friendships, skill in the arts, discipline in morals.
putasne tu tantam posse substantiam rei senescentis existere, quantum prius potuit nouella adhuc et uegeta iuuenta pollere? minuatur necesse est quicquid fine iam proximo in occidua et extrema deuergit.
Do you think that the substance of a growing old thing can exist as great as that which could previously flourish in its still new and vigorous youth?
sic sol in occasu suo radios minus claro et igneo splendore iaculatur, sic declinante iam cursu exoletis cornibus luna tenuatur, et arbor quae fuerat ante uiridis et fertilis arescentibus ramis fit postmodum sterilis, senectute deformis, et fons qui exundantibus prius uenis largiter profluebat senectute deficiens uix modico sudore destillat.
It must of necessity be diminished, whatever near its end declines towards its setting and final limit.
haec sententia mundo data est, haec Dei lex est ut omnia orta occidant et aucta senescant et infirmentur fortia et magna minuantur et cum infirmata et deminuta fuerint finiantur.
Thus the sun in its setting hurls its rays with a less clear and fiery splendor; thus the moon, as its course declines, is thinned with worn-out horns; and the tree which was previously green and fertile afterwards becomes barren with drying branches, deformed by old age; and the spring which previously flowed abundantly with overflowing veins, failing through old age, scarcely drips with a modest moisture. This sentence has been given to the world; this is the law of God, that all things which have arisen should perish, and having grown should grow old, and the strong should become weak, and the great should be diminished, and when they have been weakened and diminished, they should come to an end.
Christianis inputas quod minuantur singula mundo senescente.
You impute to Christians that individual things are diminished as the world grows old.