Book 2, Chapter 22
Original Latin
49 Potest igitur tale aliquid etiam sua sponte in lapicidinis Chiorum extitisse. Sed sit hoc fictum; quid? in nubibus numquam animadvertisti leonis formam aut hippocentauri? Potest igitur, quod modo negabas, veritatem casus imitari.
Sed quoniam de extis et de fulgoribus satis est disputatum, ostenta restant, ut tota haruspicina sit pertractata. Mulae partus prolatus est a te. Res mirabilis, propterea quia non saepe fit; sed si fieri non potuisset, facta non esset. Atque hoc contra omnia ostenta valeat, numquam, quod fieri non potuerit, esse factum; sin potuerit, non esse mirandum. Causarum enim ignoratio in re nova mirationem facit; eadem ignoratio si in rebus usitatis est, non miramur. Nam qui mulam peperisse miratur, is, quo modo equa pariat, aut omnino quae natura partum animantis faciat, ignorat. Sed quod crebro videt, non miratur, etiamsi, cur fiat, nescit; quod ante non vidit, id si evenit, ostentum esse censet. Utrum igitur cum concepit mula an cum peperit, ostentum est?
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Latin in separate source-only tasks and reviewed throughout against it. Both books, all 130 chapters and 282 numbered sections; no historical English translation used. Latin transcription credited to the Perseus Project under CC BY-SA 4.0, Müller’s 1915 Teubner edition.
49 “Something of that kind, then, could have appeared spontaneously in the quarries of Chios. But suppose the story invented. Have you never noticed the shape of a lion or a centaur in the clouds? Chance, then, can imitate reality, as you were just denying.
“But since we have discussed entrails and lightning enough, portents remain if we are to cover the whole of haruspicy. You brought forward a mule giving birth. An astonishing event, because it happens seldom; but if it could not happen, it would not have happened. Let this principle apply to every portent: nothing that could not happen has ever happened; and if it could happen, there is no need for wonder. Ignorance of causes produces wonder at an unfamiliar event. The same ignorance in familiar matters causes no wonder. Someone who marvels at a mule giving birth does not know how a mare gives birth, or indeed what natural process brings about the birth of any living creature. What he sees often he does not marvel at, even if he does not know why it happens; what he has never seen before, if it happens, he considers a portent. At which point, then, is there a portent: when the mule conceives, or when it gives birth?
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation, made independently and directly from the Latin, never from the Musean edition. Both books and every numbered section; a separate Latin-source model review covered the entire text. No human specialist review is claimed.
49 “So something like that could have appeared all by itself in the quarries of Chios. But suppose the story is made up. Surely you have seen clouds shaped like lions or centaurs? So chance can imitate reality, something you were just denying.
“We have discussed internal organs and lightning enough. Portents remain, if we are to cover the whole practice of the haruspices. You brought up a mule giving birth. It is amazing because it does not happen often. But if it could not have happened, it would not have happened. Let that apply to all portents: nothing has ever happened that could not happen. If it could happen, it is no cause for amazement. When something new occurs, not knowing its cause makes us wonder. If we are equally ignorant about familiar things, we do not wonder. Someone who marvels at a mule’s giving birth is ignorant of how birth works in mares, or, for that matter, of nature’s way of producing young in any animal. But what he sees often does not amaze him, even if he does not know why it happens. If something he has not seen before occurs, he thinks it is a portent. So is it a portent when the mule conceives or when she gives birth?
About this section
Book 2, Chapter 22 is part of On Divination by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 80 of 130 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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