§6.1"Quare tamen bonis viris patitur aliquid mali deus fieri? "Ille vero non patitur.
"Why, however, does God allow any evil to happen to good men?" Indeed, he does not allow it.
Omnia mala ab illis removit, scelera et flagitia et cogitationes improbas et avida consilia et libidinem caecam et alieno imminentem avaritiam;
He has removed all evils from them: crimes, shameful deeds, wicked thoughts, greedy designs, blind lust, and avarice eyeing another's property; he protects and defends them themselves.
ipsos tuetur ac vindicat: numquid hoc quoque aliquis a deo exigit, ut bonorum virorum etiam sarcinas servet? Remittunt ipsi hanc deo curam: externa contemnunt.
Does anyone demand this also of God, that he should even guard the baggage of good men? They themselves release God from this care; they despise external things.
§6.2Democritus divitias proiecit onus illas bonae mentis existimans.
Democritus cast away riches, deeming them a burden to a good mind.
Quid ergo miraris, si id deus bono viro accidere patitur quod vir bonus aliquando vult sibi accidere? Filios amittunt viri boni; quidni, cum aliquando et occidant? In exilium mittuntur; quidni, cum aliquando ipsi patriam non repetituri relinquant? Occiduntur; quidni, cum aliquando ipsi sibi manus afferant? Quare quaedam dura patiuntur? Ut alios pati doceant; §6.3nati sunt in exemplar.
Why then do you wonder if God allows that to happen to a good man which a good man sometimes wishes to happen to himself? Good men lose their children; why not, since sometimes they even kill them? They are sent into exile; why not, since sometimes they themselves leave their country, never to return? They are killed; why not, since sometimes they lay hands upon themselves? Why do they suffer certain hardships? In order that they may teach others to suffer; they were born to be an examplar.
Puta itaque deum dicere: "Quid habetis quod de me queri possitis, vos, quibus recta placuerunt? Aliis bona falsa circumdedi et animos inanes velut longo fallacique somnio lusi.
Think, therefore, that God says: "What reason have you to complain of me, you, who have found pleasure in right things? I have surrounded others with false goods, and have mocked their empty minds as if with a long and deceptive dream.
Auro illos et argento et ebore adornavi, intus boni nihil est.
I have adorned them with gold and silver and ivory, but within there is nothing of good.
§6.4Isti quos pro felicibus aspicis, si non qua occurrunt sed qua latent videris, miseri sunt, sordidi, turpes, ad similitudinem parietum suorum extrinsecus culti;
Those whom you look upon as happy, if you view them not where they present themselves but where they are hidden, are miserable, filthy, base, and, in the likeness of their own walls, adorned only on the outside.
non est ista solida et sincera felicitas; crusta est et quidem tenuis.
That is no solid and genuine happiness; it is a crust, and a thin one indeed.
Itaque dum illis licet stare et ad arbitrium suum ostendi, nitent et imponunt; cum aliquid incidit quod disturbet ac detegat, tunc apparet quantum altae ac verae foeditatis alienus splendor absconderit.
Therefore, as long as they are allowed to stand and show themselves at their own pleasure, they shine and impose; but when something happens to disturb and lay them open, then it appears how much deep and true foulness their borrowed splendor concealed.
§6.5Vobis dedi bona certa, mansura, quanto magis versaverit aliquis et undique inspexerit, meliora maioraque: permisi vobis metuenda contemnere, cupiditates fastidire; non fulgetis extrinsecus, bona vestra introrsus obversa sunt.
To you I have given certain, lasting goods, which become better and greater the more one turns them over and examines them from every side: I have permitted you to despise things to be feared, to loathe desires; you do not shine outwardly, your goods are turned inward.
Sic mundus exteriora contempsit spectaculo sui laetus.
Thus the universe has despised external things, happy in the contemplation of itself.
Intus omne posui bonum; non egere felicitate felicitas vestra est.
Within I have placed every good; your happiness is not to need happiness.
§6.6' At multa incidunt tristia, horrenda, dura toleratu. ' Quia non poteram vos istis subducere, animos vestros adversus omnia armavi; ferte fortiter.
'But many sad, dreadful things, hard to bear, happen.' Because I could not withdraw you from those things, I have armed your minds against all things; bear them bravely.
Hoc est quo deum antecedatis; ille extra patientiam malorum est, vos supra patientiam.
This is that by which you may surpass God: he is beyond the suffering of evils, you are above the suffering.
Contemnite paupertatem; nemo tam pauper vivit quam natus est.
Despise poverty; no one lives as poor as he was born.
Contemnite dolorem; aut solvetur aut solvet.
Despise pain; either it will be resolved or it will resolve you.
Contemnite mortem; quae vos aut finit aut transfert.
Despise death; which either ends you or transfers you.
Contemnite fortunam; nullum illi telum quo feriret animum dedi.
Despise fortune; I have given her no weapon with which to strike your mind.
§6.7Ante omnia cavi, ne quid vos teneret invitos; patet exitus.
Above all things I have taken care that nothing should hold you against your will; the exit lies open.
Si pugnare non vultis, licet fugere.
If you do not wish to fight, you are permitted to flee.
Ideo ex omnibus rebus quas esse vobis necessarias volui nihil feci facilius quam mori.
Therefore, of all things which I willed to be necessary for you, I have made nothing easier than to die.
Prono animam loco posui; trahitur, adtendite modo et videbitis quam brevis ad libertatem et quam expedita ducat via.
I have placed the soul in a downward slope; it is drawn down; only pay attention and you will see how short and how easy is the path that leads to liberty.
Non tam longas in exitu vobis quam intrantibus moras posui; alioqui magnum in vos regnum fortuna tenuisset, si homo tam tarde moreretur quam nascitur.
I have not placed such long delays for you in going out as for those entering; otherwise, fortune would have held a great kingdom over you, if a man died as slowly as he is born.
§6.8Omne tempus, omnis vos locus doceat quam facile sit renuntiare naturae et munus illi suum impingere; inter ipsa altaria et sollemnes sacrificantium ritus, dum optatur vita, mortem condiscite.
Let every time, every place teach you how easy it is to renounce nature and fling her own gift back at her; between the very altars and the solemn rites of those who sacrifice, while life is being prayed for, learn death.
Corpora opima taurorum exiguo concidunt vulnere et magnarum virium animalia humanae manus ictus impellit; tenui ferro commissura cervicis abrumpitur, et cum articulus ille qui caput collumque committit incisus est, tanta illa moles corruit.
The fat bodies of bulls fall by a tiny wound, and the blow of a human hand strikes down animals of great strength; by a thin iron blade the joint of the neck is severed, and when that joint which connects the head and neck is cut, that vast mass falls.
§6.9Non in alto latet spiritus nec utique ferro eruendus est; non sunt vulnere penitus impresso scrutanda praecordia: in proximo mors est.
The breath does not hide in the deep, nor is it to be forced out with iron; the vitals are not to be searched by a deeply driven wound: death is close at hand.
Non certum ad hos ictus destinavi locum; quacumque vis pervium est.
I have not destined a fixed place for these blows; wherever you wish, there is a passage.
Ipsum illud quod vocatur mori, quo anima discedit a corpore, brevius est quam ut sentiri tanta velocitas possit.
That very thing which is called dying, by which the soul departs from the body, is too brief for such great velocity to be felt.
Sive fauces nodus elisit, sive spiramentum aqua praeclusit, sive in caput lapsos subiacentis soli duritia comminuit, sive haustus ignis cursum animae remeantis interscidit; quicquid est, properat.
Whether a knot has choked the throat, or water has closed the breath, or the hardness of the underlying ground has crushed those who fell headlong, or the swallowing of fire has cut off the course of the returning breath; whatever it is, it makes haste.
Ecquid erubescitis? Quod tam cito fit, timetis diu!"
Are you not at all ashamed? That which happens so quickly, you fear for so long!"