De Rerum Natura |
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
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Nunc alii sensus quo pacto quisque suam rem sentiat , haud quaquam ratio scruposa relicta est . Principio auditur sonus et vox omnis , in auris insinuata suo pepulere ubi corpore sensum . corpoream quoque enim constare fatendumst et sonitum , quoniam possunt inpellere sensus . Praeterea radit vox fauces saepe facitque asperiora foras gradiens arteria clamor , quippe per angustum turba maiore coorta ire foras ubi coeperunt primordia vocum . scilicet expletis quoque ianua raditur oris . haud igitur dubiumst quin voces verbaque constent corporeis e principiis , ut laedere possint . nec te fallit item quid corporis auferat et quid detrahat ex hominum nervis ac viribus ipsis perpetuus sermo nigrai noctis ad umbram aurorae perductus ab exoriente nitore , praesertim si cum summost clamore profusus . ergo corpoream vocem constare necessest , multa loquens quoniam amittit de corpore partem . Asperitas autem vocis fit ab asperitate principiorum et item levor levore creatur ; nec simili penetrant auris primordia forma , cum tuba depresso graviter sub murmure mugit et reboat raucum retro cita barbita bombum , et Dauliades natae hortis ex Heliconis cum liquidam tollunt lugubri voce querellam .
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And now remains to demonstrate with ease How other senses each their things perceive. Firstly, a sound and every voice is heard, When, getting into ears, they strike the sense With their own body. For confess we must Even voice and sound to be corporeal, Because they're able on the sense to strike. Besides voice often scrapes against the throat, And screams in going out do make more rough The wind-pipe- naturally enough, methinks, When, through the narrow exit rising up In larger throng, these primal germs of voice Have thus begun to issue forth. In sooth, Also the door of the mouth is scraped against [By air blown outward] from distended [cheeks]. . . . . . . And thus no doubt there is, that voice and words Consist of elements corporeal, With power to pain. Nor art thou unaware Likewise how much of body's ta'en away, How much from very thews and powers of men May be withdrawn by steady talk, prolonged Even from the rising splendour of the morn To shadows of black evening,- above all If 't be outpoured with most exceeding shouts. Therefore the voice must be corporeal, Since the long talker loses from his frame A part. Moreover, roughness in the sound Comes from the roughness in the primal germs, As a smooth sound from smooth ones is create; Nor have these elements a form the same When the trump rumbles with a hollow roar, As when barbaric Berecynthian pipe Buzzes with raucous boomings, or when swans By night from icy shores of Helicon With wailing voices raise their liquid dirge. |
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Hasce igitur penitus voces cum corpore nostro exprimimus rectoque foras emittimus ore , mobilis articulat nervorum daedala lingua , formaturaque labrorum pro parte figurat . hoc ubi non longum spatiumst unde illa profecta perveniat vox quaeque , necessest verba quoque ipsa plane exaudiri discernique articulatim ; servat enim formaturam servatque figuram . at si inter positum spatium sit longius aequo , aëra per multum confundi verba necessest et conturbari vocem , dum transvolat auras . ergo fit , sonitum ut possis sentire neque illam internoscere , verborum sententia quae sit ; usque adeo confusa venit vox inque pedita . Praeterea verbum saepe unum perciet auris omnibus in populo missum praeconis ab ore . in multas igitur voces vox una repente diffugit , in privas quoniam se dividit auris obsignans formam verbis clarumque sonorem . at quae pars vocum non auris incidit ipsas , praeter lata perit frustra diffusa per auras . pars solidis adlisa locis reiecta sonorem reddit et inter dum frustratur imagine verbi .
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Thus, when from deep within our frame we force These voices, and at mouth expel them forth, The mobile tongue, artificer of words, Makes them articulate, and too the lips By their formations share in shaping them. Hence when the space is short from starting-point To where that voice arrives, the very words Must too be plainly heard, distinctly marked. For then the voice conserves its own formation, Conserves its shape. But if the space between Be longer than is fit, the words must be Through the much air confounded, and the voice Disordered in its flight across the winds- And so it haps, that thou canst sound perceive, Yet not determine what the words may mean; To such degree confounded and encumbered The voice approaches us. Again, one word, Sent from the crier's mouth, may rouse all ears Among the populace. And thus one voice Scatters asunder into many voices, Since it divides itself for separate ears, Imprinting form of word and a clear tone. But whatso part of voices fails to hit The ears themselves perishes, borne beyond, Idly diffused among the winds. A part, Beating on solid porticoes, tossed back Returns a sound; and sometimes mocks the ear With a mere phantom of a word. |
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Quae bene cum videas , rationem reddere possis tute tibi atque aliis , quo pacto per loca sola saxa paris formas verborum ex ordine reddant . palantis comites com montis inter opacos quaerimus et magna dispersos voce ciemus . sex etiam aut septem loca vidi reddere vocis , unam cum iaceres : ita colles collibus ipsi verba repulsantes iterabant dicta referri . haec loca capripedes Satyros Nymphasque tenere finitimi fingunt et Faunos esse locuntur , quorum noctivago strepitu ludoque iocanti adfirmant volgo taciturna silentia rumpi chordarumque sonos fieri dulcisque querellas , tibia quas fundit digitis pulsata canentum , et genus agricolum late sentiscere , quom Pan pinea semiferi capitis velamina quassans unco saepe labro calamos percurrit hiantis , fistula silvestrem ne cesset fundere musam . cetera de genere hoc monstra ac portenta loquontur , ne loca deserta ab divis quoque forte putentur sola tenere . ideo iactant miracula dictis aut aliqua ratione alia ducuntur , ut omne humanum genus est avidum nimis auricularum .
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When this Thou well hast noted, thou canst render count Unto thyself and others why it is Along the lonely places that the rocks Give back like shapes of words in order like, When search we after comrades wandering Among the shady mountains, and aloud Call unto them, the scattered. I have seen Spots that gave back even voices six or seven For one thrown forth- for so the very hills, Dashing them back against the hills, kept on With their reverberations. And these spots The neighbouring country-side doth feign to be Haunts of the goat-foot satyrs and the nymphs; And tells ye there be fauns, by whose night noise And antic revels yonder they declare The voiceless silences are broken oft, And tones of strings are made and wailings sweet Which the pipe, beat by players' finger-tips, Pours out; and far and wide the farmer-race Begins to hear, when, shaking the garmentings Of pine upon his half-beast head, god-Pan With puckered lip oft runneth o'er and o'er The open reeds,- lest flute should cease to pour The woodland music! Other prodigies And wonders of this ilk they love to tell, Lest they be thought to dwell in lonely spots And even by gods deserted. This is why They boast of marvels in their story-tellings; Or by some other reason are led on- Greedy, as all mankind hath ever been, To prattle fables into ears. |
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Quod super est , non est mirandum qua ratione , per loca quae nequeunt oculi res cernere apertas , haec loca per voces veniant aurisque lacessant , conloquium clausis foribus quoque saepe videmus ; ni mirum quia vox per flexa foramina rerum incolumis transire potest , simulacra renutant ; perscinduntur enim , nisi recta foramina tranant , qualia sunt vitrei , species qua travolat omnis . praeterea partis in cunctas dividitur vox , ex aliis aliae quoniam gignuntur , ubi una dissuluit semel in multas exorta , quasi ignis saepe solet scintilla suos se spargere in ignis . ergo replentur loca vocibus abdita retro , omnia quae circum fervunt sonituque cientur . at simulacra viis derectis omnia tendunt , ut sunt missa semel ; qua propter cernere nemo saepe supra potis est , at voces accipere extra . et tamen ipsa quoque haec , dum transit clausa vox optunditur atque auris confusa penetrat et sonitum potius quam verba audire videmur .
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Again, One need not wonder how it comes about That through those places (through which eyes cannot View objects manifest) sounds yet may pass And assail the ears. For often we observe People conversing, though the doors be closed; No marvel either, since all voice unharmed Can wind through bended apertures of things, While idol-films decline to- for they're rent, Unless along straight apertures they swim, Like those in glass, through which all images Do fly across. And yet this voice itself, In passing through shut chambers of a house, Is dulled, and in a jumble enters ears, And sound we seem to hear far more than words. Moreover, a voice is into all directions Divided up, since off from one another New voices are engendered, when one voice Hath once leapt forth, outstarting into many- As oft a spark of fire is wont to sprinkle Itself into its several fires. And so, Voices do fill those places hid behind, Which all are in a hubbub round about, Astir with sound. But idol-films do tend, As once sent forth, in straight directions all; Wherefore one can inside a wall see naught, Yet catch the voices from beyond the same. |
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Hoc , qui sentimus sucum , lingua atque palatum plusculum habent in se rationis , plus operai . principio sucum sentimus in ore , cibum cum mandendo exprimimus , ceu plenam spongiam aquai siquis forte manu premere ac siccare coëpit . inde quod exprimimus per caulas omne palati diditur et rarae per flexa foramina linguae , hoc ubi levia sunt manantis corpora suci , suaviter attingunt et suaviter omnia tractant umida linguai circum sudantia templa ; at contra pungunt sensum lacerantque coorta , quanto quaeque magis sunt asperitate repleta . deinde voluptas est e suco fine palati ; cum vero deorsum per fauces praecipitavit , nulla voluptas est , dum diditur omnis in artus ; nec refert quicquam quo victu corpus alatur , dum modo quod capias concoctum didere possis artubus et stomachi tumidum servare tenorem . Nunc aliis alius qui sit cibus ut videamus , expediam , quareve , aliis quod triste et amarumst , hoc tamen esse aliis possit perdulce videri , tantaque his rebus distantia differitasque est , ut quod aliis cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum ; est itaque ut serpens , hominis quae tacta salivis disperit ac sese mandendo conficit ipsa . praeterea nobis veratrum est acre venenum , at capris adipes et cocturnicibus auget . id quibus ut fiat rebus cognoscere possis , principio meminisse decet quae diximus ante , semina multimodis in rebus mixta teneri . porro omnes quae cumque cibum capiunt animantes , ut sunt dissimiles extrinsecus et generatim extima membrorum circumcaesura coërcet , proinde et seminibus constant variantque figura . semina cum porro distent , differre necessest intervalla viasque , foramina quae perhibemus , omnibus in membris et in ore ipsoque palato . esse minora igitur quaedam maioraque debent , esse triquetra aliis , aliis quadrata necessest , multa rutunda , modis multis multangula quaedam . namque figurarum ratio ut motusque reposcunt , proinde foraminibus debent differe figurae et variare viae proinde ac textura coërcet . hoc ubi quod suave est aliis aliis fit amarum , illi , cui suave est , levissima corpora debent contractabiliter caulas intrare palati , at contra quibus est eadem res intus acerba , aspera ni mirum penetrant hamataque fauces . nunc facile est ex his rebus cognoscere quaeque . quippe ubi cui febris bili superante coorta est aut alia ratione aliquast vis excita morbi , perturbatur ibi iam totum corpus et omnes commutantur ibi positurae principiorum ; fit prius ad sensum quae corpora conveniebant nunc non conveniant , et cetera sint magis apta , quae penetrata queunt sensum progignere acerbum ; utraque enim sunt in mellis commixta sapore ; id quod iam supera tibi saepe ostendimus ante .
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Nor tongue and palate, whereby we flavour feel, Present more problems for more work of thought. Firstly, we feel a flavour in the mouth, When forth we squeeze it, in chewing up our food,- As any one perchance begins to squeeze With hand and dry a sponge with water soaked. Next, all which forth we squeeze is spread about Along the pores and intertwined paths Of the loose-textured tongue. And so, when smooth The bodies of the oozy flavour, then Delightfully they touch, delightfully They treat all spots, around the wet and trickling Enclosures of the tongue. And contrariwise, They sting and pain the sense with their assault, According as with roughness they're supplied. Next, only up to palate is the pleasure Coming from flavour; for in truth when down 'Thas plunged along the throat, no pleasure is, Whilst into all the frame it spreads around; Nor aught it matters with what food is fed The body, if only what thou take thou canst Distribute well digested to the frame And keep the stomach in a moist career. Now, how it is we see some food for some, Others for others.... . . . . . . I will unfold, or wherefore what to some Is foul and bitter, yet the same to others Can seem delectable to eat,- why here So great the distance and the difference is That what is food to one to some becomes Fierce poison, as a certain snake there is Which, touched by spittle of a man, will waste And end itself by gnawing up its coil. Again, fierce poison is the hellebore To us, but puts the fat on goats and quails. That thou mayst know by what devices this Is brought about, in chief thou must recall What we have said before, that seeds are kept Commixed in things in divers modes. Again, As all the breathing creatures which take food Are outwardly unlike, and outer cut And contour of their members bounds them round, Each differing kind by kind, they thus consist Of seeds of varying shape. And furthermore, Since seeds do differ, divers too must be The interstices and paths (which we do call The apertures) in all the members, even In mouth and palate too. Thus some must be More small or yet more large, three-cornered some And others squared, and many others round, And certain of them many-angled too In many modes. For, as the combination And motion of their divers shapes demand, The shapes of apertures must be diverse And paths must vary according to their walls That bound them. Hence when what is sweet to some, Becomes to others bitter, for him to whom 'Tis sweet, the smoothest particles must needs Have entered caressingly the palate's pores. And, contrariwise, with those to whom that sweet Is sour within the mouth, beyond a doubt The rough and barbed particles have got Into the narrows of the apertures. Now easy it is from these affairs to know Whatever... . . . . . . Indeed, where one from o'er-abundant bile Is stricken with fever, or in other wise Feels the roused violence of some malady, There the whole frame is now upset, and there All the positions of the seeds are changed,- So that the bodies which before were fit To cause the savour, now are fit no more, And now more apt are others which be able To get within the pores and gender sour. Both sorts, in sooth, are intermixed in honey- What oft we've proved above to thee before. |
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Nunc age , quo pacto naris adiectus odoris tangat agam . primum res multas esse necessest unde fluens volvat varius se fluctus odorum , et fluere et mitti volgo spargique putandumst ; verum aliis alius magis est animantibus aptus , dissimilis propter formas . ideoque per auras mellis apes quamvis longe ducuntur odore , volturiique cadaveribus ; tum fissa ferarum ungula quo tulerit gressum promissa canum vis ducit , et humanum longe praesentit odorem Romulidarum arcis servator , candidus anser . sic aliis alius nidor datus ad sua quemque pabula ducit et a taetro resilire veneno cogit , eoque modo servantur saecla ferarum . Hic odor ipse igitur , naris qui cumque lacessit , est alio ut possit permitti longius alter ; sed tamen haud quisquam tam longe fertur eorum quam sonitus , quam vox , mitto iam dicere quam res quae feriunt oculorum acies visumque lacessunt . errabundus enim tarde venit ac perit ante paulatim facilis distractus in aëris auras ; ex alto primum quia vix emittitur ex re ; nam penitus fluere atque recedere rebus odores significat quod fracta magis redolere videntur omnia , quod contrita , quod igni conlabefacta . deinde videre licet maioribus esse creatum principiis quam vox , quoniam per saxea saepta non penetrat , qua vox volgo sonitusque feruntur . quare etiam quod olet non tam facile esse videbis investigare in qua sit regione locatum ; refrigescit enim cunctando plaga per auras nec calida ad sensum decurrunt nuntia rerum . errant saepe canes itaque et vestigia quaerunt . Nec tamen hoc solis in odoribus atque saporum in generest , sed item species rerum atque colores non ita conveniunt ad sensus omnibus omnes , ut non sint aliis quaedam magis acria visu . quin etiam gallum noctem explaudentibus alis auroram clara consuetum voce vocare , noenu queunt rapidi contra constare leones inque tueri : ita continuo meminere fugai . ni mirum quia sunt gallorum in corpore quaedam semina , quae cum sunt oculis inmissa leonum , pupillas interfodiunt acremque dolorem praebent , ut nequeant contra durare feroces , cum tamen haec nostras acies nil laedere possint , aut quia non penetrant aut quod penetrantibus illis exitus ex oculis liber datur , in remorando laedere ne possint ex ulla lumina parte .
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Now come, and I will indicate what wise Impact of odour on the nostrils touches. And first, 'tis needful there be many things From whence the streaming flow of varied odours May roll along, and we're constrained to think They stream and dart and sprinkle themselves about Impartially. But for some breathing creatures One odour is more apt, to others another- Because of differing forms of seeds and pores. Thus on and on along the zephyrs bees Are led by odour of honey, vultures too By carcasses. Again, the forward power Of scent in dogs doth lead the hunter on Whithersoever the splay-foot of wild beast Hath hastened its career; and the white goose, The saviour of the Roman citadel, Forescents afar the odour of mankind. Thus, diversly to divers ones is given Peculiar smell that leadeth each along To his own food or makes him start aback From loathsome poison, and in this wise are The generations of the wild preserved. Yet is this pungence not alone in odours Or in the class of flavours; but, likewise, The look of things and hues agree not all So well with senses unto all, but that Some unto some will be, to gaze upon, More keen and painful. Lo, the raving lions, They dare not face and gaze upon the cock Who's wont with wings to flap away the night From off the stage, and call the beaming morn With clarion voice- and lions straightway thus Bethink themselves of flight, because, ye see, Within the body of the cocks there be Some certain seeds, which, into lions' eyes Injected, bore into the pupils deep And yield such piercing pain they can't hold out Against the cocks, however fierce they be- Whilst yet these seeds can't hurt our gaze the least, Either because they do not penetrate, Or since they have free exit from the eyes As soon as penetrating, so that thus They cannot hurt our eyes in any part By there remaining. To speak once more of odour; Whatever assail the nostrils, some can travel A longer way than others. None of them, However, 's borne so far as sound or voice- While I omit all mention of such things As hit the eyesight and assail the vision. For slowly on a wandering course it comes And perishes sooner, by degrees absorbed Easily into all the winds of air;- And first, because from deep inside the thing It is discharged with labour (for the fact That every object, when 'tis shivered, ground, Or crumbled by the fire, will smell the stronger Is sign that odours flow and part away From inner regions of the things). And next, Thou mayest see that odour is create Of larger primal germs than voice, because It enters not through stony walls, wherethrough Unfailingly the voice and sound are borne; Wherefore, besides, thou wilt observe 'tis not So easy to trace out in whatso place The smelling object is. For, dallying on Along the winds, the particles cool off, And then the scurrying messengers of things Arrive our senses, when no longer hot. So dogs oft wander astray, and hunt the scent. |
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Nunc age , quae moveant animum res accipe , et unde quae veniunt veniant in mentem percipe paucis . principio hoc dico , rerum simulacra vagari multa modis multis in cunctas undique partis tenvia , quae facile inter se iunguntur in auris , obvia cum veniunt , ut aranea bratteaque auri . quippe etenim multo magis haec sunt tenvia textu quam quae percipiunt oculos visumque lacessunt , corporis haec quoniam penetrant per rara cientque tenvem animi naturam intus sensumque lacessunt . Centauros itaque et Scyllarum membra videmus Cerbereasque canum facies simulacraque eorum quorum morte obita tellus amplectitur ossa ; omnigenus quoniam passim simulacra feruntur , partim sponte sua quae fiunt aëre in ipso , partim quae variis ab rebus cumque recedunt et quae confiunt ex horum facta figuris . nam certe ex vivo Centauri non fit imago , nulla fuit quoniam talis natura animata ; verum ubi equi atque hominis casu convenit imago , haerescit facile extemplo , quod diximus ante , propter subtilem naturam et tenvia texta . cetera de genere hoc eadem ratione creantur . quae cum mobiliter summa levitate feruntur , ut prius ostendi , facile uno commovet ictu quae libet una animum nobis subtilis imago ; tenvis enim mens est et mire mobilis ipsa . haec fieri ut memoro , facile hinc cognoscere possis . quatinus hoc simile est illi , quod mente videmus atque oculis , simili fieri ratione necessest . Nunc igitur docui quoniam me forte leonum cernere per simulacra , oculos quae cumque lacessunt , scire licet mentem simili ratione moveri per simulacra leonum cetera quae videt aeque nec minus atque oculi , nisi quod mage tenvia cernit . nec ratione alia , cum somnus membra profudit , mens animi vigilat , nisi quod simulacra lacessunt haec eadem nostros animos quae cum vigilamus , usque adeo , certe ut videamur cernere eum quem rellicta vita iam mors et terra potitast . hoc ideo fieri cogit natura , quod omnes corporis offecti sensus per membra quiescunt nec possunt falsum veris convincere rebus . praeterea meminisse iacet languetque sopore , nec dissentit eum mortis letique potitum iam pridem , quem mens vivom se cernere credit . quod super est , non est mirum simulacra moveri bracchiaque in numerum iactare et cetera membra ; nam fit ut in somnis facere hoc videatur imago . quippe , ubi prima perit alioque est altera nata inde statu , prior hic gestum mutasse videtur . scilicet id fieri celeri ratione putandumst : tanta est mobilitas et rerum copia tanta tantaque sensibili quovis est tempore in uno copia particularum , ut possit suppeditare .
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Now mark, and hear what objects move the mind, And learn, in few, whence unto intellect Do come what come. And first I tell thee this: That many images of objects rove In many modes to every region round- So thin that easily the one with other, When once they meet, uniteth in mid-air, Like gossamer or gold-leaf. For, indeed, Far thinner are they in their fabric than Those images which take a hold on eyes And smite the vision, since through body's pores They penetrate, and inwardly stir up The subtle nature of mind and smite the sense. Thus, Centaurs and the limbs of Scyllas, thus The Cerberus-visages of dogs we see, And images of people gone before- Dead men whose bones earth bosomed long ago; Because the images of every kind Are everywhere about us borne- in part Those which are gendered in the very air Of own accord, in part those others which From divers things do part away, and those Which are compounded, made from out their shapes. For soothly from no living Centaur is That phantom gendered, since no breed of beast Like him was ever; but, when images Of horse and man by chance have come together, They easily cohere, as aforesaid, At once, through subtle nature and fabric thin. In the same fashion others of this ilk Created are. And when they're quickly borne In their exceeding lightness, easily (As earlier I showed) one subtle image, Compounded, moves by its one blow the mind, Itself so subtle and so strangely quick. That these things come to pass as I record, From this thou easily canst understand: So far as one is unto other like, Seeing with mind as well as with the eyes Must come to pass in fashion not unlike. Well, now, since I have shown that I perceive Haply a lion through those idol-films Such as assail my eyes, 'tis thine to know Also the mind is in like manner moved, And sees, nor more nor less than eyes do see (Except that it perceives more subtle films) The lion and aught else through idol-films. And when the sleep has overset our frame, The mind's intelligence is now awake, Still for no other reason, save that these- The self-same films as when we are awake- Assail our minds, to such degree indeed That we do seem to see for sure the man Whom, void of life, now death and earth have gained Dominion over. And nature forces this To come to pass because the body's senses Are resting, thwarted through the members all, Unable now to conquer false with true; And memory lies prone and languishes In slumber, nor protests that he, the man Whom the mind feigns to see alive, long since Hath been the gain of death and dissolution. And further, 'tis no marvel idols move And toss their arms and other members round In rhythmic time- and often in men's sleeps It haps an image this is seen to do; In sooth, when perishes the former image, And other is gendered of another pose, That former seemeth to have changed its gestures. Of course the change must be conceived as speedy; So great the swiftness and so great the store Of idol-things, and (in an instant brief As mind can mark) so great, again, the store Of separate idol-parts to bring supplies. It happens also that there is supplied Sometimes an image not of kind the same; But what before was woman, now at hand Is seen to stand there, altered into male; Or other visage, other age succeeds; But slumber and oblivion take care That we shall feel no wonder at the thing. |
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Multaque in his rebus quaeruntur multaque nobis clarandumst , plane si res exponere avemus . quaeritur in primis quare , quod cuique libido venerit , extemplo mens cogitet eius id ipsum . anne voluntatem nostram simulacra tuentur et simul ac volumus nobis occurrit imago , si mare , si terram cordist , si denique caelum ? conventus hominum , pompam , convivia , pugnas , omnia sub verbone creat natura paratque ? cum praesertim aliis eadem in regione locoque longe dissimilis animus res cogitet omnis . quid porro , in numerum procedere cum simulacra cernimus in somnis et mollia membra movere , mollia mobiliter cum alternis bracchia mittunt et repetunt oculis gestum pede convenienti ? scilicet arte madent simulacra et docta vagantur , nocturno facere ut possint in tempore ludos . an magis illud erit verum ? quia tempore in uno , cum sentimus , id est cum vox emittitur una , tempora multa latent , ratio quae comperit esse , propterea fit uti quovis in tempore quaeque praesto sint simulacra locis in quisque parata . tanta est mobilitas et rerum copia tanta . hoc ubi prima perit alioque est altera nata inde statu , prior hic gestum mutasse videtur . et quia tenvia sunt , nisi quae contendit , acute cernere non potis est animus ; proinde omnia quae sunt praeterea pereunt , nisi quae ex se ipse paravit . ipse parat sese porro speratque futurum ut videat quod consequitur rem quamque : fit ergo . nonne vides oculos etiam , cum tenvia quae sunt cernere coeperunt , contendere se atque parare , nec sine eo fieri posse ut cernamus acute ? et tamen in rebus quoque apertis noscere possis , si non advertas animum , proinde esse quasi omni tempore semotum fuerit longeque remotum . cur igitur mirumst , animus si cetera perdit praeter quam quibus est in rebus deditus ipse ? deinde adopinamur de signis maxima parvis ac nos in fraudem induimus frustraminis ipsi . Fit quoque ut inter dum non suppeditetur imago eiusdem generis , sed femina quae fuit ante , in manibus vir uti factus videatur adesse , aut alia ex alia facies aetasque sequatur . quod ne miremur sopor atque oblivia curant .
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And much in these affairs demands inquiry, And much, illumination- if we crave With plainness to exhibit facts. And first, Why doth the mind of one to whom the whim To think has come behold forthwith that thing? Or do the idols watch upon our will, And doth an image unto us occur, Directly we desire- if heart prefer The sea, the land, or after all the sky? Assemblies of the citizens, parades, Banquets, and battles, these and all doth she, Nature, create and furnish at our word?- Maugre the fact that in same place and spot Another's mind is meditating things All far unlike. And what, again, of this: When we in sleep behold the idols step, In measure, forward, moving supple limbs, Whilst forth they put each supple arm in turn With speedy motion, and with eyeing heads Repeat the movement, as the foot keeps time? Forsooth, the idols they are steeped in art, And wander to and fro well taught indeed,- Thus to be able in the time of night To make such games! Or will the truth be this: Because in one least moment that we mark- That is, the uttering of a single sound- There lurk yet many moments, which the reason Discovers to exist, therefore it comes That, in a moment how so brief ye will, The divers idols are hard by, and ready Each in its place diverse? So great the swiftness, So great, again, the store of idol-things, And so, when perishes the former image, And other is gendered of another pose, The former seemeth to have changed its gestures. And since they be so tenuous, mind can mark Sharply alone the ones it strains to see; And thus the rest do perish one and all, Save those for which the mind prepares itself. Further, it doth prepare itself indeed, And hopes to see what follows after each- Hence this result. For hast thou not observed How eyes, essaying to perceive the fine, Will strain in preparation, otherwise Unable sharply to perceive at all? Yet know thou canst that, even in objects plain, If thou attendest not, 'tis just the same As if 'twere all the time removed and far. What marvel, then, that mind doth lose the rest, Save those to which 'thas given up itself? So 'tis that we conjecture from small signs Things wide and weighty, and involve ourselves In snarls of self-deceit. |