rentem, inquit, O tu, qui ning, said, O thou, who MOR. Hæc Fabula spectat eos, qui, non rectè ministrantes suas conantur providere consulere alienis, non pertinent ad eos. A. HODIE MOR. ad This Fable looks to ad- them, who, not rightly adres, ministering their own affairs, &endeavour to foresee and quæ consult for other men's, which do not belong to them. DILUCULUM. x you are and anc X you be you think hon & you are is my ODIE volebam te O-DAY I was desirous to conventum, sed negabaris have met with you, but you were denied to be at home. esse domi. B. Non mentiti sunt omnino. Non eram quidem tibi, sed eram tum mihi max ime. A. Quid enigmatis est istud? They did not lie altogether. I was not indeed for you, but I was then for myself very much. What riddle is that? B. Nôsti illud vetus proYou have known that old verbium, Non dormio omni- proverb, I do not sleep for all bus. Nec jocus Nasicæ fugit men. Nor does the jest of Nasica te cui volenti invisere fami- escape you to whom desirous to liarum Ennium, cum ancilla, visit his friend Ennius, when the jussu heri, negâsset esse do- maid, by the order of her master, mi: Nasica sensit et disces- denied that he was at home : sit. Cæterum ubi Ennius vi- Nasica perceived it and departcissim ingressus domum Na- ed. But when Bnnius in his turn sicæ,rogaret puerum numesset entering the house of Nasica, Nasica clamavit de asked the boy whether he was conclavi, inquiens, Non sum within; Nasica shouted from domi. Quumque Ennius ag- the parlour, saying, I am not 2^ intus; F sometimes have the nominative with the accusatis nita voce dixisset, Impudens, home. And when Ennius non agnosco te loquentem? knowing his voice said, You imImo, inquit Nisica, tu impu- pudent fellow, do not I know dentior, qui non habes fidem you speaking? Nay, says Nasimihi, cum ego crediderim tuæ ancillæ. Altum dormiebam. A. Quid ais? Atquioctava bora præterierat jam, cun sol surgat hoc mense ante quar tam. B. Libertum est soli per me quidem surgere vel media nocte, modo liceat mihi dormire usque ad satietatem. A. Verum utrum istuc accidit casu,an est consuetudo? B. Consuetudo prorsus. A. Atqui consuetudo rei non bonæ est pessima. B. Imo nullus somnusest suavior quam post solem exor tum. A. Qua hora tandem soles relinquere lectum ? B. Interquartam et nonam. A. Spatium satis amplum. ca, you are more impudent, Nay, sweetly idle. riddle. I will tell you then plainly. Nor will I call a fig any thing else than a fig. Tell me. I was fast asleep. What say you? But the eighth bour had passed then, whereas the sunriseth this month before the fourth. It is free for the sun for me indeed to rise even at midnight, so that it be allowed me to sleep to satisfaction. But whether did that happen by chance, or is it a custom? Custom entirely. But the custom of a thing not good is very bad. Nay no sleep is pleasanter than after the sun is risen. At what hour at last do you use to leave your bed? Betwixt the fourth and the ninth. Time long enough.. Reginæ vix tot horis co- Queens hardly are so many muntur; sed unde venisti in hours a dressing; but how came istam consuetudinem? you into that custom ? B. Quia solemus proferre Because we use to prolong convivia, lusus, et jocos in feasts, games, and jests till late multam noctem. Pensamus id at night. We make up that dispendii matutino somno. loss by morning sleep. A. Vix unquam vidi ho- I scarce ever saw a man minem perditius prodigum te. more perniciously prodigal than you. B. Videtur mihi parsimo- It seems to me frugality rania magis quam profusio. In- ther than prodigality. In the terim nec absume candelas, mean time I neither consume nec detero vestes. candles, nor wear out clothes. A. Præpostera frugalitas Preposterous frugality indeed quidem servare vitrum ut to save glass that you may lose perdas gemmas. Ille philoso- jewels. That philosopher was phus aliter sapuit, qui roga- otherwise minded, who being tus quid esset pretiosissimum, asked what was the most precious respondit,Tempus. Porro,cum thing, answered, Time. Moreconstet diluculum esse optimam over, since it is agreed that the partem totius diei, tu gaudes morning is the best part of the perdere quod est pretiosissimum whole day, you love to lose in pretiosissima re. what is the most precious in the most precious thing. B. An hoc perit quod da tur corpusculo? Is that lost, which is given to the body? A. Imo, detrahitur cor- Nay, it is taken from the pusculo, quod tum suavissime body, which then is most sweetafficitur, maximeq; vegeta- ly affected, and most of all retur, cum reficitur tempestivo cruited, when it is refreshed moderatoq; somno et corrobo- with seasonable and moderate ratur matutina vigilia. sleep, and is strengthened with morning watching. B. Sed est dulce dormire. sentienti nihil ? B. Hoc ipsum est dulce sentire nihil molestiæ. But it is pleasant to sleep. What can be pleasant to one that perceives nothing? This very thing is pleasant to perceive nothing of trouble. A. Atqui sunt feliciores But they are more happy in isto nomine, qui dormiunt in that respect, who sleep in their sepulchris; nam nonnun- graves; for sometimes dreams quam insomnia sunt molesta are troublesome to a man dormienti. asleep. B. Aiunt corpus saginari They say that the body is fattened most of all with that maxime eo somno. sleep. A. Ista est sagina glirium, That is the fattening of dornon hominum. Animalia mice, not of men. Animals que parantur epulis recte sa- that are prepared for feasts are ginantur. Quorsum attinet rightly fattened. What signihomini accersere obesitatem, fies it for a man to procure fatnisi ut incedat onustus gravi- ness, but that he may go loaded ori sarcina? Die mihi, si with a heavier pack? Tell me, haberes famulum, utrum mal- if you had a servant, whether les obesum, an vegetum et you had rather have him fat, or lively and fit for all services? But I am not a servant. habilem ad omnia munia? B. Atqui non sum famulus. A. Sat est mihi, quod It is enough for me, that malles ministrum aptum offi- you had rather have a servant ciis quam bene saginatum. B. Plane mallem. fit for service than well fattened. Indeed I had rather. A. At Plato dixit animum But Plato said that the soul hominis esse hominem,corpus of a man is the man, that the esse nihil aliud quam domi- body is nothing else than a house, cilium, aut instrumentum. ar an instrument. You howTu certe fateberis, opinor, ever will confess, I suppose, animam esse principalem por- that the soul is the principal part tionem hominis, corpus mi- of man, the body the servant of the mind. nistrum animi. B. Esto, si vis. will. Let it be so, if you A. Cum tibi nolles mi Since you would not have a nistrum tardum abdomine, servant heavy with a great sed malles agilem et alacrem, belly, but had rather have one cur pares ignavum et obesum nimble and brisk, why do you ministrum animo ? B. Vincor veris. provide a lazy and fat servant for the mind? I am overcome with truth. A. Jam accipe aliud dis- Now hear another loss. As pendium. Ut animus longe the mind far excels the body, so præstat corpo,ita fateris opes you confess that the riches of the animi longe præcellere bona mind far excel the good things corporis. of the body. B. Dicis probabile. A. Sed inter bona animi, sapientia tenet primum. B. Fateor. You say what is likely. But among the good things of the mind, wisdom has the first place. I confess. A. Nulla pars diei est uti- No part of the day is more lior ad parandam hanc, quam useful for the getting of this, diluculum, cum sol exoriens than the morning, when the novus adfert vigorem et ala- sun rising fresh brings vigour critatem omnibus, discutitque and briskness to all things, and nebulas consuetas exhaliari e dissipates the fumes that use to ventriculo, quæ solent obnubi- be exhaled out of the stomach, lare domicilium mentis. which are wont to cloud the Now reckon up for me how B. Non repugno. A. Nunc supputa mihi quantum eruditionis possis pa- much learning you mig get to rare tibi illis quatuor horis, quas perdis intempestivo som no. yourself in those four hours, which you lose in unseasonable sleep. Much indeed. B. Multum profecto. A. Expertus sum plus effici in studiis, una hora matutina, quam tribus postmeridianis, idque nullo detrimento in three in the afternoon, and corporis. I have experienced that more is done in one's studies, in one hour in the morning, than that with no damage to the body. I have heard so. Then consider that; if you cast up into a sum the loss of every day, how great a mass it will be. A huge one, truly. |