§14Nunc interposito nomine idololatriae, quod solum subiectum sufficere debet ad abdicationem spectaculorum, alia iam ratione tractemus ex abundanti, propter eos maxime qui sibi blandiumtur quod non nominatim abstinentia ista praescripta sit.
Now that the name of idolatry has been introduced, which subject alone ought to suffice for the renunciation of spectacles, let us now treat of it from another perspective and in superabundance, especially for the sake of those who flatter themselves that this abstinence is not prescribed by name.
quasi parum etiam de spectaculis pronuntietur, cum concupiscentiae saeculi damnantur.
As if too little were declared concerning spectacles when the concupiscences of the world are condemned!
nam sicut pecuniae uel dignitatis uel gulae uel libidinis uel gloriae, ita et uolupta tis concupiscentia est; species autem uoluptatis etiam spectacula.
For just as there is a concupiscence of money, or of dignity, or of the belly, or of lust, or of glory, so also is there a concupiscence of pleasure; and spectacles are indeed a species of pleasure.
opinor, generaliter nominatae concupiscentiae continent in se et uoluptates, aeque generaliter intellectae uoluptates specialiter et in spectacula disseruntur.
I think that concupiscences named generally contain in themselves also pleasures, and likewise, pleasures understood generally are discussed specially also in spectacles.
§15Ceterum rettulimus supra de locorum condicione, quod non per semetipsa nos inquinent, sed per ea quae illic geruntur, per quae, simul inquinamentum combiberunt, tunc etiam in alteros respuunt.
For the rest, we have reported above concerning the condition of places, that they do not defile us through themselves, but through those things which are done there, through which, as soon as they have drunk in the pollution, they then also spit it out onto others.
uiderit ergo, ut diximus, principalis titulus, idololatria; reliquas ipsarum rerum qualitates contra ut dei omnes feramus.
Let the principal title, idolatry, look to itself, therefore, as we have said; let us all, on the other hand, bring forward the remaining qualities of these very things as people of God.
deus praecepit spiritum sanctum, utpote pro naturae suae bono tenerum et delicatum, tranquillitate et lenitate et quiete et pace tractare, non furore, non bile, non ira, non, dolore inquietare.
God has commanded us to treat the Holy Spirit—as being tender and delicate by the goodness of His nature—with tranquility, gentleness, quiet, and peace, and not to disquiet Him with fury, bile, anger, or grief.
huic quomodo cum spectaculis poterit conuenire? omne enim spectaculum sine concussione spiritus non est.
How will it be possible for Him to agree with spectacles? For every spectacle is not without a concussion of the spirit.
ubi enim Uoluptas, ibi et studium, per quod scilicet uoluptas sapit; ubi studium, ibi et aemulatio, per quam studium sapit.
For where there is pleasure, there is also eagerness, through which indeed pleasure has its savor; where there is eagerness, there is also rivalry, through which eagerness has its savor.
porro et ubi aemulatio, ibi et furor et bilis et ira et dolor et cetera ex his, quae cum his non conpetunt disciplinae.
Furthermore, where there is rivalry, there are also fury, bile, anger, grief, and other things of this sort, which do not agree with this discipline.
nam et si qui modeste et probe spectaculis fruitur pro dignitatis uel aetatis uel etiam naturae suae condicione, non tamen immobilis animi est et sine tacita spiritus passione.
For even if anyone enjoys the spectacles moderately and uprightly, according to the condition of his dignity, age, or even his nature, he is nevertheless not of an immovable mind and without a silent passion of the spirit.
nemo ad uoluptatem uenit sine affectu, nemo affectum sine casibus suis patitur.
No one comes to pleasure without emotion; no one suffers emotion without its accidents.
ipsi casus incitamenta sunt affectus.
The accidents themselves are incitements to emotion.
ceterum si cessat affectus, nulla est uoluptas, et est reus iam ille uanitatis eo conueniens, ubi nihil consequitur.
But if emotion ceases, there is no pleasure, and he is already guilty of vanity in assembling there where he attains nothing.
sed puto, [autem] etiam uanitas extranea est nobis.
But I think that vanity also is foreign to us.
quid quod et ipse se iudicat inter eos positus, quorum se simul nolens utique detestatorem confitetur? nobis satis non est, si ipsi nihil tale facimus, nisi et talia factitantibus non conferamur.
What of the fact that he also judges himself, being placed among those whom, willing or unwilling, he certainly confesses himself to detest? It is not enough for us if we ourselves do nothing of the kind, unless we are also not associated with those who habitually do such things.
si furem, inquit, uidebas, concurrebas cum eo. utinam ne in saeculo quidem simul cum illis moraremur.
"If you saw a thief," it says, "you ran with him." Would that we did not even dwell together with them in the world!
sed tamen in saecularibus separamur, quia saeculum dei est, saecularia autem diaboli.
Yet in worldly matters we are separated, because the world is God's, but worldly things are the devil's.
§16Cum ergo furor interdicitur nobis, ab omni spectaculo auferimur, etiam a circo, ubi proprie furor praesidet.
When, therefore, fury is forbidden to us, we are removed from every spectacle, even from the circus, where fury properly presides.
aspice populum ad id spectaculum iam cum furore uenientem, iam tumultuosum, iam caecum, iam de sponsionibus concitatum.
Behold the people coming to that spectacle already with fury, already tumultuous, already blind, already excited over bets.
tardus est illi pr[aetor, semper oculi in urna eius cum sortibus uolutantur.
The praetor is slow to them; their eyes are always rolling in his urn with the lots.
dehinc ad signum anxii pendent, unius dementiae una uox est.
Then they hang anxious for the signal; there is one voice of a single madness.
cognosce dementiam de uanitate: misit, dicunt et nuntiant inuicem quod simul ab omnibus uisum est.
Learn the madness from its vanity: "He has thrown it!" they say, and they announce in turn to one another what has been seen at once by all.
teneo testimonium caecitatis: non uident missum quid sit, mappam putant; sed est diaboli ab alto praecipitati figura.
I hold the testimony of their blindness: they do not see what has been thrown, they think it is a mappa; but it is the figure of the devil cast down from on high.
ex eo itaque itur in furias et animos et discordias et quicquid non licet sacerdotibus pacis.
From that, therefore, they go into furies, passions, discords, and whatever is not permitted to the priests of peace.
inde maledicta, conuicia sine iustitia odii, etiam suffragia sine merito amoris.
Hence curses, insults without justice of hatred, and even applause without merit of love.
quid enim suum consecuturi sunt, qui illic agunt, qui sui non sunt? nisi forte hoc solum, per quod sui non sunt: de aliena infelicitate contristantur, de aliena felicitate laetantur.
For what of their own are they going to attain, those who act there, who are not their own? Unless perhaps this alone, through which they are not their own: they are saddened by another's unhappiness, and they rejoice in another's happiness.
quicquid optant, quicquid abominantur, extraneum ab iis est; ita et amor apud illos otiosus et odium iniustum.
Whatever they wish, whatever they abominate, is foreign to them; thus both love is idle among them, and hatred is unjust.
an forsitan sine causa amare liceat quam sine causa odisse? deus certe etiam cum causa prohibet odisse, qui inimicos diligi iubet; deus etiam cum causa maledicere non sinit, qui maledicentes benedici praecipit.
Or is it perhaps permitted to love without cause, as it is to hate without cause? God certainly forbids hating even with cause, He who commands enemies to be loved; God does not allow cursing even with cause, He who prescribes that those who curse be blessed.
sed circo quid amarius, ubi ne principibus quidem aut ciuibus suis parcunt? si quid horum, quibus circus furit, alicubi conpetit sanctis, etiam in circo licebit, si uero nusquam, ideo nec. in circo.
But what is more bitter than the circus, where they spare not even their leaders or their fellow citizens? If any of these things with which the circus rages is anywhere compatible with the holy, it will be permitted also in the circus; but if nowhere, therefore neither in the circus.