Seneca (to Paulinus) · Complete work
XVI
XVI of 20. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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1. Illorum breuissima ac sollicitissima aetas est qui praeteritorum obliuiscuntur, praesentia neglegunt, de futuro timent: cum ad extrema uenerunt, sero intellegunt miseri tam diu se dum nihil agunt occupatos fuisse.
2. Nec est quod hoc argumento probari putes longam illos agere uitam, quia interdum mortem inuocant: uexat illos imprudentia incertis affectibus et incurrentibus in ipsa quae metuunt; mortem saepe ideo optant quia timent.
3. Illud quoque argumentum non est quod putes diu uiuentium, quod saepe illis longus uidetur dies, quod, dum ueniat condictum tempus cenae, tarde ire horas queruntur; nam si quando illos deseruerunt occupationes, in otio relicti aestuant nec quomodo id disponant ut extrahant sciunt. Itaque ad occupationem aliquam tendunt et quod interiacet omne tempus graue est, tam me hercules quam cum dies muneris gladiatorii edictus est, aut cum alicuius alterius uel spectaculi uel uoluptatis exspectatur constitutum, transilire medios dies uolunt.
4. Omnis illis speratae rei longa dilatio est; at illud tempus quod amant breue est et praeceps breuiusque multo, suo uitio; aliunde enim alio transfugiunt et consistere in una cupiditate non possunt. Non sunt illis longi dies, sed inuisi; at contra quam exiguae noctes uidentur, quas in complexu scortorum aut uino exigunt!
5. Inde etiam poetarum furor fabulis humanos errores alentium, quibus uisus est Iuppiter uoluptate concubitus delenitus duplicasse noctem; quid aliud est uitia nostra incendere quam auctores illis inscribere deos et dare morbo exemplo diuinitatis excusatam licentiam? Possunt istis non breuissimae uideri noctes quas tam care mercantur? Diem noctis exspectatione perdunt, noctem lucis metu.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin for fidelity, Senecan compression, modern clarity, and cadence.
1. To pass by those whose leisure is known — painters, and all who labor over the warmth of bronze and marble; you have seen the busy troops about marbles and pictures and the flocks about a bellows and a furnace; and those who fashion the limbs of gladiators and work the grooves of silver with their file. Those whom the rest of men call lovers of leisure, they themselves know to be the busiest of all: as when certain men — pretenders to philosophy in the crowd — gather an audience and sweat at their words, nothing of their soul reaches them; for they think over what they are about to say, not what they have said.
2. And so they spend their whole life over a promised life: they do not recite what they have committed, but what they are now composing — nor that, but now composing otherwise. For whatever it is, they are going to speak otherwise. They are weighed down with the things left over, and — they begin another.
3. Do you suppose those men at leisure who spend the whole day in the vetting of their robes, and turn over their papers, and fill themselves with old songs? Such men do not yet have leisure, for there is something else still to catch up: and so, gathering the life of the past, they neglect the present. Do you suppose those at leisure who spend hours with the barber? They do not yet have leisure: they are getting something ready.
4. I have named the men whose occupations are known from their talk. Tell me of those who pass their lives in idleness — who carry their pastime not hidden but displayed: they are the busiest of all. They have no leisure — why so? They are seeking leisure. Do you ask how these are busy? One is making himself up with a comb, busy with leisure itself.
5. And it is a hard matter to judge of these: the idle life for the busy does not seem idle, and yet nothing is the same.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 20 chapters and 106 sections of the Latin.
1. To pass over those whose leisure everyone knows — the painters, and everyone sweating over bronze and marble; you've seen the crowds around statues and pictures, the flocks around bellows and furnaces, the ones carving gladiator limbs and polishing silver grooves. What the rest of the world calls lovers of leisure, those men know are the busiest of all. It's like the fake philosophers in the crowd who gather an audience and sweat over their speeches, while none of it reaches their soul: they're thinking about what they're GOING to say, not what they've said.
2. So they spend their whole lives preparing a life they promise themselves. They don't recite what they've finished, only what they're still writing — and even that, they say, they'll do differently. Whatever it is, it'll be different next time. They're buried under leftovers — and they start another one.
3. Do you think those men are at leisure, who spend all day vetting their robes and shuffling papers and stuffing themselves with old songs? They don't have leisure yet: there's still one more thing to catch up on. Gathering up the life of the past, they drop the present. Do you think those at leisure who give hours to the barber? No leisure yet: something's still being prepared.
4. I named the men whose busyness shows in their talk. Tell me about those who pass life doing nothing — who wear their pastime on the outside for everyone to see. They are the busiest of all. No leisure — why? They're still looking for leisure. You ask how they're busy? One's fixing his hair: busy at leisure itself.
5. It's genuinely hard to judge these people. To the busy, the idle life doesn't look idle — and yet nothing could be further apart.